AS GLOBAL FORESTS BECOME MORE FRAGMENTED EDGE INFLUENCES BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT. HADDAD ET AL. (2015) ESTIMATE THAT 70% OF WORLD FORESTS ARE NOW WITHIN 1 KM OF AN EDGE. FOREST EDGES RECEIVE MORE SUNLIGHT AND ARE TYPICALLY DRIER AND WARMER. THEY ARE AT HIGHER RISK OF DAMAGE FROM FIRES STORMS AND IMPACTS FROM ADJACENT LAND USES INCLUDING EXPOSURE TO AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS NON-NATIVE PLANTS AND INSECTS SOIL COMPACTION AND CHANGES IN HYDROLOGY AND SOIL CHEMISTRY. AS A RESULT FOREST EDGES TYPICALLY FORM A DIFFERENT HABITAT AND ARE HOME TO A DIFFERENT SUITE OF SPECIES THAN INTERIOR FORESTS. MANY SPECIES FIND EDGE ENVIRONMENTS INIMICAL OTHERS BENEFIT FROM PROXIMITY TO VARIED HABITAT. IN ORDER TO ACCURATELY PLAN AND MONITOR CONSERVATION EFFORTS TO PROTECT FOREST COMMUNITIES IT IS VITAL THAT WE GAIN A RICHER UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPACTS OF EDGES ON FOREST STRUCTURE. WITH FEW EXCEPTIONS PAST STUDIES OF THE INFLUENCE OF EDGES ON FOREST STRUCTURE HAVE BEEN DONE AT THE PLOT LEVEL. THERE IS LITTLE CONSENSUS AMONG THESE STUDIES AS TO THE MAGNITUDE OF EDGE EFFECTS OR EVEN THE SIGN OF THE CHANGE WHEN MOVING FROM THE FOREST INTERIOR TO THE EDGE (HARPER ET AL. 2005). DIFFERENCES IN PLOT STUDY RESULTS ARE LIKELY DUE TO HIGH VARIABILITY IN FOREST EDGE COMPOSITION AND TO SMALL SAMPLE SIZE. TO PROVIDE A MORE ROBUST DESCRIPTION OF FOREST EDGE STRUCTURE THEREFORE AN INCREASED SAMPLE SIZE IS NECESSARY. IN ADDITION DISTANCE FROM FOREST EDGE THE MOST COMMONLY USED VARIABLE IN FOREST EDGE STUDIES IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO PREDICT EDGE IMPACTS. THE ADDITION OF SPATIAL VARIABLES DESCRIBING FOREST TOPOLOGY SUCH AS PATCH SIZE AND SHAPE HAS BEEN SHOWN TO PROVIDE MORE ACCURATE CHARACTERIZATIONS OF FOREST EDGE EFFECTS. WE ALSO HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE ADDITION OF VARIABLES DESCRIBING CLIMATE ADJACENT LAND USE AND TIME FROM FOREST EDGE CREATION NOT YET WIDELY STUDIED WILL IMPROVE FOREST EDGE MODELING. IN THE CASE OF FOREST STRUCTURE MODELING FOREST EDGE INFLUENCES CAN BEST BE DONE USING REMOTE SENSING DATA. WE PROPOSE UNDER THE RESEARCH ACTIVITY OF THIS FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT TO USE LANDSAT AND LANDSAT-DERIVED DATA AT 30 M RESOLUTION SUPPORTED BY ANCILLARY LIDAR DATA TO PERFORM THE FOLLOWING TASKS IN SUPPORT OF THE ECOLOGY COMMUNITY: 1. DEFINE FOREST EDGES USING A THRESHOLD APPROACH. MAP GLOBAL FOREST EDGES AT 30M. MAP INDEPENDENT FOREST STRUCTURE VARIABLES: TREE COVER GREENNESS AND FOREST HEIGHT. TEST AND SELECT SPATIAL VARIABLES BEST CORRELATED WITH EDGE INFLUENCES ON FOREST STRUCTURE VARIABLES. 2. RESEARCH THE EFFECT OF CLIMATE (TEMPERATURE PRECIPITATION DROUGHT AND WIND SPEED) ON FOREST EDGES. HOW DO FOREST EDGES DIFFER IN VARIED CLIMATES? HOW WILL CLIMATE CHANGE ESPECIALLY INCREASED TEMPERATURE AND DROUGHT CHANGE FOREST EDGES? 3. ANALYZE THE EVOLUTION OF FOREST EDGES. DO EFFECTS EXPAND INTO INTERIOR FOREST? DO EDGES HEAL OVER TIME? 4. DETERMINE THE INFLUENCE OF ADJACENT LAND USES ON FOREST EDGES. HOW DO AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES ROADS LOGGING AND OTHER HUMAN ENTERPRISES DIFFER IN THEIR IMPACTS ON NEARBY FORESTS? 5. DEVELOP A MODEL RELATING CLIMATE TIME FROM EDGE CREATION ADJACENT LAND USE AND FOREST PATCH TOPOLOGY TO FOREST STRUCTURE VARIABLES (TREE HEIGHT GREENNESS AND CANOPY COVER). 6. APPLY THIS MODEL AS AN EXTENSION TO A FOREST LANDSCAPE MODEL (LANDIS-II) AND DEMONSTRATE ITS USE IN A SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODEL (MAXENT). IN LIGHT OF INCREASING FOREST FRAGMENTATION MODELS OF FOREST EDGE STRUCTURE ARE EXPECTED TO PROVIDE SIGNIFICANT BENEFIT TO CONSERVATION RESEARCHERS AND MANAGERS DEDICATED TO PRESERVING BIODIVERSITY. CONSERVATIONISTS AND ECOLOGISTS NEED BETTER TOOLS TO PREDICT HABITAT SUITABILITY CHANGES IN FRAGMENTED FORESTS OVER TIME AND THE SUCCESS OF CORRIDORS AND PRESERVES. THE PROPOSED EFFORT HAS THE ADDITIONAL BENEFIT OF IMPROVING BIOMASS ESTIMATION FOR CARBON ACCOUNTING.