The Amazon Frontier of Land-Use Change: Croplands and Consequences for Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Galford, Gillian L.; Melillo, Jerry M.; Mustard, John F.; Cerri, Carlos Eduardo Pellegrino; Cerri, Carlos C.

doi:10.1175/2010ei327.1

Cited by 52 publications

(39 citation statements)

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“…For the period 1901 to 2001, we combined information from census estimates (SIDRA 2009a) and annual crop statistics (SIDRA 2009b) with the distribution patterns of pasture, single crops, and double crops determined from remote sensing imagery for the year 2001 (Morton et al 2006, Galford et al 2010. For the period between 2001 and 2006, we use the changes in distribution patterns of pastures, single crops, and double crops as determined from remote sensing imagery (Morton et al 2006, Galford et al 2010). Climate and atmospheric chemistry data sets.-The version of TEM used in this study requires spatially explicit data for three climate variables (air temperature, precipitation, cloudiness) and one atmospheric-chemistry variable (ozone) at a monthly time step.…”

Section: Input Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2) The cerrado region hosts more of the croplands than the other natural ecosystems, and by 2006, almost 20% of the cerrado region had been converted to croplands (Galford et al 2010). Pastures tend to be more spatially disparate, while croplands nucleate around existing croplands (Fig.…”

Section: Historical Land Use Reconstructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here we explore the combined role of this complex set of controls on regional-scale carbon emissions from the state of Mato Grosso, home of Brazil's fastest growing agricultural frontier (Hansen et al 2008, INPE 2009b, Galford et al 2010. We quantify land use emissions in the context of changes in the carbon budget of the state's remaining intact natural ecosystems, the forests and the cerrado.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Historical carbon emissions and uptake from the agricultural frontier of the Brazilian Amazon

Galford¹,

Melillo²,

Kicklighter³

et al. 2011

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. Tropical ecosystems play a large and complex role in the global carbon cycle. Clearing of natural ecosystems for agriculture leads to large pulses of CO 2 to the atmosphere from terrestrial biomass. Concurrently, the remaining intact ecosystems, especially tropical forests, may be sequestering a large amount of carbon from the atmosphere in response to global environmental changes including climate changes and an increase in atmospheric CO 2 . Here we use an approach that integrates census-based historical land use reconstructions, remote-sensing-based contemporary land use change analyses, and simulation modeling of terrestrial biogeochemistry to estimate the net carbon balance over the period 1901-2006 for the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, which is one of the most rapidly changing agricultural frontiers in the world. By the end of this period, we estimate that of the state's 925 225 km 2 , 221 092 km 2 have been converted to pastures and 89 533 km 2 have been converted to croplands, with forest-to-pasture conversions being the dominant land use trajectory but with recent transitions to croplands increasing rapidly in the last decade. These conversions have led to a cumulative release of 4.8 Pg C to the atmosphere, with ;80% from forest clearing and 20% from the clearing of cerrado. Over the same period, we estimate that the residual undisturbed ecosystems accumulated 0.3 Pg C in response to CO 2 fertilization. Therefore, the net emissions of carbon from Mato Grosso over this period were 4.5 Pg C. Net carbon emissions from Mato Grosso since 2000 averaged 146 Tg C/yr, on the order of Brazil's fossil fuel emissions during this period. These emissions were associated with the expansion of croplands to grow soybeans. While alternative management regimes in croplands, including tillage, fertilization, and cropping patterns promote carbon storage in ecosystems, they remain a small portion of the net carbon balance for the region. This detailed accounting of a region's carbon balance is the type of foundation analysis needed by the new United Nations Collaborative Programmme for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).

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Section: Input Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Historical Land Use Reconstructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Historical carbon emissions and uptake from the agricultural frontier of the Brazilian Amazon

Galford¹,

Melillo²,

Kicklighter³

et al. 2011

Ecological Applications

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“…For the Brazilian Cerrado biome, Galford et al (2010) show that although the majority convert it to carbon density of both above and below ground biomass (BGB) using a root-to-shoot ratio of 0.27 (Saatchi et al 2007, Nogueira et al 2008, Saatchi et al 2011) (Saatchi et al 2007, Nogueira et al 2008, Saatchi et al 2011) (Saatchi et al 2007, Nogueira et al 2008, Saatchi et al 2011) (Saatchi et al 2007, Nogueira et al 2008, Saatchi et al 2011) (Saatchi et al 2007, Nogueira et al 2008, Saatchi et al 2011) (Saatchi et al 2007, Nogueira et al 2008, Saatchi et al 2011) and a carbon fraction of 0.47 (IPCC 2006). This yields an average carbon content of 128 tC/ha.…”

