• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.519-533
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• 2003

The U.S. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) resulted in the conversion of approximately 14.8 million ha(36.5 million acres) of cropland to grassland, woodland, and other conservation uses throughout the U.S. between 1986 and 1992. One of the major results of CRP has been the addition of millions of hectares of potential wildlife habitat. primarily as grassland. In this study, we examined regional changes in landscape structure caused by the introduction of CRP. Utilizing multi-seasonal Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery, we produced maps of cropland and grassland for the pre- and post- CRP enrollment periods for a six-county region in southwest Kansas. We then applied post-classification differencing to identify regions of cropland that had been converted to CRP. Using the FRAGSTATS spatial pattern analysis program, we calculated a variety of spatial statistics to analyze changes in landscape structure due to CRP. The major impact of CRP in the six-county study area has been the reversal of an overall trend of grassland habitat fragmentation. From the standpoint of potential wildlife habitat, the introduction of CRP has greatly increased the number of patches, mean patch size, and the interior or core area of grassland patches. In addition, CRP has increased connectivity and aggregation between grassland patches, potentially important factors for species of conservation interest, particularly those that require larger expanses of unbroken habitat. Finally, the distance between neighboring patches of grassland has decreased, reducing travel distance between patches. Clearly, the introduction of CRP has substantially modified the spatial structure of the southwest Kansas landscape, with important implications for wildlife habitat.