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Global Forest Area Trends Underestimate Threats from Forest Fragmentation
Citation:
Riiters, K., J. Wickham, J. Costanza, AND P. Vogt. Global Forest Area Trends Underestimate Threats from Forest Fragmentation . LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY. Springer, New York, NY, 31(1):137-148, (2016).
Impact/Purpose:
Global assessment of forests that points out that this important resource is not being managed sustainably.
Description:
Forest loss and fragmentation of the remainder threaten the ecological attributes and functions which depend upon forests1. Forest interior area is particularly valued because it is relatively remote from human influence2, 3, 4, 5. Recent global assessments report declines in total forest area6, 7 which probably underestimate the loss of forest interior area8. Fragmentation is a spatial process such that trends in forest interior area depend additionally on the spatial patterns of forest losses and gains9, 10. Here we show that a 1.7 million km2 (3.2%) net loss of global forest area translated to a net loss of 3.8 million km2 (9.9%) of forest interior area from 2000 to 2012. Globally, the rate of forest interior area loss was three times the rate of all forest area loss, and the difference in loss rates was consistent in most of the 768 ecological regions examined. In addition to a loss of forest area, there has been a widespread shift of the remaining forest to a more fragmented condition. We anticipate our global assessment to be a starting point for focusing local investigations of the causes and consequences of forest fragmentation.
URLs/Downloads:
WICKHAM ORD-008924 ARTICLE-FINAL GLOBAL FOREST TRENDS-FRAGMENTATION.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 391 KB, about PDF)Global Forest Area Trends Underestimate Threats from Forest Fragmentation
