Tropical deforestation drivers and associated carbon emission factors derived from remote sensing data
Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing carbon stocks (REDD+) is a crucial component of global climate change mitigation. Remote sensing can provide continuous and spatially explicit above-ground biomass (AGB) estimates, which can be valuable for the quantificatio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab3dc6 |
| _version_ | 1827870502882902016 |
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| author | V De Sy M Herold F Achard V Avitabile A Baccini S Carter J G P W Clevers E Lindquist Maria Pereira L Verchot |
| author_facet | V De Sy M Herold F Achard V Avitabile A Baccini S Carter J G P W Clevers E Lindquist Maria Pereira L Verchot |
| author_sort | V De Sy |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing carbon stocks (REDD+) is a crucial component of global climate change mitigation. Remote sensing can provide continuous and spatially explicit above-ground biomass (AGB) estimates, which can be valuable for the quantification of carbon stocks and emission factors (EFs). Unfortunately, there is little information on the fate of the land following tropical deforestation and of the associated carbon stock. This study quantified post-deforestation land use across the tropics for the period 1990–2000. This dataset was then combined with a pan-tropical AGB map at 30 m resolution to refine EFs from forest conversion by matching deforestation areas with their carbon stock before and after clearing and to assess spatial dynamics of EFs by follow-up land use. In Latin America, pasture was the most common follow-up land use (72%), with large-scale cropland (11%) a distant second. In Africa deforestation was often followed by small-scale cropping (61%) with a smaller role for pasture (15%). In Asia, small-scale cropland was the dominant agricultural follow-up land use (35%), closely followed by tree crops (28%). Deforestation often occurred in forests with lower than average carbon stocks. EFs showed high spatial variation within eco-zones and countries. While our EFs are only representative for the studied time period, our results show that EFs are mainly determined by the initial forest carbon stock. The estimates of the fraction of carbon lost were less dependent on initial forest biomass, which offers opportunities for REDD+ countries to use these fractions in combination with recent good quality national forest biomass maps or inventory data to quantify emissions from specific forest conversions. Our study highlights that the co-location of data on forest loss, biomass and fate of the land provides more insight into the spatial dynamics of land-use change and can help in attributing carbon emissions to human activities. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:57:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7f4843c1d1d5417286b45d8f462fcc8a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:57:45Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-7f4843c1d1d5417286b45d8f462fcc8a2023-08-09T14:46:29ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262019-01-0114909402210.1088/1748-9326/ab3dc6Tropical deforestation drivers and associated carbon emission factors derived from remote sensing dataV De Sy0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3647-7866M Herold1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0246-6886F Achard2V Avitabile3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3646-052XA Baccini4S Carter5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1833-3239J G P W Clevers6E Lindquist7Maria Pereira8L Verchot9Laboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing, Wageningen University , Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708 PB Wageningen, The NetherlandsLaboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing, Wageningen University , Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708 PB Wageningen, The NetherlandsEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, ItalyEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, ItalyWoods Hole Research Center, Falmouth, MA, United States of AmericaLaboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing, Wageningen University , Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708 PB Wageningen, The NetherlandsLaboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing, Wageningen University , Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708 PB Wageningen, The NetherlandsFood and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, ItalyLaboratory of Geo-Information Science and Remote Sensing, Wageningen University , Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708 PB Wageningen, The NetherlandsCenter for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, IndonesiaReducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing carbon stocks (REDD+) is a crucial component of global climate change mitigation. Remote sensing can provide continuous and spatially explicit above-ground biomass (AGB) estimates, which can be valuable for the quantification of carbon stocks and emission factors (EFs). Unfortunately, there is little information on the fate of the land following tropical deforestation and of the associated carbon stock. This study quantified post-deforestation land use across the tropics for the period 1990–2000. This dataset was then combined with a pan-tropical AGB map at 30 m resolution to refine EFs from forest conversion by matching deforestation areas with their carbon stock before and after clearing and to assess spatial dynamics of EFs by follow-up land use. In Latin America, pasture was the most common follow-up land use (72%), with large-scale cropland (11%) a distant second. In Africa deforestation was often followed by small-scale cropping (61%) with a smaller role for pasture (15%). In Asia, small-scale cropland was the dominant agricultural follow-up land use (35%), closely followed by tree crops (28%). Deforestation often occurred in forests with lower than average carbon stocks. EFs showed high spatial variation within eco-zones and countries. While our EFs are only representative for the studied time period, our results show that EFs are mainly determined by the initial forest carbon stock. The estimates of the fraction of carbon lost were less dependent on initial forest biomass, which offers opportunities for REDD+ countries to use these fractions in combination with recent good quality national forest biomass maps or inventory data to quantify emissions from specific forest conversions. Our study highlights that the co-location of data on forest loss, biomass and fate of the land provides more insight into the spatial dynamics of land-use change and can help in attributing carbon emissions to human activities.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab3dc6tropical deforestationREDD+carbon emissionsremote sensingland use changeclimate change mitigation |
| spellingShingle | V De Sy M Herold F Achard V Avitabile A Baccini S Carter J G P W Clevers E Lindquist Maria Pereira L Verchot Tropical deforestation drivers and associated carbon emission factors derived from remote sensing data Environmental Research Letters tropical deforestation REDD+ carbon emissions remote sensing land use change climate change mitigation |
| title | Tropical deforestation drivers and associated carbon emission factors derived from remote sensing data |
| title_full | Tropical deforestation drivers and associated carbon emission factors derived from remote sensing data |
| title_fullStr | Tropical deforestation drivers and associated carbon emission factors derived from remote sensing data |
| title_full_unstemmed | Tropical deforestation drivers and associated carbon emission factors derived from remote sensing data |
| title_short | Tropical deforestation drivers and associated carbon emission factors derived from remote sensing data |
| title_sort | tropical deforestation drivers and associated carbon emission factors derived from remote sensing data |
| topic | tropical deforestation REDD+ carbon emissions remote sensing land use change climate change mitigation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab3dc6 |
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