Deforestation and cattle expansion in the Paraguayan Chaco 1987–2012

The dry forests of Latin America are among the most dynamic deforestation frontiers in the world and are important carbon and biodiversity reservoirs. Our knowledge on the spatial patterns of deforestation and its proximate drivers remains partial though. We used the full Landsat image archive to re...

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Autores principales: Baumann, Matthias, Israel, Christoph, Piquer Rodriguez, María, Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio, Volante, Jose Norberto, Kuemmerle, Tobias
Formato: info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-017-1109-5
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/3313
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1109-5
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author Baumann, Matthias
Israel, Christoph
Piquer Rodriguez, María
Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio
Volante, Jose Norberto
Kuemmerle, Tobias
author_browse Baumann, Matthias
Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio
Israel, Christoph
Kuemmerle, Tobias
Piquer Rodriguez, María
Volante, Jose Norberto
author_facet Baumann, Matthias
Israel, Christoph
Piquer Rodriguez, María
Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio
Volante, Jose Norberto
Kuemmerle, Tobias
author_sort Baumann, Matthias
collection INTA Digital
description The dry forests of Latin America are among the most dynamic deforestation frontiers in the world and are important carbon and biodiversity reservoirs. Our knowledge on the spatial patterns of deforestation and its proximate drivers remains partial though. We used the full Landsat image archive to reconstruct deforestation and post-deforestation dynamics between 1987 and 2012 for the entire Paraguayan Chaco, where deforestation has been rampant recently. Our classification resulted in reliable land-use change maps (86.16%), highlighting drastic forest losses of almost 44,000 km2 between 1987 and 2012, equaling a deforestation rate of 27% and about 1% yearly, predominantly for grasslands. These likely represented new pastures, making pasture expansion the dominant proximate cause of deforestation. Cropland expansion, in contrast, only played a minor role as a proximate deforestation cause in the Paraguayan Chaco. Deforestation more than doubled between 2001 and 2012 (~29,000 km2) compared to 1987–2000 (~14,000 km2), due to leakage effects from the deforestation ban in the Paraguayan Atlantic Forests in 2004. Interestingly, while grasslands expanded in the Paraguayan Chaco between 1987 and 2000, cattle numbers decreased during the same time period, though strongly increased since. This apparent decoupling of area change and land-use intensity may indicate that the Paraguayan Chaco experienced an amplification period during the 1990s followed by an intensification period since 2001. Thus, our results highlight the need for both, a more detailed monitoring of post-deforestation dynamics and a land systems perspective in order to understand deforestation frontiers and thus ultimately to identify strategies to better balance production and conservation goals.
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spelling INTA33132018-10-17T13:27:34Z Deforestation and cattle expansion in the Paraguayan Chaco 1987–2012 Baumann, Matthias Israel, Christoph Piquer Rodriguez, María Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio Volante, Jose Norberto Kuemmerle, Tobias Bosques Deforestación Ganado Bovino Intensificación Teledetección Forests Deforestation Cattle Intensification Remote Sensing Chaco Paraguayo The dry forests of Latin America are among the most dynamic deforestation frontiers in the world and are important carbon and biodiversity reservoirs. Our knowledge on the spatial patterns of deforestation and its proximate drivers remains partial though. We used the full Landsat image archive to reconstruct deforestation and post-deforestation dynamics between 1987 and 2012 for the entire Paraguayan Chaco, where deforestation has been rampant recently. Our classification resulted in reliable land-use change maps (86.16%), highlighting drastic forest losses of almost 44,000 km2 between 1987 and 2012, equaling a deforestation rate of 27% and about 1% yearly, predominantly for grasslands. These likely represented new pastures, making pasture expansion the dominant proximate cause of deforestation. Cropland expansion, in contrast, only played a minor role as a proximate deforestation cause in the Paraguayan Chaco. Deforestation more than doubled between 2001 and 2012 (~29,000 km2) compared to 1987–2000 (~14,000 km2), due to leakage effects from the deforestation ban in the Paraguayan Atlantic Forests in 2004. Interestingly, while grasslands expanded in the Paraguayan Chaco between 1987 and 2000, cattle numbers decreased during the same time period, though strongly increased since. This apparent decoupling of area change and land-use intensity may indicate that the Paraguayan Chaco experienced an amplification period during the 1990s followed by an intensification period since 2001. Thus, our results highlight the need for both, a more detailed monitoring of post-deforestation dynamics and a land systems perspective in order to understand deforestation frontiers and thus ultimately to identify strategies to better balance production and conservation goals. Instituto de Recursos Biológicos Fil: Baumann, Matthias. Humboldt-University Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: Israel, Christoph. Humboldt-University Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: Piquer Rodriguez, María. Humboldt-University Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Recursos Biológicos; Argentina Fil: Volante, Jose Norberto. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta. Laboratorio de Teledeteccion y SIG; Argentina Fil: Kuemmerle, Tobias. Humboldt-University Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania. Humboldt-University Berlin. Integrative Research Institute for Transformations in Human Environment Systems; Alemania 2018-09-07T17:13:35Z 2018-09-07T17:13:35Z 2017-04 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-017-1109-5 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/3313 1436-3798 1436-378X https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1109-5 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess application/pdf 1987–2012 Regional Environmental Change 17 (4) : 1179–1191 (April 2017)
spellingShingle Bosques
Deforestación
Ganado Bovino
Intensificación
Teledetección
Forests
Deforestation
Cattle
Intensification
Remote Sensing
Chaco Paraguayo
Baumann, Matthias
Israel, Christoph
Piquer Rodriguez, María
Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio
Volante, Jose Norberto
Kuemmerle, Tobias
Deforestation and cattle expansion in the Paraguayan Chaco 1987–2012
title Deforestation and cattle expansion in the Paraguayan Chaco 1987–2012
title_full Deforestation and cattle expansion in the Paraguayan Chaco 1987–2012
title_fullStr Deforestation and cattle expansion in the Paraguayan Chaco 1987–2012
title_full_unstemmed Deforestation and cattle expansion in the Paraguayan Chaco 1987–2012
title_short Deforestation and cattle expansion in the Paraguayan Chaco 1987–2012
title_sort deforestation and cattle expansion in the paraguayan chaco 1987 2012
topic Bosques
Deforestación
Ganado Bovino
Intensificación
Teledetección
Forests
Deforestation
Cattle
Intensification
Remote Sensing
Chaco Paraguayo
url https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10113-017-1109-5
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/3313
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1109-5
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