Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics

Accurate characterization of tropical moist forest changes is needed to support conservation policies and to quantify their contribution to global carbon fluxes more effectively. We document, at pantropical scale, the extent and changes (degradation, deforestation, and recovery) of these forests ove...

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Main Authors: Vancutsem, C., Achard, F., Pekel, J.F., Vieilledent, G., Carboni, S., Simonetti, D., Gallego, J., Aragão, Luiz E.O.C, Nasi, R.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113089
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author Vancutsem, C.
Achard, F.
Pekel, J.F.
Vieilledent, G.
Carboni, S.
Simonetti, D.
Gallego, J.
Aragão, Luiz E.O.C
Nasi, R.
author_browse Achard, F.
Aragão, Luiz E.O.C
Carboni, S.
Gallego, J.
Nasi, R.
Pekel, J.F.
Simonetti, D.
Vancutsem, C.
Vieilledent, G.
author_facet Vancutsem, C.
Achard, F.
Pekel, J.F.
Vieilledent, G.
Carboni, S.
Simonetti, D.
Gallego, J.
Aragão, Luiz E.O.C
Nasi, R.
author_sort Vancutsem, C.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Accurate characterization of tropical moist forest changes is needed to support conservation policies and to quantify their contribution to global carbon fluxes more effectively. We document, at pantropical scale, the extent and changes (degradation, deforestation, and recovery) of these forests over the past three decades. We estimate that 17% of tropical moist forests have disappeared since 1990 with a remaining area of 1071 million hectares in 2019, from which 10% are degraded. Our study underlines the importance of the degradation process in these ecosystems, in particular, as a precursor of deforestation, and in the recent increase in tropical moist forest disturbances (natural and anthropogenic degradation or deforestation). Without a reduction of the present disturbance rates, undisturbed forests will disappear entirely in large tropical humid regions by 2050. Our study suggests that reinforcing actions are needed to prevent the initial degradation that leads to forest clearance in 45% of the cases.
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spelling CGSpace1130892025-01-27T15:00:52Z Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics Vancutsem, C. Achard, F. Pekel, J.F. Vieilledent, G. Carboni, S. Simonetti, D. Gallego, J. Aragão, Luiz E.O.C Nasi, R. defprestation tropical forests Accurate characterization of tropical moist forest changes is needed to support conservation policies and to quantify their contribution to global carbon fluxes more effectively. We document, at pantropical scale, the extent and changes (degradation, deforestation, and recovery) of these forests over the past three decades. We estimate that 17% of tropical moist forests have disappeared since 1990 with a remaining area of 1071 million hectares in 2019, from which 10% are degraded. Our study underlines the importance of the degradation process in these ecosystems, in particular, as a precursor of deforestation, and in the recent increase in tropical moist forest disturbances (natural and anthropogenic degradation or deforestation). Without a reduction of the present disturbance rates, undisturbed forests will disappear entirely in large tropical humid regions by 2050. Our study suggests that reinforcing actions are needed to prevent the initial degradation that leads to forest clearance in 45% of the cases. 2021-03-05 2021-03-23T07:28:52Z 2021-03-23T07:28:52Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113089 en Open Access American Association for the Advancement of Science Vancutsem, C., Achard, F., Pekel, J.-F., Vieilledent, G., Carboni, S., Simonetti, D., Gallego, J., Aragão, L.E.O.C., Nasi, R. 2021. Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics.  Science Advances 7 (10): eabe1603. https://10.1126/sciadv.abe1603
spellingShingle defprestation
tropical forests
Vancutsem, C.
Achard, F.
Pekel, J.F.
Vieilledent, G.
Carboni, S.
Simonetti, D.
Gallego, J.
Aragão, Luiz E.O.C
Nasi, R.
Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics
title Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics
title_full Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics
title_fullStr Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics
title_full_unstemmed Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics
title_short Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics
title_sort long term 1990 2019 monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics
topic defprestation
tropical forests
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113089
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