Anthropogenic Fragmentation in the western United States

We evaluated the fragmentation of the western United States by anthropogenic features. The addition of roads, railroads, and power lines to wildlands, and the conversion of wildlands to agricultural land and/or urban areas, induces fragmentation. We used the following spatial data sets to model anthropogenic fragmentation: agricultural land, populated areas, power lines, railroads, and roads. Because we were interested in the spatial arrangements of wildland patches and how anthropogenic fragmentation affects wildlife dispersal, we buffered some of these spatial data sets according to their area of influence. For example, the area of influence of interstate highways extends beyond the traffic lanes (Rowland et al. 2000, Brotons and [...]