Conversion of of forestlands to blueberries: Assessing implications for habitat quality in Alabaha river watershed in Southeastern Georgia, United States

This study assesses the dynamics of land use changes (LUCs) and its effects on the habitat quality in the Alabaha River watershed (985 km(2)) located in southeastern Georgia, where about 3940 ha of evergreen forest and pasture/hay moved to blueberries between 2010 and 2017. Four (2006, 2010, 2015, and 2017) land use maps were prepared with an overall accuracy of 89% using supervised classification methods. Based on these maps, LUCs for the year 2022 and 2030 were projected using Markov Multi-Layer Perceptron approach. FRAGSTATS was used to assess changes in landscape configuration and composition over time. Using the InVEST model, changes in habitat quality were quantified over time. The model projected that the land under evergreen forest and pasture/hay would decrease by 2% and 1.5%, respectively, whereas the land under blueberry would increase by 3.7% between 2015 and 2030. The Index of Landscape Conservation declined by 19% between 2006 and 2030. The mean habitat quality decreased by 37% in the same period. The areas of high habitat quality were concentrated in regions with less-modified land cover. A collaborative approach involving stakeholder groups is needed for the management of biodiversity and other ESs in the Alabaha River watershed in the context of deforestation caused by blueberry production.