Large-scale impoverishment of Amazonian forests by logging and fire

Daniel C. Nepstad (), Adalberto Verssimo, Ane Alencar, Carlos Nobre, Eirivelthon Lima, Paul Lefebvre, Peter Schlesinger, Christopher Potter, Paulo Moutinho, Elsa Mendoza, Mark Cochrane and Vanessa Brooks
Additional contact information
Daniel C. Nepstad: Woods Hole Research Center
Adalberto Verssimo: Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia, IMAZON
Ane Alencar: Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia Campus do Guamá
Carlos Nobre: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais
Eirivelthon Lima: Instituto do Homem e Meio Ambiente da Amazônia, IMAZON
Paul Lefebvre: Woods Hole Research Center
Peter Schlesinger: Woods Hole Research Center
Christopher Potter: Ecosystem Science and Technology Branch, NASA Ames Research Center
Paulo Moutinho: Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia Campus do Guamá
Elsa Mendoza: Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia Campus do Guamá
Mark Cochrane: Woods Hole Research Center
Vanessa Brooks: Universidade Federal do Acre, Parque Zoobotânico

Nature, 1999, vol. 398, issue 6727, 505-508

Abstract: Abstract Amazonian deforestation rates are used to determine human effects on the global carbon cycle1,2,3 and to measure Brazil's progress in curbing forest impoverishment1,4,5. But this widely used measure of tropical land use tells only part of the story. Here we present field surveys of wood mills and forest burning across Brazilian Amazonia which show that logging crews severely damage 10,000 to 15,000 km2 yr−1 of forest that are not included in deforestation mapping programmes. Moreover, we find that surface fires burn additional large areas of standing forest, the destruction of which is normally not documented. Forest impoverishment due to such fires may increase dramatically when severe droughts provoke forest leaf-shedding and greater flammability; our regional water-balance model indicates that an estimated 270,000 km2 of forest became vulnerable to fire in the 1998 dry season. Overall, we find that present estimates of annual deforestation for Brazilian Amazonia capture less than half of the forest area that is impoverished each year, and even less during years of severe drought. Both logging and fire increase forest vulnerability to future burning6,7 and release forest carbon stocks to the atmosphere, potentially doubling net carbon emissions from regional land-use during severe El Niño episodes. If this forest impoverishment is to be controlled, then logging activities need to be restricted or replaced with low-impact timber harvest techniques, and more effective strategies to prevent accidental forest fires need to be implemented.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/19066

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