10C.1
S,N - Forest fragmentation: regional trends and educational pursuits
Sarah Day Crim, Auburn University School of Forestry and Wildlife Science, Auburn, AL; and M. Dubois
One of the emerging issues of importance in the field of forestry is that of fragmentation. Together with the CSREES and the Sustainable Forestry Partnership, we developed a project which assessed the state of fragmentation throughout the nation. More and more of the contiguous forest land base that once existed is now broken by roads and development to meet the needs of a growing civilization. Forests then are forced to ecologically function on smaller acreages, causing changes to occur in both wildlife and biodiversity issues. Most of the known effects of forest fragmentation can be labeled as harmful and detrimental to the current goal of sustainable management in forestry. Though many studies have been conducted on the effects of forest fragmentation, few programs exist that educate people as to how fragmentation develops and what can be done to counterbalance its harm. Our study addressed this issue by obtaining regionally specific information on fragmentation from forestry and extension personnel through both a mail survey and key informant interviews. The responses received then were inputted into the content analysis program, Ethnograph 5.0, and analyzed according to questions such as, What major factors were responsible for fragmentation?, What agencies are taking a lead on addressing fragmentation?, and What programs, if any, were being developed to deal with fragmentation in the area? The information gathered will be used to develop a curriculum for the Cooperative Extension System, form an annotated bibliographic reference for the subject, create a glossary of key terms dealing with fragmentation, and produce a white paper addressing the current state of fragmentation.
Session 10C, Forestry Education - Page 3
Tuesday, 8 October 2002, 8:30 AM-11:10 AM
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