Land Changes Fostering Atlantic Forest Transition in Brazil: Evidence from the Paraíba Valley

The Atlantic Forest biome has only 13 percent of its pristine vegetation cover left. This article analyzes the consequences of land changes on forest cover in the Paraíba Valley, São Paulo state, Brazil, from 1985 to 2011. Multitemporal satellite image classifications were carried out to map eight land use and land cover classes. The forest cover increased from 2,696 km² in 1985 to 4,704 km² in 2011, mostly over areas of degraded pastures. The highest rates of afforestation were observed within protected areas around eucalyptus plantations. On the other hand, deforestation processes were concentrated on areas covered by secondary forests. Socioeconomic changes taking place in particular Brazilian settings, such as industrialization and agricultural modernization, allied to the Paraíba Valley's natural biophysical constraints for agricultural production, have led the region to experience a remarkable case of forest transition.     

Forest transitions in tropical landscapes: A test in the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot

Analyzing temporal changes in forest amount and configuration is paramount to better design future forest management interventions. Such analyses are especially required for tropical biomes, which are usually subject to dynamic and heterogeneous land uses. Recent studies have suggested that many tropical biomes are passing through the process of “forest transition”, i.e. an overall change from forest loss to forest gain. However, this hypothesis remains scarcely tested, due to the difficulty of obtaining detailed, quantitative historical records of forest cover. In this study, we investigate 38 years of land use change in Brazil's Atlantic Forest, a biodiversity hotspot, from 1976 to 2014, using multitemporal datasets from aerial photographs and satellite images. We classified the historical series to produce land use maps and calculated a set of landscape metrics, including total forest cover, patch size, patch shape and patch connectivity. Our results indicated non-linear changes through time in forest loss and gain and also in landscape structure, which can be classified into two distinct periods. The first period (1976–1996) was marked by expressive forest loss and fragmentation, whereas the second (1996–2014) was characterized by a much less intense forest dynamics, with little deforestation being balanced by forest regeneration. We attribute the forest dynamics observed to temporal changes in socioeconomic factors, such as increasing human settlements and changes in environmental protection policies. Our results show that current forests are a heterogeneous mosaic of forests with different ages, and support the hypothesis that forest transition is occurring in Atlantic Forest landscapes.     

Grand Theory and Context‐Specificity in the Study of Forest Dynamics: Forest Transition Theory and Other Directions

This article critically reviews forest transition theory, which posits a decline in forest cover followed by expansion during the course of development. Whereas case studies in advanced industrial nations provided an empirical foundation, more recent cross‐national modeling efforts and studies in developing regions have raised doubts. Forest transition theory has limitations in its concept of forests, its treatment of forest dynamics, its explanation for forest transitions, and its generalizability. This critique provides the basis for research needs to link studies of forest dynamics on various timescales to other land use/land cover research, as via historical‐comparative methods and interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks.     

基于阈值分割的黑龙江省森林类型遥感识别

全球变化背景下,准确获取森林覆盖是监测森林资源动态、实现林业可持续发展的重要基础。为将省级尺度森林资源清查面积资料空间化,以黑龙江省为例,利用1999-2003年该省森林资源清查面积数据,结合2000年500 m分辨率的MODIS数据,构建了基于阈值分割的森林类型遥感识别方法。该方法利用不同地表覆被类型归一化植被指数时间序列的季节分异特征,以森林资源清查面积为标准,设定森林类型的划分阈值,识别了黑龙江省森林类型的空间分布。最后,基于分层随机抽样和精度评价方法,表明森林类型识别结果与地面参考数据具有较高的一致性,总体分类精度为78.1%;特别是季节特征明显的落叶林,精度可达80%以上。本文所构建的方法可将森林清查统计数据进行准确的空间定位,同时结合多期森林资源连续清查资料和遥感信息,可为识别并量化区域生态系统生物量和碳库变化等提供科技支撑。     

Are traditional and modern forestry institutions complementary or do they prescribe contradictory rights in Trans-Himalayan Nepal? A lesson to be learned for REDD+ implementation

