Land-Use Change Trends in the Interior Lowland Ecoregion

This report describes land-cover trends in the Interior River Lowland ecoregion, located primarily in southern Illinois and includes the confluence areas of the Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Illinois, and Wabash Rivers, and their tributaries. Land-cover change statistics were tabulated from forty 10 kilometers (km) by 10-km multi-spectral remote-sensing sample areas collected from 1973 to 2000 and classified into nine primary land-cover categories. The results indicated stable land use. Agricultural land use increased, but acreage was lost to urbanization, especially in the St. Louis area. Recreational and conservation land uses are underrepresented relative to population demand. Findings were comparable to results of other land use research.