Cropland/pastureland dynamics and the slowdown of deforestation in Latin America
Latin America has the planet’s largest land reserves for agriculture and had the most rapid agricultural expansion during the twenty-first century. A large portion of the expansion replaced forests, as shown by many local and regional studies. However, expansion varied regionally and also replaced o...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2015-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/3/034017 |
| _version_ | 1797748754053332992 |
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| author | Jordan Graesser T Mitchell Aide H Ricardo Grau Navin Ramankutty |
| author_facet | Jordan Graesser T Mitchell Aide H Ricardo Grau Navin Ramankutty |
| author_sort | Jordan Graesser |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Latin America has the planet’s largest land reserves for agriculture and had the most rapid agricultural expansion during the twenty-first century. A large portion of the expansion replaced forests, as shown by many local and regional studies. However, expansion varied regionally and also replaced other land covers. Further, it is important to distinguish between changes in cropland and pastureland as they produce food at different levels of efficiency and intensity. We used thirteen years (2001–2013) of MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite imagery to characterize cropland and pastureland expansion at multiple scales across Latin America. From 2001 to 2013, 17% of new cropland and 57% of new pastureland replaced forests throughout Latin America. Cropland expansion from 2001 to 2013 was less (44.27 Mha) than pastureland (96.9 Mha), but 44% of the 2013 cropland total was new cropland, versus 27% of the 2013 pastureland total, revealing higher regional expansion rates of row crop agriculture. The majority of cropland expansion was into pastureland within core agricultural regions of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. On the contrary, pastureland largely expanded at frontiers, such as central Brazil, western Paraguay, and northern Guatemala. As others have suggested, regional agriculture is strongly influenced by globalization. Indeed, we find an overall decrease in agricultural expansion after 2007, coinciding with the global economic slowdown. The results illustrate agricultural cropland and pastureland expansion across Latin America is largely segregated, and emphasize the importance of distinguishing between the two agricultural systems, as they vary in land use intensity and efficiency. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:10:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-48481be4c1eb43ee83ef3cf5c1324ae0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:10:20Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-48481be4c1eb43ee83ef3cf5c1324ae02023-08-09T14:10:15ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262015-01-0110303401710.1088/1748-9326/10/3/034017Cropland/pastureland dynamics and the slowdown of deforestation in Latin AmericaJordan Graesser0T Mitchell Aide1H Ricardo Grau2Navin Ramankutty3Department of Geography, McGill University , Montreal, QC H3A2K6, CanadaDepartment of Biology, University of Puerto Rico , Río Piedras, San Juan 00931-3360, Puerto RicoConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina, Instituto de Ecología Regional, Universidad Nacional de Tucum án, Yerba Buena, C1033AAJ Tucumán, ArgentinaDepartment of Geography, McGill University , Montreal, QC H3A2K6, Canada; Currently at The Liu Institute for Global Issues and Institute for Resources, Environment, and Sustainability, University of British Columbia , 6476 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2 CanadaLatin America has the planet’s largest land reserves for agriculture and had the most rapid agricultural expansion during the twenty-first century. A large portion of the expansion replaced forests, as shown by many local and regional studies. However, expansion varied regionally and also replaced other land covers. Further, it is important to distinguish between changes in cropland and pastureland as they produce food at different levels of efficiency and intensity. We used thirteen years (2001–2013) of MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite imagery to characterize cropland and pastureland expansion at multiple scales across Latin America. From 2001 to 2013, 17% of new cropland and 57% of new pastureland replaced forests throughout Latin America. Cropland expansion from 2001 to 2013 was less (44.27 Mha) than pastureland (96.9 Mha), but 44% of the 2013 cropland total was new cropland, versus 27% of the 2013 pastureland total, revealing higher regional expansion rates of row crop agriculture. The majority of cropland expansion was into pastureland within core agricultural regions of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. On the contrary, pastureland largely expanded at frontiers, such as central Brazil, western Paraguay, and northern Guatemala. As others have suggested, regional agriculture is strongly influenced by globalization. Indeed, we find an overall decrease in agricultural expansion after 2007, coinciding with the global economic slowdown. The results illustrate agricultural cropland and pastureland expansion across Latin America is largely segregated, and emphasize the importance of distinguishing between the two agricultural systems, as they vary in land use intensity and efficiency.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/3/034017croplandpasturelandland useremote sensing |
| spellingShingle | Jordan Graesser T Mitchell Aide H Ricardo Grau Navin Ramankutty Cropland/pastureland dynamics and the slowdown of deforestation in Latin America Environmental Research Letters cropland pastureland land use remote sensing |
| title | Cropland/pastureland dynamics and the slowdown of deforestation in Latin America |
| title_full | Cropland/pastureland dynamics and the slowdown of deforestation in Latin America |
| title_fullStr | Cropland/pastureland dynamics and the slowdown of deforestation in Latin America |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cropland/pastureland dynamics and the slowdown of deforestation in Latin America |
| title_short | Cropland/pastureland dynamics and the slowdown of deforestation in Latin America |
| title_sort | cropland pastureland dynamics and the slowdown of deforestation in latin america |
| topic | cropland pastureland land use remote sensing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/3/034017 |
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