Presettlement Forest Composition in the Connecticut Tract of Western New York

This study of the vegetation of the 100,000-acre Connecticut Tract in western New York examines the presettlement characteristics of the forest, including the tree species composition, tree density, and wetland extent. Presettlement vegetation studies add to what is known about the forests of this region before European settlement in the early 1800s brought widespread changes to these forests. The ecological data in original private land surveys from 1811 were transcribed and then analyzed using ArcGIS and IDRISI GIS software. The surveys contained both witness tree data and line descriptions, which were analyzed for species composition and community type and were compared with Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data about the contemporary forest in the study area. The community type results together with surveyor notes were used to extrapolate wetland coverage, which was compared with the 2006 National Wetlands Inventory Database. This study fills in missing historical data between the two largest land purchases in western New York and examines forest composition at a finer-grained scale than surveys of those land purchases. Comparing past and present vegetation clarifies past causes of temporal and spatial variability and provides a reference point for land managers who need to understand the effects of land-use history for ongoing restoration efforts

Intended Consequences Statement in Conservation Science and Practice

As the biodiversity crisis accelerates, the stakes are higher for threatened plants and animals. Rebuilding the health of our planet will require addressing underlying threats at many scales, including habitat loss and climate change. Conservation interventions such as habitat protection, management, restoration, predator control, trans location, genetic rescue, and biological control have the potential to help threatened or endangered species avert extinction. These existing, well-tested methods can be complemented and augmented by more frequent and faster adoption of new technologies, such as powerful new genetic tools. In addition, synthetic biology might offer solutions to currently intractable conservation problems. We believe that conservation needs to be bold and clear-eyed in this moment of great urgency