Section: (B) Boliviamentioning

confidence: 99%

Trading Forests: Quantifying the Contribution of Global Commodity Markets to Emissions from Tropical Deforestation

2014

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This paper aims to improve our understanding of how and where global supply-chains link consumers of agricultural and forest commodities across the world to forest destruction in tropical countries. A better understanding of these linkages can help inform and support the design of demand-side interventions to reduce tropical deforestation. To that end, we map the link between deforestation for four commodities (beef, soybeans, palm oil, and wood products) in eight case countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea) to consumption, through international trade. Although few, the studied countries comprise a large share of the internationally traded volumes of the analyzed commodities: 83% of beef and 99% of soybean exports from Latin America, 97% of global palm oil exports, and roughly half of (official) tropical wood products trade. The analysis covers the period 2000-2009. We find that roughly a third of tropical deforestation and associated carbon emissions (3.9 Mha and 1.7 GtCO2) in 2009 can be attributed to our four case commodities in our eight case countries. On average a third of analyzed deforestation was embodied in agricultural exports, mainly to the EU and China. However, in all countries but Bolivia and Brazil, export markets are dominant drivers of forest clearing for our case commodities. If one excludes Brazilian beef on average 57% of deforestation attributed to our case commodities was embodied in exports. The share of emissions that was embodied in exported commodities increased between 2000 and 2009 for every country in our study except Bolivia and Malaysia.JEL Codes: Q23, Q54, L73, Q02, Q17

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“…Por outro lado, a agricultura em grande escala e mecanizada vem ganhando espaço em regiões tropicais como a Amazônia, que se afasta cada vez mais da agricultura de subsistência (Galford et al, 2010). Não apenas a produção de grãos vem avançando na região amazônica como também a pecuária, que é fruto da pressão da demanda por carne e leite no mercado agrário nacional e internacional; desta produção participam pequenos, médios e grandes produtores agrícolas (Homma, 2005 (Browder, Pedlowski e Summers, 2004).…”

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Relações sobre usinas hidrelétricas e alterações nos modos de produção agrícola

Praia¹

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The installation of hydroelectric projects has increased in Brazil in the last decade. Likewise, the importance of agricultural production in the national economy has also grown. The land suppression and the alteration of the water flow caused by the flooding necessary to the implantation of hydroelectric plants alter the structure and dynamics of the regions directly affected by environmental and social processes such as resettlement, migration, real estate speculation, rural exodus, etc. These impacts of hydroelectric plants have been widely described in the literature. The present study sought to analyze in a specific way the impacts caused by the floods suffered by the Brazilian municipalities affected by hydroelectric plants and their reflection in the modes of agricultural production of the affected municipalities. The study included an exploratory analysis of the impacts of hydroelectric dams on agriculture using selected indicators from the national scale, complemented by a case-study at the local scale, focusing on the Jirau and Santo Antonio power plants in Porto Velho, Rondonia, through semi-structured interviews.The results from correlations obtained in the exploratory phase showed that the larger the size of the flooded area, the greater the variation of planted areas and the agricultural GDP of the affected municipalities. From the case study it was possible to identify that there are significant impacts on the agricultural production methods, and that this change can be explained by the difference between the quality of the soil of riverside regions and the quality of the soil in the resettlements. Such impacts may influence the indicators that reflect the amount of planted areas of these municipalities. The study also revealed that the impacts on agriculture were not predicted in the environmental impact studies of the Jirau and Santo Antônio hydropower plants.

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The Amazon Frontier of Land-Use Change: Croplands and Consequences for Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Cited by 52 publications

References 55 publications

Historical carbon emissions and uptake from the agricultural frontier of the Brazilian Amazon

Historical carbon emissions and uptake from the agricultural frontier of the Brazilian Amazon

Trading Forests: Quantifying the Contribution of Global Commodity Markets to Emissions from Tropical Deforestation

Relações sobre usinas hidrelétricas e alterações nos modos de produção agrícola

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