Landscape disturbance status and trend analysis report for the North Coast and Cascades Inventory and Monitoring Network, 1987–2017
Laughlin MM, Antonova N , Boetsch JR , Harvey BJ, Lawler JJ. 2025. Landscape disturbance status and trend analysis report for the North Coast and Cascades Inventory and Monitoring Network, 1987–2017. Science Report. NPS/SR—2025/310. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Colorado. https://doi.org/10.36967/2313366
Disturbance is a key characteristic of landscapes that significantly influences ecosystem functions such as carbon storage, water storage, and nutrient cycling, as well as ecosystem structure and productivity. This report summarizes disturbance patterns and trends for three national parks—North Cascades National Park Service Complex, Olympic National Park, and Mount Rainier National Park—and adjacent federally protected wilderness areas in the Pacific Northwest. We assessed changes greater than 0.8 ha across a 31-year period from 1987 through 2017 as detected using freely available satellite imagery, an automated change detection algorithm, and human review to identify and label disturbance areas in the following categories: Fire, Riparian Change, Avalanche, Defoliation, Mass Movement, Blowdown, Coastal Change, Ice Damage, Development, and Clearing. Fire was the predominant disturbance category for all parks combined, affecting 78% of cumulative disturbed area, followed by Defoliation which affected approximately 12% of total disturbed area. Generalized linear models indicated significant increases of annual disturbed area affected by Fire at Mount Rainier and Olympic National Park. Mean disturbance patch size also increased for Mount Rainier and all park study areas combined. Additionally, the number of Defoliation disturbance events at North Cascades National Park Service Complex and in all park study areas combined increased in the latter half of the study period (2000 to 2017) compared with the first half, as well as annual area affected by Defoliation in the eastern portion of North Cascades. These results, maps, and summaries provide useful baseline information about the frequency, extent, and magnitude of landscape change processes in and adjacent to our parks that can be used for guiding natural resource planning and understanding disturbance patterns in remote wilderness areas.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Laughlin, Madison; Antonova, Natasha; Boetsch, John; Harvey, Brian; Lawler, Joshua
- Date of Issue
- 2025-05
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- DOI
- 10.36967/2313366
- Units
- MORA , NOCA , NRSS , OLYM
- Keywords
- avalanche, blowdown, clearing, coastal change, debris flow, defoliation, development, disturbance, fire, ice damage, landscape change, landscape change monitoring, Landscape Ecology Modeling Mapping and Analysis, landslide, LandTrendr, LEMMA, mass movement, riparian change, snow water equivalent, SPEI, standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index, SWE, vapor pressure deficit, VPD
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Landscapes | Landscape Dynamics | Land Cover and Use