Imagery from 1989 and 1992 was used to determine the spatial pattern of forest clearing and road building. The size of individual cleared patches and the proximity of clear-cut areas to streams were examined on a watershed basis. There were major differences in spatial pattern of land cover change, particularly loss of evergreen forest across the Columbia River Estuary drainage basin, with some sub-watershed basins significantly altered. Two watersheds displayed a consistent pattern of large amounts of forest clearing clustered in large patches located close to streams. The importance of some estuarine habitats in the maintenance of commercially and ecologically important species is broadly recognized.
Destructive harvesting can have direct consequences for habitat functioning.
Only recently have we begun to evaluate these habitats for their ecosystem services rather than solely for their consumptive value. Recognizing the limitations of existing data, we make a case for broadening our understanding of these ecological functions.