Geography
The Deforestation of the Amazon
The deforestation of the Amazon refers to the widespread clearing of trees and vegetation in the Amazon rainforest, primarily for agricultural purposes such as cattle ranching and soybean production. This has significant environmental impacts, including loss of biodiversity, disruption of the water cycle, and contribution to climate change. Efforts to address deforestation include conservation initiatives and sustainable land use practices.
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11 Key excerpts on "The Deforestation of the Amazon"
- Martin Haigh, Josef Krecek, G. Rajwar(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
Deforestation of Amazonia: Global Climate ImpactsLuiz Carlos Baldicero Molion*ABSTRACTThe Amazonas rainforest is being destroyed at high rates. Since the beginning of the 70s, the deforested area has increased by about 300 thousand km2 which, if added to previous deforestation, amounts to approximately 415 thousand km2, or 11.3% of the Brazilian Amazon Forest. The main causes for deforestation appear to be the government’s geopolitical decision to occupy the region with the consequent opening of roads. The increasing population, as well as mechanisation of agriculture, in Southern Brazil are among the causes of high migratory fluxes into the Region. Large-scale deforestation may affect the global climate. The first hypothesis is that the Amazonas Forest plays an important role in the chemistry of the atmosphere, regulating the Greenhouse Effect; deforestation and burning may increase carbon-dioxide concentrations and thus enhance the Greenhouse Effect. The second hypothesis is that the forest is a source of heat forthe atmosphere and regions outside of the tropics depend on the heat exported by Amazonia. Deforestation may reduce the power of the heat source, less heat would be available to be transported poleward, therefore affecting present climate stability. It is argued that these two hypotheses are not antagonistic but both contribute to global climate changes.Keywords: Amazonia, deforestation, rain forest, climate change, greenhouse effect.INTRODUCTIONTropical forests are dynamical systems which have been disturbed naturally throughout the ages by climate fluctuations. At the end of last ice age, about 15,000 years ago, most of the humid tropics were colder and drier than at present and rainforests on several continents shrank to an area much smaller than their current range (Dickinson and Virji, 1987). On the other hand, during the so-called “climatic optimal”, ca. 6,000 years ago, warmer and wetter climate conditions allowed the tropical forests to expand towards higher latitudes. The Amazonas Forest, for example, may have extended as far south as 25° S and eastward to the Atlantic coast. Tropical forests are also affected by shortterm natural disturbances, such as interannual variability of climate and volcanic eruptions. The Kalimantan Forest (Indonesian Borneo) had 3 million hectares destroyed by fires during the severe drought resulting from the 1982–83 Niño-Southern Oscillation event (Malingreau et al
- Randall W. Myster(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
Figure 3.7 ).The latter areas can be roughly categorized into three kinds, each corresponding to a particular socioeconomic and ecological setting:(a) Deforestation in Western Amazonia (courtesy of http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?208511/Keeping-an-eye-on-deforestation ). (b) Aerial view showing deforestation patterns near Iquitos, Peru (numbers explained in the text) [(b) image from http://www.esri.com/landing-pages/software/landsat/unlock-earthssecrets ].Figure 3.7- spontaneous-looking, gradually expanded and patchy field and fallow systems by rural peoples along and near rivers;
- systematically expanding deforestation fronts close to population centers and along roads which attract colonization, and
- large-scale forest clearings raised by big capital for meat or cash-crop production.
