Toward a forest transition across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome

Frontiers in Forests and Global Change

Forests and Global Change

Simone A. Vieira¹  Emilio Moran²  Jianguo Liu³  Ramon Felipe Bicudo da Silva⁴  Andrés Viña⁵  Maria Claudia Lopez⁶  James D. A. Millington⁷  Yue Dou⁸ 

[1] Center for Environmental Studies and Research, State University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil;Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States;Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States;Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States;Center for Environmental Studies and Research, State University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil;Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States;Department of Geography, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States;Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States;Department of Geography, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom;Department of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, Netherlands;

关键词: forest resilience;    regeneration;    human dimensions;    spatial modeling;    complex systems toward a forest transition;   

DOI  :  10.3389/ffgc.2023.1071495

 received in 2022-10-16, accepted in 2023-06-14,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The world has entered the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030), yet many regions of the world still face environmental degradation. In this context a question arises: under what conditions may a given region shift from a trajectory of environmental degradation to environmental recovery? Answering this question constitutes an important endeavor for the scientific community, policymakers, and organizations leading the planning and implementation of restoration projects. This study examines some of the human-environment conditions underpinning the net gains in natural forest cover in a region that has experienced environmental degradation: the Atlantic Forest biome, Brazil. Using land-use/cover (LULC) data, we assessed the loss and successive gain in forest cover during the 1987–2001 and 2001–2015 periods. Municipality-level statistics on agriculture and economy, together with LULC and biophysical data, were used to develop models for assessing forest cover trajectories. Of the 1,972 municipalities experiencing net forest loss during the 1987–2001 period, 59% shifted their trajectory to a net gain during the 2001–2015 period. This shift, known as forest transition, followed a complex socio-economic pathway characterized by (i) the stagnation of traditional agricultural activities favoring the replacement of pasturelands by mechanized agriculture, and (ii) the emergence of non-agricultural rural activities together with multifunctional landscapes. Furthermore, a trend of decrease in precipitation seems to be associated with land abandonment, thus, favoring the return of natural vegetation. Our findings suggest that forest transition at the biome level is possible if environmental and land regulations take advantage of specific context-dependent situations that foster net forest gains.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Bicudo da Silva, Moran, Viña, Millington, Dou, Vieira, Lopez and Liu.