Examining what happened to Northeast Ohio's forests
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
Cleveland isn't known for vast swaths of forest — but the area has a much greener history.
Driving the news: A newly published study by Baldwin Wallace University ecology professor Kathryn Flinn and student researcher Zachary Hughes documents how Northeast Ohio lost an enormous amount of forested land over the past 220 years.
Why it matters: Urban forests are crucial for reducing carbon emissions — thereby improving air quality — and for supporting native biodiversity.
Zoom in: The research explores the effects of urbanization on forests and proposes solutions to protect and restore these historic habitats.
What happened: Clearing forests for agriculture was the main cause of deforestation in the 19th century.
- As farming waned, many forests were restored, but the rise of suburban development in the 20th century — including housing and lawns — reversed much of those gains.
State of play: Forests dominated what is now Cuyahoga County before the 19th century, but now only 21% of county land is forested, and only 6.7% is primary forest — forest that was never cleared for farming.
By the numbers: Since 1979, 23% of new housing development in Cuyahoga County and 44% of new lawns destroyed forests, largely as a byproduct of suburban sprawl, the study found.
Between the lines: The study identified "fragmentation" as a major issue. Most of the existing local forests are in isolated patches of less than 45 acres, which does not foster species diversity and makes the forests more vulnerable to invasion.
What they're saying: "To our knowledge, this is the first such study of a near-completely forested landscape that became a major city," Flinn said in a statement.
- "Mature forests are Northeast Ohio's natural heritage and our connection to the past. They contain what is special and unique about Northeast Ohio."
Of note: The Cleveland Metroparks protects more than 25,000 acres of land across its 18 reservations. In 2022, Metroparks preserved an additional 342 new acres (including 283 acres of forests).
The bottom line: "To preserve forest biodiversity," the study concludes, "conservation efforts should focus on protecting remaining forests from development."