Rights to forest products are difficult to decide in situations when traditional management institutions exist parallel to formal ones. Such situations raise the question of whether the institutions are complementary or prescribe contradictory rights and management principles. Based on a household survey and key informant interviews, the article focuses on how diverging management principles can be harmonized to satisfy national forestry goals in Nepal. Villages in the Trans-Himalayan district of Mustang used to manage forests according to their traditional institutions but after 1993 they were included in a new management regime called Conservation Area Management Committees (CAMCs). The findings revealed that the villagers appreciated development initiatives undertaken by the CAMCs but three disjunctions regarding forest management existed between the CAMCs and traditional institutions: there was a disjunction between the two sets of rules for forest resource utilization; there were role dilemmas of local residents who were entrusted with CAMC implementation; and there were spatial disjunctions when formal administrative forest borders did not coincide with customary ones. The simultaneous existence of two institutions thus blurred the rights to forest resources. The author concludes that knowledge of the disjunction between parallel institutions is vital for accommodating new management schemes such as REDD+.     

基于随机森林的元胞自动机城市扩展模拟——以佛山市为例

本文提出一种基于随机森林的元胞自动机城市扩展(RF-CA)模型。通过在多个决策树的生成过程中分别对训练样本集和分裂节点的候选空间变量引入随机因素,提取城市扩展元胞自动机的转换规则。该模型便于并行构建,能在运算量没有显著增加的前提下提高预测的精度,对城市扩展中存在的随机因素有较强的容忍度。RF-CA模型可进行袋外误差估计,以快速获取模型参数;也可度量空间变量重要性,解释各空间变量在城市扩展中的作用。将该模型应用于佛山市1988-2012年的城市扩展模拟中,结果表明,与常用的逻辑回归模型相比,RF-CA模型进行模拟和预测分别能够提高1.7%和2.6%的精度,非常适用于复杂非线性特征的城市系统演变模型与扩展研究;通过对影响佛山市城市扩展的空间变量进行重要性度量,发现对佛山城市扩张模拟研究而言,距国道的距离与距城市中心的距离具有最重要的作用。     

Paraguay's Atlantic Forest cover loss – Satellite-based change detection and fragmentation analysis between 2003 and 2013

The subtropical Atlantic Forest is a highly diverse ecosystem in South America and one of the most endangered rain forests in the world. The present study focuses specifically on the Paraguayan part of the tri-national Atlantic Forest. Over the last decades, the Paraguayan Atlantic Forest presented one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, and today, only a small share remains. Hence, forest loss in Paraguay's Atlantic Forest was detected and analysed through remote sensing and GIS methodologies based on Landsat images obtained in 2003 and 2013. The objective of this study was to examine the spatial impact of forest loss in Paraguay's Atlantic Forest over the past decade with a special focus on biodiversity conservation. Classifications results obtained overall accuracies above 83% and revealed that over 6000 km² of forest was cleared during the study period. The forest landscape and its fragmentation level were characterised through a set of landscape metrics, in particular the proximity analysis which support the identification of forest priority areas for nature conservation and potential biological corridors. In summary, the study revealed that deforestation and fragmentation of the Atlantic Forest area continued, but at a slower pace than that in the previous decade. Protected areas were conserved very effectively; however, forest core areas without any protection status require further attention. Intact forest patches and their connectivity are a crucial prerequisite to biodiversity conservation in a highly fragmented forest area. The combination of different remote sensing and GIS methods provides valuable information for sustainable forest management in the region.     

Regional analysis of indirect factors affecting the recovery,degradation and deforestation in the tropical dry forests of Oaxaca,Mexico

This study evaluates the dynamics and identifies the indirect biophysical and socio‐economic factors related to the recovery, degradation and deforestation of the tropical dry forest (TDF) cover in the municipality of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. Annual rates and transition matrices were determined to identify indirect factors; the cartographic information of 25 variables with shift points were overlaid and Generalized Linear Models (GLM) were applied. The change process with the greatest impact in TDF during the study period (1993–2011) was degradation, with 10468 ha degraded (12 per cent of the initial tropical cover); recovery of coverage was the second most important change process, with 4808 ha (5.5 per cent); and deforestation was the change process with the lowest impact, with a loss of 2800 ha (3.23 per cent). The net balance was negative, with a decrease (through land degradation and deforestation) of 8460 ha (9.75 per cent). The recovery of coverage was mainly associated with biophysical factors such as land suitability and accessibility to natural vegetation. On the other hand, deforestation and degradation of coverage were associated with both biophysical and socioeconomic factors such as land suitability, accessibility to natural vegetation, migration, marginalization, population pressure, economy, education and health. The findings of this study determined the spatial distribution of forest recovery, deforestation and degradation processes at a regional level, allowing for future researchers to focus their efforts at local and landscape levels. Also, the work allows for an approximation of the factors associated with the change processes studied, hence supporting the allocation of resources for the establishment of management, conservation, development and restoration strategies of tropical dry forests at the regional level.     

