Examining Impacts of Land Cover Change and Residential Development on an Urban Wetland Ecosystem in Worcester, Massachusetts

Keywords: GIS, urban development, land conservation, Broad Meadow Brook, flooding, wetland restoration
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 27

Abstract

In dense urban areas, green spaces such as parks and wetlands provide important ecosystem services to residents while maintaining ecological functions. Provided services include mitigated air and water pollution, decreased neighborhood flooding, lowered local air temperatures during heat waves, and enhanced recreation. To maintain ecological function of urban green spaces, particularly in the face of increasing extreme weather events and continued urban development, conservation efforts are required to respond to environmental degradation. The Broad Meadow Brook (BMB) Wildlife Sanctuary in Worcester, Massachusetts is currently undergoing ecological restoration, aiming to improve wetland health and function, promote growth of native biota, and reduce flooding downstream in residential neighborhoods. This study examines the impact of urban development around the BMB wetland, focusing on excess water drainage. The guiding research questions are: over the past fifty-plus years how has forest area and bare land, as well as wetland, changed in quantity and spatial concentration? More broadly, how has urban and socioeconomic development impacted the structure and function of the BMB wetland system? Geospatial analysis is employed to compare land use in the 1950s, before the establishment of BMB as a conservation area, with modern conditions. Results show that urban land area increased 29% from 1951 to 1971, while forest area decreased 5%, wetland 87%, and bare land 49%. From 1971 to 1999, forest area decreased a further 19%, and open land 7.6%, while residential land area increased 18%. Land change appeared to be driven primarily by development of residential lots in previously forested area.