scholarly journals Detection of Amazon Forest Degradation Caused by Land Use Changes

Author(s):  
Paul Arellano ◽  
Kevin Tansey ◽  
Heiko Balzter
Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillaume Lestrelin ◽  
Jean-Christophe Castella ◽  
Qiaohong Li ◽  
Thoumthone Vongvisouk ◽  
Nguyen Dinh Tien ◽  
...  

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is viewed as an effective way to mitigate climate change by compensating stewards of forested areas for minimizing forestland conversion and protecting forest services. Opportunity costs assess the cost of foregone opportunity when preserving the forest instead of investing in an alternative activity or resource use. This paper questions the calculation method of opportunity costs using averaged economic benefits and co-benefits of different land-use transitions. We propose a nested approach to land-use transitions at the interface between landscapes and livelihoods and assessing a wide range of potential socio-ecological costs and benefits. Combining household surveys and focus groups with participatory mapping, we applied the approach in villages of Laos, Vietnam and China positioned along a broad transition trajectory from subsistence shifting cultivation to intensive commercial agriculture. By looking beyond the economics of land use, we highlight important linkages between land-use changes and livelihood differentiation, vulnerability and inequalities. Our results show the importance of addressing the impacts of land-use transitions on a wide range of potential ecological and socioeconomic costs and benefits at multiple levels.


2021 ◽  
Vol 892 (1) ◽  
pp. 012084
Author(s):  
B W van Assen ◽  
D H Azahari ◽  
K Obaideen ◽  
H R Al Jaghoub

Abstract Oil palm cultivation is under scrutiny by various stakeholders, arguing that it is the main cause for Indonesia’s deforestation. This paper highlights the decades of forest degradation before the first land clearing for oil palm within the context of Indonesia’s development policies. Using ‘direct photointerpretation’ of ‘Historical Imagery’, it assesses the forest degradation and deforestation caused by oil palm cultivation in Indonesia, particularly in light of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Forest degradation has direct trade-offs with most of the SDGs, with the most affected SDGs being Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG12) and Life on Land (SDG15). Historical satellite imagery indicates that the first land clearing for the 176 Kha of oil palm estates sampled palm occurred around 1994. In contrast, only half of this area contained (natural) forests in 1984- a decade before the first land clearing. None of the remaining forests were (near) intact natural forests; all were (heavily) degraded and their biodiversity was strongly compromised. This indicates that oil palm cultivation is not linked to the degradation of Indonesia’s natural forests. Regarding SDG12, we found significant positive impacts from both the direct and indirect land-use changes by oil palm. For SDG15, we observed major positive impacts from the direct land-use changes and minor positive impacts from the indirect land-use changes. Hence, we conclude that oil palm cultivation in the sampled estates has positive impacts on Indonesia’s SDGs and Indonesia’s development policies align with its SDGs.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glòria Furdada ◽  
Ane Victoriano ◽  
Andrés Díez-Herrero ◽  
Mar Génova ◽  
Marta Guinau ◽  
...  

The sensitive mountain catchment of Portainé (Eastern Pyrenees, Iberian Peninsula) has recently experienced a significant change in its torrential dynamics due to human disturbances. The emplacement of a ski resort at the headwaters led to the surpassing of a geomorphological threshold, with important consequences during flood events. Consequently, since 2008, channel dynamics have turned into sediment-laden, highly destructive torrential flows. In order to assess this phenomenon and o acquire a holistic understanding of the catchment’s behaviour, we carried out a field work-based multidisciplinary study. We considered the interaction of the various controlling factors, including bedrock geology, geomorphological evolution, derived soils and coluvial deposits, rainfall patterns, and the hydrological response of the catchment to flood events. Moreover, anthropogenic land-use changes, its consequential hydrogeomorphic effects and the role of vegetation were also taken into account. Robust sedimentological and geomorphological evidence of ancient dense debris flows show that the basin has shifted around this threshold, giving rise to two different behaviours or equilibrium conditions throughout its history: alternating periods of moderate, bedload-laden flows and periods of high sediment-laden debris flow dynamics. This shifting could have extended through the Holocene. Finally, we discuss the possible impact of climate and global change, as the projected effects suggest future soil and forest degradation; this, jointly with more intense rainfalls in these mountain environments, would exacerbate the future occurrence of dense sediment-laden flows at Portainé, but also in other nearby, similar basins.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-144
Author(s):  
Stefan Hohnwald

The northern coast of Honduras is potentially covered with tropical rainforests, reaching from the Caribbean Sea up to the cloud forests of the Pico Bonito summits. Therefore, it was blessed with the mega-diverse avifauna of the Central American humid neotropics. Although local bird species have been generally well documented, there are hardly any updates on the biodiversity of northern Honduras. Thus, this study contributes to our knowledge of the natural shift of bird life, following up the Cangrejal River with its different slight land use intensification in the region. Standardized bird records along the valley are analyzed, reaching from the beaches of La Ceiba up to the managed rainforests of El Toncontíns in the lower montane rainforests. Nine points were checked over the course of at least 6 days, taking point counts between 16 March and 20 June 2005. A NMDS of the joined nine point-lists elucidates four main groups, namely the beach/city ecosystems, open habitats along the river banks, slightly cleared forests (park landscape), and a mature rainforest. In total, 115 bird species, from 102 genera and 44 families, were found in 2005. As methods are limited, results can represent merely a prodromus of bird composition of neotropical valleys of the Central American isthmus. However, avi-diversity is affected by forest degradation and increasing land-use changes. Since deforestation is still soaring in the region, bird species composition should be monitored, as it will be as dynamic as land use changes in the region.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Diana I. Ortiz ◽  
Marta Piche-Ovares ◽  
Luis M. Romero-Vega ◽  
Joseph Wagman ◽  
Adriana Troyo