基于HASM的中国森林植被碳储量空间分布模拟

当前区域尺度上森林碳储量估算主要依据森林资源清查数据,整个过程不仅消耗大量人力、物力,而且十分耗时,严重影响了森林碳储量估算的时效性。针对这一问题,本文提出了基于HASM的森林植被碳储量模拟方法,该方法以全球植被动态模型LPJ-Guess 输出的植被碳储量为驱动场,以森林清查样地数据为精度控制点,模拟生成中国陆地森林碳储量分布情况。研究以第7 次中国森林资源清查数据作为精度控制点数据源,同时作为本文模拟方法的精度验证。结果表明,中国森林碳储量为9.2405 Pg,考虑到森林资源清查是基于一定的郁闭度进行的,因此HASM模拟的结果与根据森林资源清查结果计算得出的7.8115 Pg 相比更符合实际情况,西南山区和东北林区是中国森林最主要的碳库,其碳储量分别占中国森林植被碳储量的39.82%和20.46%。同时与之前(1975-1995 年) 相比具有较大幅度的增长,表明近几十年来中国坚持大规模植树造林的碳汇效果显著。同时也表明基于HASM的森林植被碳储量空间分布模拟方法是有效的,模拟结果合理且精度较高,表明该方法在全球尺度上森林植被碳储量模拟及其它生态系统中碳储量模拟中具有应用潜力。     

Land tenure and forest cover change. The case of southwestern Beni,Bolivian Amazon, 1986–2009

As land use change continues to increase throughout the Amazon basin, there is a pressing need to accurately map, quantify and assess the effects of different factors on forest cover change (FCC). Land tenure may sometimes have important effects on forest cover, yet such effects remain poorly understood in Amazonia, particularly outside Brazil. In this paper we assess whether significant differences in trends of FCC can be partially explained by different land tenure arrangements, using a case study in southwestern Beni (Bolivian Amazon). We examine spatio-temporal dynamics of FCC across four land tenure systems (indigenous titled territory, protected area, logging concession, and private land) by classifying forests using a time-series of Landsat satellite imagery consisting of four dates (1986, 1996, 2001, 2009). Specifically, we unravel (1) trends in early growth and old-growth forest extent, including changes in total cover area, annual change rates, and spatial change dynamics, and (2) trends in old-growth forest fragmentation. To better understand the association between land tenure and FCC, we qualitatively assess the potential role that other underlying and proximate drivers may have had in FCC over the study period. We found that private lands underwent, by far, the largest FCC, that indigenous territories and the protected area had little FCC, and that logging concessions were responsible for the lowest FCC. Our findings suggest that land tenure played a key role in FCC except in private areas, where many other drivers had operated. Our study sheds light into the potential role of land tenure in FCC and has important implications for public policies aimed at socioeconomic development and environmental conservation in the Amazon. We give some policy recommendations drawn from a biocultural conservation perspective that could contribute to implement more inclusive conservation policies in the region.     

Combining LPJ-GUESS and HASM to simulate the spatial distribution of forest vegetation carbon stock in China简

