Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abg7012
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Accelerated forest fragmentation leads to critical increase in tropical forest edge area
Author Fischer, R. ORCID logo ; Taubert, F.; Müller, M.S.; Groeneveld, J.; Lehmann, S.; Wiegand, T.; Huth, A.
Source Titel Science Advances
Year 2021
Department OESA; iDiv
Volume 7
Issue 37
Page From eabg7012
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Supplements https://www.science.org/doi/suppl/10.1126/sciadv.abg7012/suppl_file/sciadv.abg7012_SM.pdf
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Abstract Large areas of tropical forests have been lost through deforestation, resulting in fragmented forest landscapes. However, the dynamics of forest fragmentation are still unknown, especially the critical forest edge areas, which are sources of carbon emissions due to increased tree mortality. We analyzed the changes in forest fragmentation for the entire tropics using high-resolution forest cover maps. We found that forest edge area increased from 27 to 31% of the total forest area in just 10 years, with the largest increase in Africa. The number of forest fragments increased by 20 million with consequences for connectivity of tropical landscapes. Simulations suggest that ongoing deforestation will further accelerate forest fragmentation. By 2100, 50% of tropical forest area will be at the forest edge, causing additional carbon emissions of up to 500 million MT carbon per year. Thus, efforts to limit fragmentation in the world’s tropical forests are important for climate change mitigation.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=24842
Fischer, R., Taubert, F., Müller, M.S., Groeneveld, J., Lehmann, S., Wiegand, T., Huth, A. (2021):
Accelerated forest fragmentation leads to critical increase in tropical forest edge area
Sci. Adv. 7 (37), eabg7012 10.1126/sciadv.abg7012