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Amazon conservation policy working in Brazil, MSU-led study finds
June 16, 2009EAST LANSING, Mich. - Contrary to common belief, Brazil's policy of protecting portions of the Amazonian forest from development is capable of buffering the Amazon from climate change, according to a new study led by Michigan State University researchers.
The study, to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, contends state and federal governments in Brazil have created a sustainable core of protected areas within the Amazon. And even if the remaining Brazilian Amazon is deforested, the climate will not significantly change - thereby protecting the Amazon's ecosystems.
"The thought has been that if you deforest up to a certain point in the Amazon, the forest will completely lose the ability to recover its tropical vegetation - that you will basically convert it to a desert, especially in the south and southeastern margins of the basin," said Robert Walker, MSU professor of geography and lead researcher on the project.
"But our research shows that if you protect certain areas of the Amazon, as the Brazilian government is currently doing, the forest will not reach a tipping point, which means we can maintain the climate with levels of deforestation beyond which was originally thought."
Roughly the size of the 48 contiguous states, the Amazon River Basin is home to the world's largest rainforest, most of it in Brazil, and is the largest freshwater source on Earth. The Amazon is made up of a wide variety of exotic plant and animal life, including macaws, jaguars, anteaters and anacondas.
In Brazil, the government has set aside about 37 percent of the Amazon basin as protected area, Walker said.
Meanwhile, about 17 percent of the Brazilian Amazon has been deforested since the opening of the basin to development in the mid-1960s, he said.
Critics warn the Amazon is close to a tipping point in which the continued stripping of forests will stem rainfall and turn the tropical region into scrubland. Because trees pull moisture from the ground and release it back into the atmosphere, leading to rainfall, cutting them down threatens this "vegetative recycling" process, Walker said.
Walker and fellow researchers from Brazil and the United States conducted three years of atmospheric computer modeling on the region. Their study assumed the worst-case scenario - that all of the Brazilian Amazon not protected by the government would be deforested.
Even under this scenario, their findings indicate rainfall levels would not decrease to the point of changing the landscape and harming the ecosystems within the protected areas.
"Some people think the tipping point is going to occur at 30 percent to 40 percent deforestation," Walker said. "Our results suggest this is not the case; that you can have quite a bit of deforestation - perhaps up to 60 percent - before you get to the crash point."
The study also assumes the government-protected forests would not be altered beyond their current condition.
Michigan State University
"But our research shows that if you protect certain areas of the Amazon, as the Brazilian government is currently doing, the forest will not reach a tipping point, which means we can maintain the climate with levels of deforestation beyond which was originally thought."
Roughly the size of the 48 contiguous states, the Amazon River Basin is home to the world's largest rainforest, most of it in Brazil, and is the largest freshwater source on Earth. The Amazon is made up of a wide variety of exotic plant and animal life, including macaws, jaguars, anteaters and anacondas.
In Brazil, the government has set aside about 37 percent of the Amazon basin as protected area, Walker said.
Meanwhile, about 17 percent of the Brazilian Amazon has been deforested since the opening of the basin to development in the mid-1960s, he said.
Critics warn the Amazon is close to a tipping point in which the continued stripping of forests will stem rainfall and turn the tropical region into scrubland. Because trees pull moisture from the ground and release it back into the atmosphere, leading to rainfall, cutting them down threatens this "vegetative recycling" process, Walker said.
Walker and fellow researchers from Brazil and the United States conducted three years of atmospheric computer modeling on the region. Their study assumed the worst-case scenario - that all of the Brazilian Amazon not protected by the government would be deforested.
Even under this scenario, their findings indicate rainfall levels would not decrease to the point of changing the landscape and harming the ecosystems within the protected areas.
"Some people think the tipping point is going to occur at 30 percent to 40 percent deforestation," Walker said. "Our results suggest this is not the case; that you can have quite a bit of deforestation - perhaps up to 60 percent - before you get to the crash point."