It is very important in accurately estimating the forests＇ carbon stock and spatial distribution in the regional scale because they possess a great rate in the carbon stock of the terrestrial ecosystem. Yet the current estimation of forest carbon stock in the regional scale mainly depends on the forest inventory data, and the whole process consumes too much labor, money and time. And meanwhile it has many negative influences on the forest carbon storage updating. In order to figure out these problems, this paper, based on High Accuracy Surface Modeling （HASM）, proposes a forest vegetation carbon storage simulation method. This new method employs the output of LPJ-GUESS model as initial values of HASM and uses the inventory data as sample points of HASM to simulate the distribution of forest carbon storage in China. This study also adopts the seventh forest resources statistics of China as the data source to generate sample points, and it also works as the simulation accuracy test. The HASM simulation shows that the total forest carbon storage of China is 9.2405 Pg, while the calculated value based on forest resources statistics are 7.8115 Pg. The forest resources statistics is taken based on a forest canopy closure, and the result of HASM is much more suitable to the real forest carbon storage. The simulation result also indicates that the southwestern mountain region and the northeastern forests are the important forest carbon reservoirs in China, and they account for 39.82% and 20.46% of the country＇s total forest vegetation carbon stock respectively. Compared with the former value （1975-1995）, it mani- fests that the carbon storage of the two regions do increase clearly. The results of this re- search show that the large-scale reforestation in the last decades in China attains a signifi- cant carbon sink.     

Land use/cover, landforms and fragmentation patterns in a tropical dry forest in the southern Pacific region of Mexico

In spite of widely documented studies of deforestation rates and land use/cover changes in tropical dry forests in Mexico, relatively little is known about fragmentation patterns in such forests. This study defines the spatial distribution of landforms and land use/cover types the lower Papagayo River basin and examines their influence on fragmentation patterns and biological diversity in a tropical dry forest in that southern Pacific region. The land use/cover map was constructed from aerial photographs, Landsat TM imagery (2000) and fieldwork. Landform units were defined based on altitude, slope, lithology and morphology. Landscape fragmentation parameters were obtained using FRAGSTATS (version 3.3) considering the numbers of patches, mean, minimum and maximum patch size, edge density, total edge and connectivity. Results show tropical dry forest to be remnant vegetation (~11 per cent), characterized by isolation and low connectivity. Land use/cover types have different effects on fragmentation patterns. Agriculture and cattle raising produce similar numbers of patches, but with a different mean size; and human settlements have a scattered distribution pattern. The abandonment of rural agricultural livelihoods has favoured the expansion of secondary tropical dry forest characterized by continuity and high connectivity, which suggests a high regeneration potential from land abandonment. It can be concluded that tropical dry forest fragmentation and recovery at regional scales depend on such landscape attributes as lithology, slope, geomorphology and management.     

Redistribution of forest biomass in an heterogeneous environment of subtropical Andes undergoing agriculture adjustment

Estimations of the carbon stored in the above-ground biomass are important from traditional, ecological and forestry to contemporary climate and land-use change perspectives. Carbon sequestration and storage is reduced by deforestation and degradation and enhanced by forest regrowth and expansion. Recent studies show that forests are experiencing redistribution at different scales. Regions with steep topographical gradients simultaneously experience these four processes, upon which the final carbon balance in forests depends, but large scale patterns of above-ground carbon changes within forests have generally been overlooked. We developed above-ground carbon maps for 2000 and 2012 in a heterogeneous environment of subtropical Andes to a) explore the patterns of change in relation to biophysical variables and forests types and b) calculate the relative contribution of within forest carbon change and of forest expansion/deforestation to total above-ground carbon balance. Above-ground carbon trends showed spatial variation: biomass losses occurred in dry forests at low-mid elevations, while gains were restricted to higher elevation forests. Within forest changes implied larger changes in carbon stocks (+361976 Mg C) and in an opposite direction than deforestation and reforestation (−56750.16 Mg C), and determined an overall stability in terms of above-ground carbon for the study period. These contrasting patterns of above-ground change may be representative of larger heterogeneous regions such as tropical and subtropical Andes, and highlight the need of explicitly accounting for within forests change in current carbon regional balances.     

