Evaluating the trade-off between food and timber resulting from the conversion of Miombo forests to agricultural land in Angola using multi-temporal Landsat data

Schneibel, Anne; Stellmes, Marion; Röder, Achim; Finckh, Manfred; Revermann, Rasmus; Frantz, David; Hill, Joachim

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.137

Cited by 34 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…It is assumed that deforestation and forest degradation rates are unprecedentedly high, especially close to cities and infrastructures due to easy access and market opportunities [12]. While deforestation for agriculture has already been quantified [15], more subtle forest dynamics, like degradation processes in the study area, remain unstudied [37].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2017, 9, 905 4 of 14 market opportunities [12]. While deforestation for agriculture has already been quantified [15], more subtle forest dynamics, like degradation processes in the study area, remain unstudied [37]. Figure 1.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 1. Location of the study area (top right) and distribution of stable forests/woodlands (green), as well as the location of cultivation areas (pink) that were established between 1989 and 2013 [15]. Furthermore, the municipality centres and the connecting paved roads are shown.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Slash-and-burn agriculture is widespread and is further increasing due to population growth and the ongoing lack of food supply [14]. This has resulted in immense trade-off processes in south central Angola between wood products and food and an annual deforestation rate of 5.6% for all forested areas between 1989 and 2013 [15]. As a result, large gaps in the canopy of the surrounding forests can be observed, also because agricultural expansion is usually accompanied by selective felling for different purposes [1].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the detection of stand-replacing conversion of forest to agriculture has been studied most intensively in general, e.g., [19], and to a lesser degree in Angola [15,20], forest degradation is a subtle modification process [21] that is largely understudied [22,23]. Forest modification is more prevalent than conversion; however, the increased temporal and spatial complexity of measurements has resulted in a far lower number of case studies [24].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Annual Landsat Time Series for the Detection of Dry Forest Degradation Processes in South-Central Angola

et al. 2017

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Dry tropical forests undergo massive conversion and degradation processes. This also holds true for the extensive Miombo forests that cover large parts of Southern Africa. While the largest proportional area can be found in Angola, the country still struggles with food shortages, insufficient medical and educational supplies, as well as the ongoing reconstruction of infrastructure after 27 years of civil war. Especially in rural areas, the local population is therefore still heavily dependent on the consumption of natural resources, as well as subsistence agriculture. This leads, on one hand, to large areas of Miombo forests being converted for cultivation purposes, but on the other hand, to degradation processes due to the selective use of forest resources. While forest conversion in south-central rural Angola has already been quantitatively described, information about forest degradation is not yet available. This is due to the history of conflicts and the therewith connected research difficulties, as well as the remote location of this area. We apply an annual time series approach using Landsat data in south-central Angola not only to assess the current degradation status of the Miombo forests, but also to derive past developments reaching back to times of armed conflicts. We use the Disturbance Index based on tasseled cap transformation to exclude external influences like inter-annual variation of rainfall. Based on this time series, linear regression is calculated for forest areas unaffected by conversion, but also for the pre-conversion period of those areas that were used for cultivation purposes during the observation time. Metrics derived from linear regression are used to classify the study area according to their dominant modification processes. We compare our results to MODIS latent integral trends and to further products to derive information on underlying drivers. Around 13% of the Miombo forests are affected by degradation processes, especially along streets, in villages, and close to existing agriculture. However, areas in presumably remote and dense forest areas are also affected to a significant extent. A comparison with MODIS derived fire ignition data shows that they are most likely affected by recurring fires and less by selective timber extraction. We confirm that areas that are used for agriculture are more heavily disturbed by selective use beforehand than those that remain unaffected by conversion. The results can be substantiated by the MODIS latent integral trends and we also show that due to extent and location, the assessment of forest conversion is most likely not sufficient to provide good estimates for the loss of natural resources.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Annual Landsat Time Series for the Detection of Dry Forest Degradation Processes in South-Central Angola

et al. 2017

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Assessing the conservation of Miombo timber species through an integrated index of anthropogenic and climatic threats

Catarino

Romeiras

Pereira

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Vegetation Survey, Classification and Mapping in Angola

Revermann

Finckh

2019

Biodiversity of Angola

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Spatial information about plant species composition and the distribution of vegetation types is an essential baseline for natural resource management planning. In Angola, the first countrywide vegetation map was elaborated by Gossweiler in 1939. Subsequently, Barbosa published a revised map with much higher detail in 1970 and his work has remained the main reference for the vegetation of Angola until today. However, these early maps were expert drawn and were not based on systematic surveys. Instead, the delimitation of vegetation units was based on many years of field observations and also incorporated results of local studies carried out by other authors. In spite the rich history of the scientific exploration of Angola's vegetation in colonial times, quantitative and plot based studies were rare. After the end of the armed conflict, new vegetation surveys making use of new methodological developments in numerical approaches to vegetation classification in combination with modern remote sensing imagery have provided spatial information of unprecedented detail. However, vast areas of the country still remain seriously understudied. At the same time, sustainable land management strategies are urgently needed due to the increasing pressure on natural resources driven by socio-economic development and global change, thus calling for a new era of vegetation surveys that will enable data-based landuse and conservation planning in Angola.

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Evaluating the trade-off between food and timber resulting from the conversion of Miombo forests to agricultural land in Angola using multi-temporal Landsat data

Cited by 34 publications

References 47 publications

Using Annual Landsat Time Series for the Detection of Dry Forest Degradation Processes in South-Central Angola

Using Annual Landsat Time Series for the Detection of Dry Forest Degradation Processes in South-Central Angola

Assessing the conservation of Miombo timber species through an integrated index of anthropogenic and climatic threats

Vegetation Survey, Classification and Mapping in Angola

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