PNAS - Over 80% Of Agricultural Expansion In Tropics 1980 - 2000 Came Through Forest Destruction

[hatrack]

More than 80 percent of agricultural expansion in the tropics between 1980 and 2000 came at the expense of forests, reports research published last week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The study, based on analysis satellite images collected by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and led by Holly Gibbs of Stanford University, found that 55 percent of new agricultural land came at the expense of intact forests, while 28 percent came from disturbed forests. The remainder came from shrub lands.

"This finding confirms that agricultural expansion did not arise largely from previously cleared land and that agricultural expansion indeed has been a major driver of deforestation and the associated carbon emissions," write the authors. "This study confirms that rainforests were the primary source for new agricultural land throughout the tropics during the 1980s and 1990s."

EDIT

The scientists found little evidence that agricultural lands converted from forest areas were being abandoned long enough to enable forest regeneration during the study period. "We estimate that less than 5% of previously agricultural land later supported natural vegetation during the 1980s and 1990s," the authors write. The paper also cautions that the trend of agricultural expansion at the expense of forests is likely to continue.

EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0902-tropical_agriculture.html