For example, a several kilometers-long plantation was carved in early 2010 near Iquitos in an almost intact forest landscape (marked with number 3 in Figure 3.7 ; World Resources Institute 2015). Land conversions at equal or even larger scales are also made for oil palm, soya and especially cattle ranching. Widespread large-block deforestation is particularly abundant near the city of Cobija at the Bolivian border with Brazil.Selective logging induces diffuse canopy thinning with many kinds of ecologically significant consequences (Foley et al. 2007; Shearman et al. 2012). Since the extraction of valuable timber is the most common forestry practice in the region, such hidden consequences can be wide, extending along rivers, roads and other areas of easy access. In the same manner, there are depleted stocks of wild game and parrots in easily accessible lands due to intensive hunting (Salo et al. 2014). These kinds of wild species harvest settings resemble non-renewable resource mining as they inevitably lead to declining resource availability unless management efforts to the contrary are successful. Depleted forest resources lower the value of the remaining forest and add the risk of denudation. Such development commonly takes place in front of penetrating roads before larger-scale land conversion follows (Mäki et al
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- University Publications(Publisher)
The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity. It has adverse impacts on ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland. Disregard or ignorance of intrinsic value, lack of ascribed value, lax forest management and deficient environmental laws are some of the factors that allow deforestation to occur on a large scale. In many countries, deforestation is an ongoing issue that is causing extinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of indi-genous people. Among countries with a per capita GDP of at least US$4,600, net deforestation rates have ceased to increase. Causes There are many causes of contemporary deforestation, including corruption of government institutions, the inequitable distribution of wealth and power, population growth and overpopulation, and urbanization. Globalization is often viewed as another root cause of deforestation, though there are cases in which the impacts of globalization (new flows of labor, capital, commodities, and ideas) have promoted localized forest recovery. In 2000 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that the role of population dynamics in a local setting may vary from decisive to negligible, and that deforestation can result from a combination of population pressure and stagnating economic, social and technological conditions. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat, the overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is agriculture. Subsistence farming is responsible for 48% of deforestation; commercial agriculture is responsible for 32% of deforestation; logging is responsible for 14% of deforestation and fuel wood removals make up 5% of deforestation.
eBook - PDFEnvironment
An Interdisciplinary Anthology
- Eugene Jolas, Andreas Kramer, Rainer Rumold(Authors)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- Yale University Press(Publisher)
6 Deforestation The world’s forests and native grasslands are vital to human life and the planet’s ecological well-being. In addition to providing material for housing, paper, and fuel, forests serve as CO 2 sinks, recreation areas, and habitat for countless species of birds, other animals, and plants. Our economic prosperity and our psychological health, as well as the biodiversity of the planet, rest on the preservation, good management, and sustainability of the Earth’s woodlands. Michael Williams and George M. Woodwell illustrate the current state of the world’s forests, in a North American and global context respectively: a prospect that is encouraging in some respects but discouraging in most others. Whether one defines deforestation as the wholesale destruction of extensive woodland areas or as the pursuit of selective but ecologically unsound logging practices, its devastating effects are clear. William Dietrich’s “The Cutter” demonstrates that the local impact of even one act of clear-cutting in a forest is tremendous, in its effects on plant and animal species, but also with regard to soil, water retention, microclimate, and the like. These results in turn directly and indirectly influence the human community within or near the forest. On a different scale, Thomas Rudel and Bruce Horowitz’s Tropical Deforestation gives evidence of the broader problems of regional or continental deforestation, par-ticularly with the logging techniques used in much of the industrializing world. Here too, often disastrous ecological consequences arise from and further exac-erbate the greed, financial need, social inequality, and communal tension that characterize the societies in which forests are located. Yet observers resist recognizing the obvious, principally because historical, ideological, economic, ethnocentric, and even gender assumptions shape how forests and deforestation are perceived.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Library Press(Publisher)
The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity. It has adverse impacts on ____________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ____________________ biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland. Disregard or ignorance of intrinsic value, lack of ascribed value, lax forest management and deficient environmental laws are some of the factors that allow deforestation to occur on a large scale. In many countries, deforestation, both naturally occurring and human induced, is an ongoing issue. Deforestation causes extinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of populations as observed by current conditions and in the past through the fossil record. Among countries with a per capita GDP of at least US$4,600, net deforestation rates have ceased to increase. Causes There are many causes of contemporary deforestation, including corruption of government institutions, the inequitable distribution of wealth and power, population growth and overpopulation, and urbanization. Globalization is often viewed as another root cause of deforestation, though there are cases in which the impacts of globalization (new flows of labor, capital, commodities, and ideas) have promoted localized forest recovery. In 2000 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that the role of population dynamics in a local setting may vary from decisive to negligible, and that deforestation can result from a combination of population pressure and stagnating economic, social and technological conditions. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat, the overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is agriculture.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- University Publications(Publisher)
