The drivers of tree cover expansion: global, temperate, and tropical zone analyses

Thomas K. Rudel ^[1] ; Sean Sloan ^[2] ; Robin Chazdon ^[3] ; Ricardo Grau ^[4]
1. [1] Rutgers University
  
  Rutgers University
  
  City of New Brunswick, Estados Unidos
2. [2] James Cook University
  
  James Cook University
  
  Australia
3. [3] University of Connecticut
  
  University of Connecticut
  
  Town of Mansfield, Estados Unidos
4. [4] CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Argentina
Mostrar afiliaciones +
Localización: Land use policy: The International Journal Covering All Aspects of Land Use, ISSN 0264-8377, ISSN-e 1873-5754, Nº. 58, 2016, págs. 502-513
Idioma: inglés
Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)

Resumen
- This paper uses new, high resolution satellite-derived data to explore recent cross-national differences in expanding tree cover. Increases in tree cover have concentrated in nations with recent histories of extensive deforestation, humid climates, high crop yields, and small numbers of farm workers. The associations of expanded tree cover with high yields for cereal crops and small populations of cultivators suggests a dynamic, sometimes referred to as a forest transition, in which urbanization and industrialization promote a long-term expansion in tree cover on certain types of land. The association of tree cover gains with tree cover losses and humid climates suggests a second dynamic, a churning, treadmill-like production of wood products from lands subjected to recurring harvests of wood products followed by tree cover gains in the recently harvested areas. The forest transition dynamic suggests that many smallholders would allow tree cover to expand on their lands if payments for environmental services were available. The salience of the treadmill dynamic of tree cover losses followed by tree cover gains underscores the importance of questions about the implications of commercial tree monocultures for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and social justice