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Quantifying Long-Term Changes in Carbon Stocks and Forest Structure from Amazon Forest DegradationDespite sustained declines in Amazon deforestation, forest degradation from logging and firecontinues to threaten carbon stocks, habitat, and biodiversity in frontier forests along the Amazon arcof deforestation. Limited data on the magnitude of carbon losses and rates of carbon recoveryfollowing forest degradation have hindered carbon accounting efforts and contributed to incompletenational reporting to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). Wecombined annual time series of Landsat imagery and high-density airborne lidar data to characterizethe variability, magnitude, and persistence of Amazon forest degradation impacts on abovegroundcarbon density (ACD) and canopy structure. On average, degraded forests contained 45.1% of thecarbon stocks in intact forests, and differences persisted even after 15 years of regrowth. Incomparison to logging, understory fires resulted in the largest and longest-lasting differences in ACD.Heterogeneity in burned forest structure varied by fire severity and frequency. Forests with a historyof one, two, and three or more fires retained only 54.4%, 25.2%, and 7.6% of intact ACD,respectively, when measured after a year of regrowth. Unlike the additive impact of successive fires,selective logging before burning did not explain additional variability in modeled ACD loss andrecovery of burned forests. Airborne lidar also provides quantitative measures of habitat structure thatcan aid the estimation of co-benefits of avoided degradation. Notably, forest carbon stocks recoveredfaster than attributes of canopy structure that are critical for biodiversity in tropical forests, includingthe abundance of tall trees. We provide the first comprehensive look-up table of emissions factors forspecific degradation pathways at standard reporting intervals in the Amazon. Estimated carbon lossand recovery trajectories provide an important foundation for assessing the long-term contributionsfrom forest degradation to regional carbon cycling and advance our understanding of the currentstate of frontier forests.
Document ID
20190002540
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Rappaport, Danielle I.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Morton, Douglas C.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Longo, Marcos
(Universidade Estadual de Campinas Brazil)
Keller, Michael
(Universidade Estadual de Campinas Brazil)
Dubayah, Ralph
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
April 17, 2019
Publication Date
June 7, 2018
Publication Information
Publication: Environmental Research Letters
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Volume: 13
Issue: 6
e-ISSN: 1748-9326
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN66782
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNL15AA03C
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX16AO14H
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Use by or on behalf of the US Gov. Permitted.
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