Improved estimates of forest cover and loss in the Brazilian Amazon in 2000-2017

Autores

Qin, Y., Xiao, X., Dong, J., Zhang, Y., Wu, X., Shimabukuro, Y., Arai, E., Biradar, C., Wang, J., Zou, Z., Liu, F., Shi, Z., Doughty, R. and Moore III, B

Publicado en

Nature Sustainability, v. 2:764–772

Año de publicación

2019

Afiliaciones

Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, Center for Spatial Analysis, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, Center for Spatial Analysis, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resource Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, Center for Spatial Analysis, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, Center for Spatial Analysis, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
Brazilian National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, Brazil
Brazilian National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, Brazil
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, Cairo, Egypt
Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, Center for Spatial Analysis, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, Center for Spatial Analysis, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA Institute of Geographic Science and Natural Resource Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, China
Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, Center for Spatial Analysis, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA
College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA.

Programa

CRN3

Proyecto

CRN3076

Keywords

Tropical forest area, Forest-loss, Brazilian Amazon

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-019-0336-9
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Resumen

The data, information and knowledge on the tropical forest area and its dynamics in the Brazilian Amazon remain contentious. We use time-series satellite images to quantify annual forest area, loss and gain in the Brazilian Amazon during 2000-2017. We find that forest area was ~15% higher than the estimate by the official Brazilian forest dataset (PRODES), but annual forest-loss rates were twice the PRODES estimates (~0.027 × 10⁶ km² yr-1 during 2001-2016). Forest-loss rates increased again after 2013. The El Niño and drought year (2015/2016) drove large forest area loss. The cumulative forest-loss area within the protected areas (which include ~50% of forests in the region) was ~11% of the total forest-loss area, which highlights the roles of protected areas in forest conservation.