The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity. It has adverse impacts on ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland. Disregard or ignorance of intrinsic value, lack of ascribed value, lax forest management and deficient environmental laws are some of the factors that allow deforestation to occur on a large scale. In many countries, deforestation, both naturally occurring and human induced, is an ongoing issue. Deforestation causes extinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of populations as observed by current conditions and in the past through the fossil record. Among countries with a per capita GDP of at least US$4,600, net deforestation rates have ceased to increase. Causes There are many causes of contemporary deforestation, including corruption of government institutions, the inequitable distribution of wealth and power, population growth and overpopulation, and urbanization. Globalization is often viewed as another root cause of deforestation, though there are cases in which the impacts of globalization (new flows of labor, capital, commodities, and ideas) have promoted localized forest recovery. In 2000 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that the role of population dynamics in a local setting may vary from decisive to negligible, and that deforestation can result from a combination of population pressure and stagnating economic, social and technological conditions. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat, the overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is agriculture.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- University Publications(Publisher)
The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity. It has adverse impacts on ________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland. Disregard or ignorance of intrinsic value, lack of ascribed value, lax forest management and deficient environmental laws are some of the factors that allow deforestation to occur on a large scale. In many countries, deforestation, both naturally occurring and human induced, is an ongoing issue. Deforestation causes extinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of populations as observed by current conditions and in the past through the fossil record. Among countries with a per capita GDP of at least US$4,600, net deforestation rates have ceased to increase. Causes There are many causes of contemporary deforestation, including corruption of govern-ment institutions, the inequitable distribution of wealth and power, population growth and overpopulation, and urbanization. Globalization is often viewed as another root cause of deforestation, though there are cases in which the impacts of globalization (new flows of labor, capital, commodities, and ideas) have promoted localized forest recovery. In 2000 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) found that the role of population dynamics in a local setting may vary from decisive to negligible, and that deforestation can result from a combination of population pressure and stagnating economic, social and technological conditions. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat, the overwhelming direct cause of deforestation is agriculture.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Learning Press(Publisher)
______________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ______________________________ Chapter 5 Deforestation Jungle burned for agriculture in southern Mexico ______________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ______________________________ Deforestation in the Gran Chaco, Paraguay ______________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ______________________________ Deforestation and increased road-building in the Amazon Rainforest are a significant concern because of increased human encroachment upon wild areas, increased resource extraction and further threats to biodiversity. Deforestation is the clearance of forests by logging and/or burning (popularly known as slash and burn). Deforestation occurs for many reasons: trees or derived charcoal are used as, or sold, for fuel or as lumber, while cleared land is used as pasture for livestock, plantations of commodities, and settlements. The removal of trees without sufficient reforestation has resulted in damage to habitat, biodiversity loss and aridity. It has adverse impacts on biosequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Deforested regions typically incur significant adverse soil erosion and frequently degrade into wasteland. Disregard or ignorance of intrinsic value, lack of ascribed value, lax forest management and deficient environmental laws are some of the factors that allow deforestation to occur on a large scale. In many countries, deforestation is an ongoing issue that is causing extinction, changes to climatic conditions, desertification, and displacement of indigenous people. ______________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ______________________________ Among countries with a per capita GDP of at least US$4,600, net deforestation rates have ceased to increase. Causes There are many causes of contemporary deforestation, including corruption of government institutions, the inequitable distribution of wealth and power, population growth and over-population, and urbanization.
