Human degradation of tropical moist forests is greater than previously estimated
2024
Bourgoin, Clément | Ceccherini, Guido | Girardello, Marco | Vancutsem, Christelle | Avitabile, Valerio | Beck, P. S. A. | Beuchle, R. | Blanc, Lilian | Duveiller, Grégory | Migliavacca, Mirco | Vieilledent, Ghislain | Cescatti, Alessandro | Achard, Frédéric | European Commission - Joint Research Centre [Ispra] (JRC) | Forêts et Sociétés (UPR Forêts et Sociétés) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) | Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry (MPI-BGC) ; Max-Planck-Gesellschaft | Botanique et Modélisation de l'Architecture des Plantes et des Végétations (UMR AMAP) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [Occitanie])-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)-Université de Montpellier (UM) | Département Systèmes Biologiques (Cirad-BIOS) ; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad) | This study has been partly financed through the European Union’s Amazonia+ programme and by the Directorate General for Climate Action of the European Commission (DG-CLIMA) through Lot 2 (TroFoMo (Tropical moist Forest Monitoring)) of the ForMonPol (Forest Monitoring for Policies)
International audience
显示更多 [+] 显示较少 [-]英语. Tropical forest degradation from selective logging, fire and edge effects is a major driver of carbon and biodiversity loss1–3, with annual rates comparable to those of deforestation4. However, its actual extent and long-term impacts remain uncertain at global tropical scale5. Here we quantify the magnitude and persistence of multiple types of degradation on forest structure by combining satellite remote sensing data on pantropical moist forest cover changes4 with estimates of canopy height and biomass from spaceborne6 light detection and ranging (LiDAR). We estimate that forest height decreases owing to selective logging and fire by 15% and 50%, respectively, with low rates of recovery even after 20 years. Agriculture and road expansion trigger a 20% to 30% reduction in canopy height and biomass at the forest edge, with persistent effects being measurable up to 1.5 km inside the forest. Edge effects encroach on 18% (approximately 206 Mha) of the remaining tropical moist forests, an area more than 200% larger than previously estimated7. Finally, degraded forests with more than 50% canopy loss are significantly more vulnerable to subsequent deforestation. Collectively, our findings call for greater efforts to prevent degradation and protect already degraded forests to meet the conservation pledges made at recent United Nations Climate Change and Biodiversity conferences.
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