Depopulation of rural landscapes exacerbates fire activity in the western Amazon

Destructive fires in Amazonia have occurred in the past decade, leading to forest degradation, carbon emissions, impaired air quality, and property damage. Here, we couple climate, geospatial, and province-level census data, with farmer surveys to examine the climatic, demographic, and land use fact...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Uriarte, Maria, DeFries, Ruth S., Fernandes, Kátia, Gutiérrez Vélez, Victor Hugo, Baethgen, Walter E., Padoch, Christine, Pinedo Vasquez, Miguel
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: National Academy of Sciences 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95500
_version_ 1855525740073713664
author Uriarte, Maria
DeFries, Ruth S.
Fernandes, Kátia
Gutiérrez Vélez, Victor Hugo
Baethgen, Walter E.
Padoch, Christine
Pinedo Vasquez, Miguel
author_browse Baethgen, Walter E.
DeFries, Ruth S.
Fernandes, Kátia
Gutiérrez Vélez, Victor Hugo
Padoch, Christine
Pinedo Vasquez, Miguel
Uriarte, Maria
author_facet Uriarte, Maria
DeFries, Ruth S.
Fernandes, Kátia
Gutiérrez Vélez, Victor Hugo
Baethgen, Walter E.
Padoch, Christine
Pinedo Vasquez, Miguel
author_sort Uriarte, Maria
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Destructive fires in Amazonia have occurred in the past decade, leading to forest degradation, carbon emissions, impaired air quality, and property damage. Here, we couple climate, geospatial, and province-level census data, with farmer surveys to examine the climatic, demographic, and land use factors associated with fire frequency in the Peruvian Amazon from 2000 to 2010. Although our results corroborate previous findings elsewhere that drought and proximity to roads increase fire frequency, the province-scale analysis further identifies decreases in rural populations as an additional factor. Farmer survey data suggest that increased burn scar frequency and size reflect increased flammability of emptying rural landscapes and reduced capacity to control fire. With rural populations projected to decline, more frequent drought, and expansion of road infrastructure, fire risk is likely to increase in western Amazonia. Damage from fire can be reduced through warning systems that target high-risk locations, coordinated fire fighting efforts, and initiatives that provide options for people to remain in rural landscapes.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace95500
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2012
publishDateRange 2012
publishDateSort 2012
publisher National Academy of Sciences
publisherStr National Academy of Sciences
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace955002025-06-17T08:23:44Z Depopulation of rural landscapes exacerbates fire activity in the western Amazon Uriarte, Maria DeFries, Ruth S. Fernandes, Kátia Gutiérrez Vélez, Victor Hugo Baethgen, Walter E. Padoch, Christine Pinedo Vasquez, Miguel fires forest fires climate land use demography drought rural population landscape Destructive fires in Amazonia have occurred in the past decade, leading to forest degradation, carbon emissions, impaired air quality, and property damage. Here, we couple climate, geospatial, and province-level census data, with farmer surveys to examine the climatic, demographic, and land use factors associated with fire frequency in the Peruvian Amazon from 2000 to 2010. Although our results corroborate previous findings elsewhere that drought and proximity to roads increase fire frequency, the province-scale analysis further identifies decreases in rural populations as an additional factor. Farmer survey data suggest that increased burn scar frequency and size reflect increased flammability of emptying rural landscapes and reduced capacity to control fire. With rural populations projected to decline, more frequent drought, and expansion of road infrastructure, fire risk is likely to increase in western Amazonia. Damage from fire can be reduced through warning systems that target high-risk locations, coordinated fire fighting efforts, and initiatives that provide options for people to remain in rural landscapes. 2012-12-26 2018-07-03T11:03:06Z 2018-07-03T11:03:06Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95500 en Open Access National Academy of Sciences Uriarte, M.A, Pinedo-Vasquez, M., DeFries, R.S., Fernandes, K., Gutierrez-Velez, V.H., Baethgen, W.E., Padoch, C. . 2012. Depopulation of rural landscapes exacerbates fire activity in the western Amazon Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 109 (52) : 21546-21550. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1215567110
spellingShingle fires
forest fires
climate
land use
demography
drought
rural population
landscape
Uriarte, Maria
DeFries, Ruth S.
Fernandes, Kátia
Gutiérrez Vélez, Victor Hugo
Baethgen, Walter E.
Padoch, Christine
Pinedo Vasquez, Miguel
Depopulation of rural landscapes exacerbates fire activity in the western Amazon
title Depopulation of rural landscapes exacerbates fire activity in the western Amazon
title_full Depopulation of rural landscapes exacerbates fire activity in the western Amazon
title_fullStr Depopulation of rural landscapes exacerbates fire activity in the western Amazon
title_full_unstemmed Depopulation of rural landscapes exacerbates fire activity in the western Amazon
title_short Depopulation of rural landscapes exacerbates fire activity in the western Amazon
title_sort depopulation of rural landscapes exacerbates fire activity in the western amazon
topic fires
forest fires
climate
land use
demography
drought
rural population
landscape
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95500
work_keys_str_mv AT uriartemaria depopulationofrurallandscapesexacerbatesfireactivityinthewesternamazon
AT defriesruths depopulationofrurallandscapesexacerbatesfireactivityinthewesternamazon
AT fernandeskatia depopulationofrurallandscapesexacerbatesfireactivityinthewesternamazon
AT gutierrezvelezvictorhugo depopulationofrurallandscapesexacerbatesfireactivityinthewesternamazon
AT baethgenwaltere depopulationofrurallandscapesexacerbatesfireactivityinthewesternamazon
AT padochchristine depopulationofrurallandscapesexacerbatesfireactivityinthewesternamazon
AT pinedovasquezmiguel depopulationofrurallandscapesexacerbatesfireactivityinthewesternamazon