Contributing Factors to Forest Loss in Conterminous U.S. for the 1990s and 2000s

While numerous studies have considered forest loss factors at local scales, there is a gap of comparative quantitative regional modeling at the U.S. national level. Here, we investigated statistical relationships between gross forest cover loss (GFCL) and numerous socioeconomic, biophysical and ownership variables between two decades, the 1990s and the 2000s. A spatial error model was employed to compensate for spatial autocorrelation effects. Models from the 2000s had stronger explanatory power than the 1990s models, especially in the Northeast and the South (R² of 0.89 and 0.87 respectively). The amount of forested areas in low slopes was a highly influential factor for high GFCL, followed by urban area cover and mill density. On the other hand, agricultural cover was negatively correlated with GFCL acting as a stabilizing factor in the South and Midwest regions. Our study offers an important insight in regional drivers of GFCL, drivers that should be further examined in the local context to gather better understanding of their contributions.