The role of soybean production as an underlying driver of deforestation in the South American Chaco
South America’s tropical dry forests and savannas are under increasing pressure from agricultural expansion. Cattle ranching and soybean production both drive these forest losses, but their relative importance remains unclear. Also unclear is how soybean expansion elsewhere affects deforestation via...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Formato: | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2018
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378017305964 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/3345 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.05.001 |
| _version_ | 1855035128343953408 |
|---|---|
| author | Fehlenberg, Verena Baumann, Matthias Gasparri, Néstor Ignacio Piquer Rodriguez, María Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio Kuemmerle, Tobias |
| author_browse | Baumann, Matthias Fehlenberg, Verena Gasparri, Néstor Ignacio Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio Kuemmerle, Tobias Piquer Rodriguez, María |
| author_facet | Fehlenberg, Verena Baumann, Matthias Gasparri, Néstor Ignacio Piquer Rodriguez, María Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio Kuemmerle, Tobias |
| author_sort | Fehlenberg, Verena |
| collection | INTA Digital |
| description | South America’s tropical dry forests and savannas are under increasing pressure from agricultural expansion. Cattle ranching and soybean production both drive these forest losses, but their relative importance remains unclear. Also unclear is how soybean expansion elsewhere affects deforestation via pushing cattle ranching to deforestation frontiers. To assess these questions, we focused on the Chaco, a 110 million ha ecoregion extending into Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay, with about 8 million ha of deforestation in 2000–2012. We used panel regressions at the district level to quantify the role of soybean expansion in driving these forest losses using a wide range of environmental and socio-economic control variables. Our models suggest that soybean production was a direct driver of deforestation in the Argentine Chaco only (0.08 ha new soybean area per ha forest lost), whereas cattle ranching was significantly associated with deforestation in all three countries (0.02 additional cattle per hectare forest loss). However, our models also suggested Argentine soybean cultivation may indirectly be linked to deforestation in the Bolivian and Paraguayan Chaco. We furthermore found substantial time-delayed effects in the relationship of soybean expansion in Argentina and Paraguay (i.e., soybean expansion in one year resulted in deforestation several years later) and deforestation in the Chaco, further suggesting that possible displacement effects within and between Chaco countries may at least partly drive forest loss. Altogether, our study showed that deforestation in the Chaco appears to be mainly driven by the globally surging demand for soybean, although regionally other proximate drivers are sometimes important. Steering agricultural production in the Chaco and other tropical dry forests onto sustainable pathways will thus require policies that consider these scale effects and that account for the regional variation in deforestation drivers within and across countries. |
| format | info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo |
| id | INTA3345 |
| institution | Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publishDateRange | 2018 |
| publishDateSort | 2018 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | INTA33452018-10-17T13:26:31Z The role of soybean production as an underlying driver of deforestation in the South American Chaco Fehlenberg, Verena Baumann, Matthias Gasparri, Néstor Ignacio Piquer Rodriguez, María Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio Kuemmerle, Tobias Deforestación Soja Producción Bosques Intensificación Deforestation Soybeans Production Forests Intensification Chaco Sudamericano South America’s tropical dry forests and savannas are under increasing pressure from agricultural expansion. Cattle ranching and soybean production both drive these forest losses, but their relative importance remains unclear. Also unclear is how soybean expansion elsewhere affects deforestation via pushing cattle ranching to deforestation frontiers. To assess these questions, we focused on the Chaco, a 110 million ha ecoregion extending into Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay, with about 8 million ha of deforestation in 2000–2012. We used panel regressions at the district level to quantify the role of soybean expansion in driving these forest losses using a wide range of environmental and socio-economic control variables. Our models suggest that soybean production was a direct driver of deforestation in the Argentine Chaco only (0.08 ha new soybean area per ha forest lost), whereas cattle ranching was significantly associated with deforestation in all three countries (0.02 additional cattle per hectare forest loss). However, our models also suggested Argentine soybean cultivation may indirectly be linked to deforestation in the Bolivian and Paraguayan Chaco. We furthermore found substantial time-delayed effects in the relationship of soybean expansion in Argentina and Paraguay (i.e., soybean expansion in one year resulted in deforestation several years later) and deforestation in the Chaco, further suggesting that possible displacement effects within and between Chaco countries may at least partly drive forest loss. Altogether, our study showed that deforestation in the Chaco appears to be mainly driven by the globally surging demand for soybean, although regionally other proximate drivers are sometimes important. Steering agricultural production in the Chaco and other tropical dry forests onto sustainable pathways will thus require policies that consider these scale effects and that account for the regional variation in deforestation drivers within and across countries. Instituto de Recursos Biológicos Fil: Fehlenberg, Verena. Humboldt-University Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: Baumann, Matthias. Humboldt-University Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania Fil: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán; Argentina. Humboldt-University Berlin. Integrative Research Institute for Transformations in Human Environment Systems; 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: Kuemmerle, Tobias. Humboldt-University Berlin. Geography Department; Alemania. Humboldt-University Berlin. Integrative Research Institute for Transformations in Human Environment Systems; Alemania 2018-09-12T17:22:17Z 2018-09-12T17:22:17Z 2017-07 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378017305964 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/3345 0959-3780 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.05.001 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess application/pdf Global Environmental Change 45 : 24-34 (July 2017) |
| spellingShingle | Deforestación Soja Producción Bosques Intensificación Deforestation Soybeans Production Forests Intensification Chaco Sudamericano Fehlenberg, Verena Baumann, Matthias Gasparri, Néstor Ignacio Piquer Rodriguez, María Gavier Pizarro, Gregorio Ignacio Kuemmerle, Tobias The role of soybean production as an underlying driver of deforestation in the South American Chaco |
| title | The role of soybean production as an underlying driver of deforestation in the South American Chaco |
| title_full | The role of soybean production as an underlying driver of deforestation in the South American Chaco |
| title_fullStr | The role of soybean production as an underlying driver of deforestation in the South American Chaco |
| title_full_unstemmed | The role of soybean production as an underlying driver of deforestation in the South American Chaco |
| title_short | The role of soybean production as an underlying driver of deforestation in the South American Chaco |
| title_sort | role of soybean production as an underlying driver of deforestation in the south american chaco |
| topic | Deforestación Soja Producción Bosques Intensificación Deforestation Soybeans Production Forests Intensification Chaco Sudamericano |
| url | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378017305964 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/3345 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.05.001 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fehlenbergverena theroleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco AT baumannmatthias theroleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco AT gasparrinestorignacio theroleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco AT piquerrodriguezmaria theroleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco AT gavierpizarrogregorioignacio theroleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco AT kuemmerletobias theroleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco AT fehlenbergverena roleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco AT baumannmatthias roleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco AT gasparrinestorignacio roleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco AT piquerrodriguezmaria roleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco AT gavierpizarrogregorioignacio roleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco AT kuemmerletobias roleofsoybeanproductionasanunderlyingdriverofdeforestationinthesouthamericanchaco |