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This is why we're smiling...              Our data is in!!
 

 Ground truthed July 15, 1997

Block # by  NW corner	Area in acres	# of dwellings	acres/ dwelling	# of Trees over 4m	Trees/ Dwellling	Trees/  Acre
#1: Guyot/Harrison	4.98	22	.226	162	7.3	32.5
#2: Valley/Walnut	5.72	18	.318	249	13.8	43.5
#3: Terhune/Ewing	4.98	14	.356	159	11.4	31.9
#4: Culyer/Walnut	8.77	12	.731	303	25.3	34.5
#5: Terhune/Jefferson	7.63	12	.636	388	32.3	50.9
Total:	32.08	78	*	1261	*	*
Average	6.42	15.6	.411	252.2	16.2	39.3

 

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Analysis/Conclusions:
    Using the pre 1936 photo, it is evident that the predominant land use of the study area is agriculture. There were few trees in the area with the exception of block #1 which was the oldest part of the subdivision. Tree clusters are visible around the few farm houses as well as the edges of some fields and streams. The horizon view of 1956 shows the areas beyond the study area are a mix of farmlands and forest. It is assumed that prior to the settlement of colonialists in the eighteenth century, the predominant plant community was broadleaf deciduous forest. During the last 60 years, farm land has decreased in favor of urbanization. The ironic aspect of this is that despite the increase in the density of human population, the amount of woody landcover has markedly increased. In some areas, even taking streets into account, the canopy approaches 40%. The ArcView land use/land cover map does not distinguish this suburban forest, but the ArcView density map quite clearly demonstrates the higher population density in the burrough. Census data also confirms that the number of people per acre is about 40% less than in the burrough. One misleading datum shows that the density of the dwellings is nearly the same for both the burrough and the township. This is probably due to how the data has been interpreted. The landsat image shows less canopy for the burrough than in the township. Data from the ground truthing shows that the average dwelling occupies 0.4 acres with an average of 16.2 trees per dwelling and 32.3 trees per acre. No comparison figures were gathered for uncut forest or secondary successional forest. In conclusion, it is not a foregone conclusion that increasing population density necessarilly decreases plant cover.
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