Land Use and Forest Habitat Distribution in the Hinterland of a Large City

The cumulative effect of many local forest land use turnover reflects the character of the local site; disturbances can be estimated from an analysis of forest there is no evidence of region-wide gradients of regeneration distribution at the scale of the entire landscape. To gauge or clearance. the regional impact of forest clearance and regeneration, a Modern forest is concentrated along steep-sided stream history of forest cover was compiled for the twentieth valleys and away from roads. The great majority of forest century in the hinterland of a large city (Wilmington, lies within 50 m of a forest margin placing it in the Delaware, U.S.A.). Forest distribution and character were microclimatic and vegetational edge zone. Although most described by point sampling of historical aerial photographs. forest is within 200 m of a residence, pedestrian traffic Environmental features were measured on visits to sample appears to have had only a minor impact in the biological points in the field. community. By contrast, widespread species impoverishRegional forest coverage has grown from c. 5% in 1890 ment is suggested by the overwhelming youthfulness of to 22% in 1990. Most modern stands are <60 years old; modern forest and the low degree of connectedness of only 2.5% of the modern landscape is in forest more than O00 forest within the landscape. Management for biological years old. Since 1890, patterns of clearance and regeneration conservation should focus on protection of remnant primary have caused a proportional shift in forest cover from uplands forest, rather than relying on succession to restock secondary to lowlands and flood plains. Older stands are found on stands. rock fields and steep slopes, indicating abandonment from agriculture according to the quality of local sites. Residential