基于空间统计理论的新疆各地州经济林营养物质积累空间关系特征分析及应用

积累营养物质是森林生态服务功能中的重要组成部分,它反映了林木生长情况和生产投入情况。基于2014年新疆七种主要经济林木积累营养物质调查数据,核算了2014年全疆经济林木氮、磷和钾的物质积累总量,折合当年化肥价值3.14×10⁸元。并利用全局空间自相关模型和地理加权模型（GWR）对该结果进行了分析。结果表明：（1）全疆不同经济林品种积累营养物质价值量的空间分布符合空间集聚理论,呈现某种经济林木在某个地区具有高度集中的种植现象;（2）GWR模型分析结果表明经济林在南疆林业中占有重要地位;（3）南疆各地州经济林发展存在明显差异,其中克孜勒苏柯尔克孜自治州、和田地区和喀什地区处在经济林发展期;阿克苏地区和巴音郭楞蒙古自治州则处在经济林衰产期。上述结果表明通过深入挖掘新疆生态服务功能价值信息,能够提取对新疆经济林产业发展规划具有重要参考价值的信息。研究所使用的思路和方法对其他类似研究具有重要的借鉴意义。     

生态环境建设对我国西部农业发展的贡献实证研究--以内蒙古自治区为例

西部大开发4年来的退耕还林(草)战略的实施,不仅使西部区草原植被得到一定程度的恢复,森林覆盖率迅速提高,而且改善了生态环境,促进了农业生产的发展。文章旨在通过计量经济模型的建立,运用计量经济软件Eviews,以内蒙古自治区为例确定生态环境与我国西部农业经济增长之间的数量关系:森林面积每增加1%,则农业总产值增长6.3303个百分点。这对于我国进一步推进退耕还林(草)战略、改善西部区域生态环境、促进西部农业经济发展具有重要的实践意义。     

Critical distances: Comparing measures of spatial accessibility in the riverine landscapes of Peruvian Amazonia

Quantitative measures of accessibility are increasingly used in land cover change modeling and in assessing human pressure on the environment. In riverine Amazonia the significance of physical accessibility for biodiversity, land use patterns and economic livelihoods is widely acknowledged, but attempts to quantify accessibility in practice have been few in number. In this study we compare different distance- and frequency-based measures of spatial accessibility and develop a quantitative model of accessibility patterns for the north-eastern Peruvian Amazonia where rivers form the core of the transportation network. We model accessibility between the rural areas of the Loreto region and the capital city of Iquitos, using different distance algorithms in a geographic information system, and complement the distance model with information on river boat frequencies and transport capacities. Patterns of accessibility are visualized in terms of potential production zones for different types of agricultural and non-timber forest products.This study demonstrates how results from different accessibility measures vary considerably. The mean Euclidean distance to Iquitos is almost 270 km, the mean network distance nearly 760 km and the mean travel time 70 h. Observed network distances from validation points to Iquitos are on average 1.6 times longer than Euclidean distances, and for the whole study area, the average ratio between modeled network distances and Euclidean distances is 3.1. The correlation between network distances and time distances is very strong, but time distances are relatively shorter along the major channels where boat traffic is considerably faster than along narrow, tightly meandering rivers. Measures of boat frequency and transport capacity show that availability of transport possibilities is highly varying across the region. These measures provide insights into the ’thickness’ of trade, indicating the level of market integration for riverine settlements. We conclude that quantifying accessibility in an environment like Peruvian Amazonia requires measures that take into account the spatial structure and dynamic nature of the riverine transportation network. Time as a unit of distance provides the most relevant measure of accessibility in the Amazonian context, where many human actions and traditional livelihoods are controlled by travel times between the regional core and the hinterland.     

The remittance forest: Turning mobile labor into agrarian capital

How does labor migration affect Indonesian forests? In the mountains of Java, where political forests and plantations date back to colonial state land acquisitions in the nineteenth century, forests are being reconstituted and reconfigured by unusual subjects: the wives and daughters of contracted forest workers and other forest farmers. Working as maids and other domestic laborers in Hong Kong and other prosperous Asian cities, these landless women are sending home remittances to invest in rural resources and changing the understory of the political forest where their husbands and fathers are required to remain available for formal forest labor. Slowly, without really intending to, these women have regendered the forest, not completely ousting the men or the masculine associations with logging and resin collection, but making inroads into the control of the forest lands via the under‐used understory. This article tells how poor, landless women, marginalized as forest residents and as free household labor, reforestation farmers, and poor agricultural laborers, signed up to work as maids in Hong Kong and ended up remaking the forest.     