eBook - PDF- Christiane Runyan, Paolo D'Odorico(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Cambridge University Press(Publisher)
In the tropics, drier, more deciduous forests are most vulnerable to deforestation because they are easier to burn, a characteristic that reduces the effort needed to clear forests and maintain pastures and croplands (Laurance et al., 2002). Similarly, in the Amazon, deforestation is most concentrated in drier, more seasonal forests (Laurance et al., 2002; Steininger et al., 2001). However, in semiarid areas such as the Chaco of Argentina, relatively higher deforestation rates have been documented in areas receiving more than 600 mm of precipitation per year (Grau et al., 2005). Grau et al. (2005) found that 40% of forests have been removed in areas with more than 600 mm of rainfall annually, while sectors with less than 600 mm annually have lost less than 20% of their forest cover. Soybean expansion into forested areas in northwestern Argentina has been partially attributed to the increase in rainfall that occurred in this area during the late 20th century (Minetti and Lamelas, 1997; Minetti and Vargas, 1997). Other environmental factors driving deforestation rates may include soil fer- tility (e.g., Pfaff, 1996) because more fertile and higher quality soils could lead to increased productivity of cleared land. Thus, farmers and ranchers on low fertility soils could be forced to clear larger areas of forest than those on better soils in order to remain viable (Laurance et al., 2002). Historical analyses of environmental factors influencing deforestation (and continued forest removal) suggest that relatively low rainfall, temperature, and soil nutrient content all lead to a permanent reduction in forest cover (Rolett and Diamond, 2004). Steep land slope is another environmen- tal factor that has been cited as leading to reduced deforestation rates (e.g., Rolett and Diambond, 2004; Mas et al., 1996). Rolett and Diamond (2004) suggest that
eBook - PDF- Paulo Moutinho(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- IntechOpen(Publisher)
Biosocial Sciences , 33, 227-244. Didham, R. K., and J. J. Lawton (1999), Edge structure determines the magnitude of changes in microclimate and vegetation structure in tropical forest fragments, Biotropica , 31, 17-30. Impact of Deforestation on the Sustainability of Biodiversity in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor 69 Durieux, L., L.A.T. Machado and H. Laurent (2003), The impact of deforestation on cloud cover over the Amazon arc of deforestation, Remote Sens. Environ., 86 (1), 132-140(9), doi:10.1016/S0034-4257(03)00095-6. Eltahir, E. A. B. (1996), Role of vegetation in sustaining large-scale atmospheric circulations in the Tropics, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 4255–4268. Eltahir, E. A. B., and R. L. Bras (1994), Sensitivity of regional climate to deforestation in the Amazon basin, Adv. Water Resour., 17, 101–115. Eastman J. L., M. B. Coughenour, and R. A. Pielke Sr. (2001), The regional effects of CO 2 and landscape change using a coupled plant and meteorological model, Global Change Biol. 7: 797-815. Eshleman, K. N. (2004), Hydrological consequences of land use change: A review of the state-of-science. In: Ecosystems and land use changes , R. S. DeFries, G. P. Asner, and R. Houghton (eds.), AGU, Geophysical Monograph 153, 13-29. Ferreira, L. V., and W. F. Laurence (1997), Effects of forest fragmentation on mortality and damage of selected trees in central Amazonia, Conserv. Bio. , 11, 797-801. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (1999), State of the World's Forests 1999, FAO Forestry Program. Ford, M. J. (1982), The changing climate , London, George Allen and Unwin. Gash, J. H. C., and C. A. Nobre (1997), Climatic effect of Amazonian deforestation: Some results from ABRACOS, Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc ., 78, 823– 830. Goudriaan, J (1977), Crop micrometeorology: A simulation study, Simulation Monographs, Pudoc, Wageningen, 249pp.
eBook - PDFEconomics of Deforestation
The Example of Ecuador
- Sven Wunder(Author)
- 2000(Publication Date)
- Palgrave Macmillan(Publisher)
It relates the historical evidence to Latin American thinking on the environment, dominated by dependency theory and the political- ecology school. The current relevance of these approaches is discussed. Finally, a resume  of the region's two most prominent deforestation debates (Central America and Brazil) is presented. Resource endowment and the environmental agenda In order to understand the specific characteristics of deforestation pro- cesses in Latin America, it may be useful to start by laying out the general natural resource endowment and management features that can be said to distinguish the continent from other developing regions, such as Africa and Asia: 1 a relative abundance of non-renewable resources 2 a relative abundance of highly productive (but vulnerable) eco- systems 3 low average human population density 4 a relatively high asset inequality, including skewed land distribution 5 pronounced dualism in natural-resource management systems. Regarding the first two points, it should be pointed out that Latin America has only 8 per cent of the world's population, but 12 per cent of its cropland, 24 per cent of forests, 14 per cent of proved oil reserves, 23 per cent of its hydroelectrical potential, and more than one third of strategic mineral reserves such as copper, lithium and bauxite (Altieri and Masera 1993: 96±8). Biologically productive ecosystems are 56 Latin American Patterns of Deforestation 57 abundant, but also highly vulnerable to degradation: only 12.3 per cent of arable land in Latin America is free from production constraints; 20±30 per cent is on steep slopes and 17±32 per cent is subject to drought (ibid.: 100). This means that ecosystem productiveness in many areas must depend greatly on adequate land use if ecological degradation is to be avoided. In other words, Latin America has historically been well endowed with both renewable and non-renewable natural resources in compar- ison with its population size.
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