Deforestation and Carbon Stock Loss in Brazil’s Amazonian Settlements

Autor: Aurora Miho Yanai, Philip M. Fearnside, Euler Melo Nogueira, Paulo Maurício Lima de Alencastro Graça
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
Greenhouse Effect
Rural Population
Colonization
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Carbon Reduction
Forests
Carbon sequestration
Global Warming
01 natural sciences
Amazon Forests
Environmental protection
Cocoon
Clearing
Biomass
Deforestation
Settlement Project
Conservation Of Natural Resources
Global and Planetary Change
Reform Policies
Ecology
Amazon rainforest
Global warming
Satellite Data
05 social sciences
Sustainable Development
Pollution
Clearcutting
Geography
Modern Times
Government
Tocantins
Settlement (litigation)
050703 geography
Brazil
Human
Carbon Sequestration
Conservation of Natural Resources
0507 social and economic geography
Rainforest
Article
Mato Grosso
Amazon forest
Amazonia
Human settlement
Humans
Hydrography
Forest
Rural Policy
Ecosystem
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Vegetation
Forest Ecosystem
Brasil
Roraima
Forestry
Carbon
Project Design
Agrarian Reform
Agrarian reform
Policy Implementation
Agricultural Worker
Brazilian Biomes
Urban Area
Trends
Settlement project
Environmental Protection
Zdroj: Environmental Management
Repositório Institucional do INPA
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA)
instacron:INPA
ISSN: 1432-1009
0364-152X
DOI: 10.1007/s00267-016-0783-2
Popis: We estimate deforestation and the carbon stock in 2740 (82 %) of the 3325 settlements in Brazil’s Legal Amazonia region. Estimates are made both using available satellite data and a carbon map for the “pre-modern” period (prior to 1970). We used data from Brazil’s Project for Monitoring Deforestation in Amazonia updated through 2013 and from the Brazilian Biomes Deforestation Monitoring Project (PMDBBS) updated through 2010. To obtain the pre-modern and recent carbon stocks we performed an intersection between a carbon map and a map derived from settlement boundaries and deforestation data. Although the settlements analyzed occupied only 8 % of Legal Amazonia, our results indicate that these settlements contributed 17 % (160,410 km2) of total clearing (forest + non-forest) in Legal Amazonia (967,003 km2). This represents a clear-cutting of 41 % of the original vegetation in the settlements. Out of this total, 72 % (115,634 km2) was in the “Federal Settlement Project” (PA) category. Deforestation in settlements represents 20 % (2.6 Pg C) of the total carbon loss in Legal Amazonia (13.1 Pg C). The carbon stock in remaining vegetation represents 3.8 Pg C, or 6 % of the total remaining carbon stock in Legal Amazonia (58.6 Pg C) in the periods analyzed. The carbon reductions in settlements are caused both by the settlers and by external actors. Our findings suggest that agrarian reform policies contributed directly to carbon loss. Thus, the implementation of new settlements should consider potential carbon stock losses, especially if settlements are created in areas with high carbon stocks. © 2016, The Author(s).
Databáze: OpenAIRE