The study also assumes the government-protected forests would not be altered beyond their current condition.
Michigan State University
Amazon Current Events and Amazon News RSSUF researchers: Ancient crocodile relative likely food source for Titanoboa
A 60-million-year-old relative of crocodiles described this week by University of Florida researchers in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology was likely a food source for Titanoboa, the largest snake the world has ever known.
Scientists identify Ecuador's Yasuní National Park as one of the most biodiverse places on earth
Yasuní National Park, located in the core of the Ecuadorian Amazon, shatters a range of world biodiversity records-from trees to amphibians to insects to mammals and an array of other plant and animal groups-new research from U.S. and Ecuadorian scientists shows.
Scientists identify Ecuador's Yasuni National Park as one of most biodiverse places on earth
A team of scientists has documented that Yasuní National Park, in the core of the Ecuadorian Amazon, shatters world records for a wide array of plant and animal groups, from amphibians to trees to insects.
Kew botanists discover over 250 new plant species in Kew's 250th year
Giant rainforest trees, rare and beautiful orchids, spectacular palms, minute fungi, wild coffees and an ancient aquatic plant are among more than 250 new plant and fungi species discovered and described by botanists from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in this, the botanical organisation's 250th anniversary year.
New report underlines multiple benefits but also new challenges to biodiversity-rich sites
An agreement in Copenhagen to fund reduced emissions from deforestation may generate multiple environmental and economic benefits if investments simultaneously target sites that are both carbon and biodiversity-rich.
Tropical birds waited for land crossing between North and South America: UBC study
* Home * Media Release * » Tropical birds waited for land crossing between North and South America: UBC study * Welcome * About o Publications + Annual Reports * News o Media Releases o e-Services o RSS Feeds o UBC Daily Media Summary o UBC This Week + Archives * UBC Reports o UBC Reports Extras o Goal, Circulation, Deadlines o Letters to the Editor & Opinion Pieces / Feedback o Article Submissions o Advertising o UBC Reports Archives * UBC Brand o What is a Brand? o Developing UBC's Brand o Brand Goals o UBC Brand FAQs o Distinguishing our Brand o UBC Brand Applications o Advertising Campaign o UBC Community Website o UBC Brand Policies & Updates * UBC 2010 Media Centre o UBC 2010 Experts o UBC 2010 Research o UBC 2010 Venues o UBC 2010 Education o UBC 2010 Media Kit * Services for Media o Find UBC Experts o News Contacts o UBC Facts & Figures (2008/2009) o Radio & TV Studios * Services for the Community * Services for UBC Faculty & Staff o Do-It-Yourself Tools + Going to the Media About Your Academic or Professional Conference + Getting Your Event Into the News # Community Calendar Listings o Strategic Communications Consultation o Photography o Web Strategy & Resources o Media Training o Writing an Effective Opinion-Editorial Piece or Letter to the Editor Media Release | Dec. 9, 2009 Tropical birds waited for land crossing between North and South America: UBC study Despite their ability to fly, tropical birds waited until the formation of the land bridge between North and South America to move northward, according to a University of British Columbia study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
Breakthrough in monitoring tropical deforestation announced in Copenhagen
Tropical forest destruction accounts for some 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. But quantifying these emissions has not been easy, particularly for tropical nations.
Report: Most comprehensive analysis to date of national policy options to reduce deforestation
An agreement at this week's UN Climate Change talks in Copenhagen to cut carbon emissions by paying developing countries to maintain their forests has the potential to reverse the decline in the world's forests, according to a comprehensive analysis of national policy options to reduce deforestation released today by CIFOR, the Center for International Forestry Research.
Forest deal at Copenhagen must avoid creating 'carbon refugees'
Forest dwellers must be included in the design of the upcoming forest deal at Copenhagen in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis, according to a scientist at the University of Leeds.
The end of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?
A new article in the December 4 issue of Science addresses how the combined efforts of government commitments and market transition could save forest and reduce carbon emissions in Brazil.
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