Declining Amazon biomass due to deforestation and subsequent degradation losses exceeding gains

Fawcett, Dominic; Sitch, Stephen; Ciais, Philippe; Wigneron, Jean‐Pierre; Silva, Celso; Heinrich, Viola; Vancutsem, Christelle; Achard, Frédéric; Bastos, Ana; Yang, Hui; Li, Xiaojun; Albergel, Clément; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Aragão, Luiz Eduardo Oliveira e Cruz de

doi:10.1111/gcb.16513

Cited by 33 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 99 publications

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“…In this study, we find that degradation accounted for 49% of the combined anthropogenic (i.e. deforestation and degradation) carbon losses, confirming its importance as a major source of land use change emissions, albeit one not easily accounted for in the global carbon budget 45 . We anticipated that PAs would be less effective at reducing degradation compared to deforestation, as the transient activities that lead to the degradation of AGC, such harvesting for timber and charcoal 34 , would be harder to reduce in PAs than the more sedentary activities that cause deforestation, which is often driven by agricultural expansion 36 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Protected areas reduce deforestation and degradation and enhance woody growth across African woodlands

McNicol,

Keane,

Burgess

et al. 2023

Commun Earth Environ

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Protected areas are increasingly promoted for their capacity to sequester carbon, alongside biodiversity benefits. However, we have limited understanding of whether they are effective at reducing deforestation and degradation, or promoting vegetation growth, and the impact that this has on changes to aboveground woody carbon stocks. Here we present a new satellite radar-based map of vegetation carbon change across southern Africa’s woodlands and combine this with a matching approach to assess the effect of protected areas on carbon dynamics. We show that protection has a positive effect on aboveground carbon, with stocks increasing faster in protected areas (+0.53% per year) compared to comparable lands not under protection (+0.08% per year). The positive effect of protection reflects lower rates of deforestation (−39%) and degradation (−25%), as well as a greater prevalence of vegetation growth (+12%) inside protected lands. Areas under strict protection had similar outcomes to other types of protection after controlling for differences in location, with effect scores instead varying more by country, and the level of threat. These results highlight the potential for protected areas to sequester aboveground carbon, although we caution that in some areas this may have negative impacts on biodiversity, and human wellbeing.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Protected areas reduce deforestation and degradation and enhance woody growth across African woodlands

McNicol,

Keane,

Burgess

et al. 2023

Commun Earth Environ

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“…Another possible source of difference is the growth of primary forest with time, which can cause differences in soil P and aboveground biomass P contents in primary forests before conversion. However, changes in vegetation stored P in primary forests over 100 years might not be evident, as the increase in total aboveground biomass C within 10 years in Brazil was found to be minor (Fawcett et al., 2022), and thus, the impacts on changes in soil P with pasture age are also expected to be minor. With the potential sources of differences, it is worth noting that differences in the initial P pool sizes and rates might also account for the observed variability (i.e., total P in 39y pasture) and lack of change in soil P pools.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil phosphorus cycling across a 100‐year deforestation chronosequence in the Amazon rainforest

Xu,

Gu,

Rodrigues

et al. 2023

Global Change Biology

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Deforestation of tropical rainforests is a major land use change that alters terrestrial biogeochemical cycling at local to global scales. Deforestation and subsequent reforestation are likely to impact soil phosphorus (P) cycling, which in P‐limited ecosystems such as the Amazon basin has implications for long‐term productivity. We used a 100‐year replicated observational chronosequence of primary forest conversion to pasture, as well as a 13‐year‐old secondary forest, to test land use change and duration effects on soil P dynamics in the Amazon basin. By combining sequential extraction and P K‐edge X‐ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy with soil phosphatase activity assays, we assessed pools and process rates of P cycling in surface soils (0–10 cm depth). Deforestation caused increases in total P (135–398 mg kg−1), total organic P (Po) (19–168 mg kg−1), and total inorganic P (Pi) (30–113 mg kg−1) fractions in surface soils with pasture age, with concomitant increases in Pi fractions corroborated by sequential fractionation and XANES spectroscopy. Soil non‐labile Po (10–148 mg kg−1) increased disproportionately compared to labile Po (from 4–5 to 7–13 mg kg−1). Soil phosphomonoesterase and phosphodiesterase binding affinity (Km) decreased while the specificity constant (Ka) increased by 83%–159% in 39–100y pastures. Soil P pools and process rates reverted to magnitudes similar to primary forests within 13 years of pasture abandonment. However, the relatively short but representative pre‐abandonment pasture duration of our secondary forest may not have entailed significant deforestation effects on soil P cycling, highlighting the need to consider both pasture duration and reforestation age in evaluations of Amazon land use legacies. Although the space‐for‐time substitution design can entail variation in the initial soil P pools due to atmospheric P deposition, soil properties, and/or primary forest growth, the trend of P pools and process rates with pasture age still provides valuable insights.

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“…One of them is what happens in the Amazon, where research by Dominic et al shows that deforestation has threatened carbon reserves in the Amazon forest, which has resulted in climate change. (2) Central Kalimantan forests are one of the forests that have a reasonably high deforestation rate. It was recorded that from 1990-2014, Central Kalimantan's forests decreased by around 1.12% (± 0.36 IOP Publishing doi:10.1088/1755-1315/1323/1/012017 2 million hectares) per year, or there was a decrease in forest land of 1.36% annually.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) In Overcoming Deforestation In Central Kalimantan 2017-2020

Susilowati,

Sholeh,

Yunus

et al. 2024

IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.

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Climate change is a global environmental problem, one of the causes of which is deforestation. As the second largest province in Indonesia, with forest area reaching 50% of the total area, Central Kalimantan has a vital role in environmental problems and deforestation. Government policies that convert forests into non-forest areas increase the rate of deforestation and increase global emissions. Deforestation is a worldwide problem that requires joint attention in handling, especially for the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as the international environmental regime. This research is a type of qualitative research that uses analytical descriptive methods to describe the phenomenon of deforestation in Central Kalimantan and UNEP’s role in overcoming it. Library study techniques are used to collect research data in documents, which are compiled, analyzed, and concluded. UNEP’s role in realizing SDG 13 is examined using an international regime approach through global diplomacy. The research results show that UNEP, as an international regime, plays a vital role in making global regulations regarding handling climate change from the deforestation sector through REDD+. In its implementation, UNEP assisted Indonesia in implementing REDD+ in Central Kalimantan and acted as a catalyst, facilitator, advocate, and educator on the issue of deforestation in Central Kalimantan in 2017-2020. This research is essential to show the urgency of the multi-stakeholder role in global diplomacy in dealing with climate change.

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Declining Amazon biomass due to deforestation and subsequent degradation losses exceeding gains

Cited by 33 publications

References 99 publications

Protected areas reduce deforestation and degradation and enhance woody growth across African woodlands

Protected areas reduce deforestation and degradation and enhance woody growth across African woodlands

Soil phosphorus cycling across a 100‐year deforestation chronosequence in the Amazon rainforest

The Role of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) In Overcoming Deforestation In Central Kalimantan 2017-2020

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