The role of pasture and soybean in deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon

Barona, Elizabeth; Ramankutty, Navin; Hyman, Glenn; Coomes, Oliver T.

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/5/2/024002

Cited by 533 publications

(405 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Indeed, studies carried out at the regional scale suggest that cropland intensification and expansion during the 2000s displaced cattle ranching to the frontier region, causing deforestation (Barona et al, 2010). Pasturelands occupy~85% of cleared areas (IBGE, 2006) and herd growth between 2000 and 2005 has a 40% correlation with deforestation (SoaresFilho et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensification of cattle ranching production systems: socioeconomic and environmental synergies and risks in Brazil

Latawiec

Strassburg

Valentim

et al. 2014

Animal

117

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Intensification of Brazilian cattle ranching systems has attracted both national and international attention due to its direct relation with Amazon deforestation on the one hand and increasing demand of the global population for meat on the other. Since Brazilian cattle ranching is predominantly pasture-based, we particularly focus on pasture management. We summarize the most recurrent opportunities and risks associated with pasture intensification that are brought up within scientific and political dialogues, and discuss them within the Brazilian context. We argue that sustainable intensification of pasturelands in Brazil is a viable way to increase agricultural output while simultaneously sparing land for nature. Since environmental degradation is often associated with low-yield extensive systems in Brazil, it is possible to obtain higher yields, while reversing degradation, by adopting practices like rotational grazing, incorporation of legumes and integrated crop-livestock-forestry systems. Technical assistance is however essential, particularly for small-and medium-scale farmers. Sound complementary policies and good governance must accompany these measures so that a 'rebound effect' does not lead to increased deforestation and other adverse social and environmental impacts. It is also important that animal welfare is not compromised. Although the discussion is presented with respect to Brazil, some aspects are relevant to other developing countries.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intensification of cattle ranching production systems: socioeconomic and environmental synergies and risks in Brazil

Latawiec

Strassburg

Valentim

et al. 2014

Animal

117

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“…While pasture remained the predominant land use following deforestation, clearing forest for soya bean contributed about 12 per cent of Mato Grosso's deforestation for large clearings (more than 25 ha) in 2000-2005 [7,15]. Indirect deforestation, or 'leakage', pushed clearing for pasture further into the agricultural frontier as soya bean expanded into pasture, accounting for additional deforestation attributable to the soya bean boom [16,17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Export-oriented deforestation in Mato Grosso: harbinger or exception for other tropical forests?

DeFries

Herold

Verchot

et al. 2013

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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The Brazilian state of Mato Grosso was a global deforestation hotspot in the early 2000s. Deforested land is used predominantly to produce meat for distal consumption either through cattle ranching or soya bean for livestock feed. Deforestation declined dramatically in the latter part of the decade through a combination of market forces, policies, enforcement and improved monitoring. This study assesses how representative the national-level drivers underlying Mato Grosso's export-oriented deforestation are in other tropical forest countries based on agricultural exports, commercial agriculture and urbanization. We also assess how pervasive the governance and technical monitoring capacity that enabled Mato Grosso's decline in deforestation is in other countries. We find that between 41 and 54 per cent of 2000–2005 deforestation in tropical forest countries (other than Brazil) occurred in countries with drivers similar to Brazil. Very few countries had national-level governance and capacity similar to Brazil. Results suggest that the ecological, hydrological and social consequences of land-use change for export-oriented agriculture as discussed in this Theme Issue were applicable in about one-third of all tropical forest countries in 2000–2005. However, the feasibility of replicating Mato Grosso's success with controlling deforestation is more limited. Production landscapes to support distal consumption similar to Mato Grosso are likely to become more prevalent and are unlikely to follow a land-use transition model with increasing forest cover.

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“…Although this change may have released pressure on rangeland systems, it has not avoided expansion of domestic livestock grazing into natural rangelands. This outcome has been the case in most of Africa and in the Brazilian Cerrado and Amazon region, whereas at the same time grazed rangelands in the central south of Brazil were replaced by cropland, such as for soybean and sugarcane production (15,16).…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Assessing the impacts of livestock production on biodiversity in rangeland ecosystems

Alkemade

Reid

Berg

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

253

182

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Biodiversity in rangelands is decreasing, due to intense utilization for livestock production and conversion of rangeland into cropland; yet the outlook of rangeland biodiversity has not been considered in view of future global demand for food. Here we assess the impact of future livestock production on the global rangelands area and their biodiversity. First we formalized existing knowledge about livestock grazing impacts on biodiversity, expressed in mean species abundance (MSA) of the original rangeland native species assemblages, through metaanalysis of peer-reviewed literature. MSA values, ranging from 1 in natural rangelands to 0.3 in man-made grasslands, were entered in the IMAGE-GLOBIO model. This model was used to assess the impact of change in food demand and livestock production on future rangeland biodiversity. The model revealed remarkable regional variation in impact on rangeland area and MSA between two agricultural production scenarios. The area of used rangelands slightly increases globally between 2000 and 2050 in the baseline scenario and reduces under a scenario of enhanced uptake of resource-efficient production technologies increasing production [high levels of agricultural knowledge, science, and technology (high-AKST)], particularly in Africa. Both scenarios suggest a global decrease in MSA for rangelands until 2050. The contribution of livestock grazing to MSA loss is, however, expected to diminish after 2030, in particular in Africa under the high-AKST scenario. Policies fostering agricultural intensification can reduce the overall pressure on rangeland biodiversity, but additional measures, addressing factors such as climate change and infrastructural development, are necessary to totally halt biodiversity loss.

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The role of pasture and soybean in deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon

Cited by 533 publications

References 20 publications

Intensification of cattle ranching production systems: socioeconomic and environmental synergies and risks in Brazil

Intensification of cattle ranching production systems: socioeconomic and environmental synergies and risks in Brazil

Export-oriented deforestation in Mato Grosso: harbinger or exception for other tropical forests?

Assessing the impacts of livestock production on biodiversity in rangeland ecosystems

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