Central America is a unique geographical region that connects North and South America, enclosed by the Caribbean Sea to the East, and the Pacific Ocean to the West. This region, encompassing Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Nicaragua, is highly vulnerable to the emergence or resurgence of mosquito-borne and tick-borne diseases due to a combination of key ecological and socioeconomic determinants acting together, often in a synergistic fashion. Of particular interest are the effects of land use changes, such as deforestation-driven urbanization and forest degradation, on the incidence and prevalence of these diseases, which are not well understood. In recent years, parts of Central America have experienced social and economic improvements; however, the region still faces major challenges in developing effective strategies and significant investments in public health infrastructure to prevent and control these diseases. In this article, we review the current knowledge and potential impacts of deforestation, urbanization, and other land use changes on mosquito-borne and tick-borne disease transmission in Central America and how these anthropogenic drivers could affect the risk for disease emergence and resurgence in the region. These issues are addressed in the context of other interconnected environmental and social challenges.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 1514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkatappa ◽  
Sasaki ◽  
Shrestha ◽  
Tripathi ◽  
Ma

As more data and technologies become available, it is important that a simple method is developed for the assessment of land use changes because of the global need to understand the potential climate mitigation that could result from a reduction in deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics. Here, we determined the threshold values of vegetation types to classify land use categories in Cambodia through the analysis of phenological behaviors and the development of a robust phenology-based threshold classification (PBTC) method for the mapping and long-term monitoring of land cover changes. We accessed 2199 Landsat collections using Google Earth Engine (GEE) and applied the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and harmonic regression methods to identify phenological behaviors of land cover categories during the leaf-shedding phenology (LSP) and leaf-flushing phenology (LFS) seasons. We then generated 722 mean phenology EVI profiles for 12 major land cover categories and determined the threshold values for selected land cover categories in the mid-LSP season. The PBTC pixel-based classified map was validated using very high-resolution (VHR) imagery. We obtained a cumulative overall accuracy of more than 88% and a cumulative overall accuracy of the referenced forest cover of almost 85%. These high accuracy values suggest that the very first PBTC map can be useful for estimating the activity data, which are critically needed to assess land use changes and related carbon emissions under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) scheme. We found that GEE cloud-computing is an appropriate tool to use to access remote sensing big data at scale and at no cost.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matheus Supriyanto Rumetna ◽  
Eko Sediyono ◽  
Kristoko Dwi Hartomo

Abstract. Bantul Regency is a part of Yogyakarta Special Province Province which experienced land use changes. This research aims to assess the changes of shape and level of land use, to analyze the pattern of land use changes, and to find the appropriateness of RTRW land use in Bantul District in 2011-2015. Analytical methods are employed including Geoprocessing techniques and analysis of patterns of distribution of land use changes with Spatial Autocorrelation (Global Moran's I). The results of this study of land use in 2011, there are thirty one classifications, while in 2015 there are thirty four classifications. The pattern of distribution of land use change shows that land use change in 2011-2015 has a Complete Spatial Randomness pattern. Land use suitability with the direction of area function at RTRW is 24030,406 Ha (46,995406%) and incompatibility of 27103,115 Ha or equal to 53,004593% of the total area of Bantul Regency.Keywords: Geographical Information System, Land Use, Geoprocessing, Global Moran's I, Bantul Regency. Abstrak. Analisis Perubahan Tata Guna Lahan di Kabupaten Bantul Menggunakan Metode Global Moran’s I. Kabupaten Bantul merupakan bagian dari Provinsi Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta yang mengalami perubahan tata guna lahan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji perubahan bentuk dan luas penggunaan lahan, menganalisis pola sebaran perubahan tata guna lahan, serta kesesuaian tata guna lahan terhadap RTRW yang terjadi di Kabupaten Bantul pada tahun 2011-2015. Metode analisis yang digunakan antara lain teknik Geoprocessing serta analisis pola sebaran perubahan tata guna lahan dengan Spatial Autocorrelation (Global Moran’s I). Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah penggunaan tanah pada tahun 2011, terdapat tiga puluh satu klasifikasi, sedangkan pada tahun 2015 terdapat tiga puluh empat klasifikasi. Pola sebaran perubahan tata guna lahan menunjukkan bahwa perubahan tata guna lahan tahun 2011-2015 memiliki pola Complete Spatial Randomness. Kesesuaian tata guna lahan dengan arahan fungsi kawasan pada RTRW adalah seluas 24030,406 Ha atau mencapai 46,995406 % dan ketidaksesuaian seluas 27103,115 Ha atau sebesar 53,004593 % dari total luas wilayah Kabupaten Bantul. Kata Kunci: Sistem Informasi Georafis, tata guna lahan, Geoprocessing, Global Moran’s I, Kabupaten Bantul.


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