Project Director: Chris Anderson

Funding Organization: National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine: Gulf Research Program

Funding Cycles: Healthy Ecosystems 4

Description: Along the Gulf of Mexico, the conversion of forests to urban or other agricultural uses can exacerbate water pollution and discharge. Land use change has become particularly apparent along the ‘Emerald Coast,’ a region of coastal Alabama and the Florida panhandle. This project seeks to understand how climate and various socioeconomic factors may change forest and landowner decisions; and how forest loss may affect water quality and drainage patterns along the coast. The team will develop a framework that includes 30-year land use and land cover (LULC) scenarios to predict future coastal ecosystem conditions.