Proportions of wildland vegetation in proximity to buildings: Assessments for the conterminous United States, National Forests lands, and private inholdings

This data publication includes maps and summaries of building extent in wildland vegetation of the conterminous United States, based on a Microsoft building footprints dataset (released 2018) and the 2016 National Land Cover Dataset. Data products include 1) raster maps of building extent and intensity in wildland vegetation in the conterminous United States, 2) edited vector digital files used to summarize building impacts in National Forests and within National Forest private inholdings, and 3) tabular summaries of building impacts in wildland vegetation for the entire conterminous United States, for all National Forest System lands, for private inholdings on National Forests, and federally-owned National Forest System lands that are vulnerable to development impacts due to their proximity to private inholdings. The building extent raster indicates building presence within three ecological effect distances - 100, 250, or 500 meters - of wildland vegetation, and building intensity rasters indicate the number of buildings present within these three distances.Buildings in proximity to wildlands can degrade habitat quality and threaten biodiversity. Conservationists have called for efforts to expand protected areas in order to combat the global threat of development in wildlands, and the U.S. government has set a goal of protecting 30% of all land and water areas by 2030. However, identifying opportunities for conservation actions must account for existing development. Here, we quantified the extent and intensity of buildings in wildland vegetation in the conterminous U.S. and on U.S. National Forest System lands, which have experienced rapid housing growth on private inholdings. These maps and summaries can be used to assess development impacts in wildlands, and to identify wildland areas that are either impacted by development or currently free of development. Identifying these areas can be a useful criteria for prioritizing conservation actions based on current levels of development and the potential for future impacts.These data were published on 01/13/2023. Metadata updated on 10/17/2023 to include reference to newly published article. For more information about these data, see Carlson et al. (2023).本数据集成果包含美国本土（conterminous United States）野生植被（wildland vegetation）区域内的建筑范围制图与汇总统计结果，数据集基于2018年发布的微软建筑足迹数据集（Microsoft building footprints dataset）与2016年全国土地覆盖数据集（National Land Cover Dataset）构建。本次发布的数据产品包含三类：1）美国本土野生植被区域内建筑范围与建筑强度的栅格制图（raster maps）；2）经编辑的矢量数字文件（vector digital files），用于汇总统计国家森林（National Forests）及国家森林内私人内嵌地块（private inholdings）的建筑影响；3）针对以下范围的野生植被区域建筑影响的表格汇总：全美国本土区域、全部国家森林系统土地（National Forest System lands）、国家森林内的私人内嵌地块，以及因毗邻私人内嵌地块而易受开发影响的联邦所有国家森林系统土地。建筑范围栅格图层标注了野生植被周边100米、250米或500米这三个生态影响距离范围内的建筑分布情况；建筑强度栅格图层则标注了上述三个距离范围内的建筑数量。毗邻野生区域的建筑会降低栖息地质量，威胁生物多样性（biodiversity）。自然保护主义者呼吁扩大保护区范围，以应对全球范围内野生区域开发带来的威胁；美国政府也设定了到2030年保护30%陆地与水域面积的目标。然而，在确定保护行动的可行区域时，必须考虑到已存在的开发活动。本研究量化了美国本土及美国国家森林系统土地内野生植被区域的建筑范围与强度——这些区域的私人内嵌地块正经历住房的快速增长。本次发布的制图与汇总结果可用于评估野生区域的开发影响，并识别已受开发影响或当前未受开发影响的野生区域。识别此类区域可作为基于当前开发水平与未来影响潜力制定保护行动优先级的有效依据。本数据集于2023年1月13日发布，元数据于2023年10月17日更新，新增了对新近发表论文的引用。如需了解更多数据集相关信息，请参阅Carlson等人（2023）的研究成果。