Preliminary Estimation of Soil Carbon Sequestration of China’s Forests during 1999-2008

The National Forest Inventory (NFI) is an important resource for estimating the national carbon balance (These data were unpublished data, and we could only obtain the data before 2008 through data search by now). Based on the data from sample plots, the literature, and NFI, as well as the relationships between volume, biomass, annual litterfall and soil respiration of different forest types, the net ecosystem production (NEP), changes in forest biomass carbon storage (△Cbiomass) and non-respiratory losses (NR) of China’s forests during 1999-2008 were estimated, and the forest soil carbon sequestration (△Csoil) was assessed according to the carbon balance principle of the forest ecosystem (△Csoil = NEP - NR - △Cbiomass). The results showed that the total NEP, △Cbiomass, NR and △Csoil values for China’s forests were 157.530, 48.704, 31.033 and 77.793 Tg C yr^-1 respectively, and average NEP, △Cbiomass, NR, and △Csoil values were 101.247, 31.303, 19.945 and 49.999 g C m^-2 yr^-1 respectively. There were large spatial differences in forest soil carbon sequestration in different parts of China. The forest soil in Jiangxi, Hunan, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Guangxi and Liaoning served as carbon sources and the carbon released was about 25.507 Tg C yr^-1. The other 22 provinces served as carbon sinks and the average carbon sequestration by forest soil came to 103.300 Tg C yr^-1. This research established a method for evaluating soil carbon sequestration by China’s forests based on the NFI, which is a useful supplement to current statistical data-based studies on the forest ecosystem carbon cycle, and can promote comparable studies on forest soil carbon sequestration with consistent research methods at the regional scale.     

Monitoring deforestation with MODIS Active Fires in Neotropical dry forests: An analysis of local-scale assessments in Mexico,Brazil and Bolivia

The detection of vegetation fires using remote sensing has proven useful for highlighting areas undergoing rapid conversion in humid forests, but not in tropical dry forest (TDF). To further understand this relationship, we explored the correlation between MODIS Active Fires and forest cover change at local scales using 3 × 3 km sampling grids in three TDF landscapes in Bolivia; Mexico, and Brazil. Our analysis showed no single overall correlation among sites between the frequency of fires reported by the MODIS Active Fire Mapping product and forest cover change. Also, aggregated patterns of fire occurrence in Brazil and Bolivia did not correspond to areas with high percentage of forest loss, which indicates that the fire/deforestation relationship in TDF is not apparent in a simple fire frequency map. However, statistically significant correlations were found in sampling boxes with 50–60%, 50–70%, 50–95% forest cover at “initial state” of the time series in the Mexican site, Bolivian site and Brazilian site, respectively. Our findings suggest that complex interactions between anthropogenic fire-use, satellite-detected fires, and deforestation in highly fragmented TDF landscapes are difficult to describe at regional scales and might only be possible to analyze using finer resolution sampling grids.     

Spatial Patterns of Forest Ecosystem Services and Influencing Factors in the Ganjiang River Basin

As the major component of terrestrial ecosystems, forests play an irreplaceable role in providing ecosystem services and products (e.g. biodiversity, carbon sequestration, water yield and timber). Spatially quantifying ecosystem services and interactions will shed light on sustainable forest management. Main forest ecosystem services including carbon storage, water yield, soil retention and wood volume in the Ganjiang River Basin (GRB) were evaluated and mapped through the integrated use of InVEST3.1.0, CASA modeling and ArcGIS10.2, and relationships between forest ecosystem services and natural or social-economic factors were quantified and discussed based on ArcGIS10.2 and SPSS19.0. Results showed that the spatial pattern of the four ecosystem services is heterogeneous. Forests dominated by broad-leaved forest and bamboo forest in mountainous regions around the GRB provided the largest carbon storage and wood volume services, while forests dominated by Masson pine plantations or Chinese fir plantations in the northeast provided the largest water yield service. The spatial pattern of the soil retention service is more discrete than others, and forests in the southwestern regions showed larger soil erosion modulus than in the northeastern regions. Ecosystem services are closely related to the environmental process and human activities. With altitude or slope increases, the carbon storage and wood volume of forests increased and water yield depth and soil retention decreased. When the regional total population decreased or GDP per capita increased, carbon storage and wood volume increased. Further research into the interactions between environmental factors and ecosystem services is needed in order to understand environmental constraints when dealing with ecological problems.