Analyzing Risks to Protected Areas in Colorado Using the Human Modification Framework

David M. Theobald, Alisa Wade, and Grant Wilcox

Colorado State University Natural Resource Ecology Lab

A framework that organizes natural and protected areas is often used to help understand the potential risks to natural areas and aspects of their ecological and human dimensions. The spatial (or landscape) context of these dynamics is also a critical, but rarely considered, factor. Current frameworks commonly used include the USGS GAP stewardship coding scheme, the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories, and the American Planning Association Land-based Classification Standards. The GAP and IUCN framework are coarse classifications (4-6 categories), while the APA focuses primarily on private land uses, but the landscape context remains ignored. To address these limitations, we extended the human modification framework to develop a comprehensive, hierarchical classification based on two dimensions: the degree to which natural processes are free or controlled, and the degree to which landscape patterns are natural or artificial. Three primary factors or activities are used to establish the position of a parcel of land along the process or pattern gradient: urban/built-up, recreation, and production/extraction. Common surrogate data and metrics for each of these factors have been developed. We illustrate our risk analysis by presenting results for Colorado produced using the Colorado Ownership, Management, and Protection spatial dataset, which contains federal, state, local, and land trust data on protected areas.

Land Session - Wednesday Afternoon

corresponding author:

David M. Theobald
Nautral Resource Ecology Lab
Colorado State University
1231 East Drive
Fort Collins, CO 80523-1499
davet@nrel.colostate.edu