Figure 2.2.8: US shrubland, grassland, and pasture cover distribution, 2011
Source: National Land Cover Dataset 2011
then the longer-term productivity of stressed rangelands in the southwest may be permanently reduced.
2.2.4 Land fragmentation
Land fragmentation is a spatial term referring to discontinuous patterns of land-use and land cover resulting from both natural processes and human interventions. Two
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perspectives are analysed in this North American assessment report: the first focuses on how land cover or land-use patterns affect ecological processes: fragmentation from an ‘intactness’ perspective. The second focuses on how land cover or land-use changes are affected by changes in land ownership: fragmentation through sub-division, also known as ‘parcelization’ (see also Box 2.2.1).
