Importance of Defining 'Forest': Tropical Forest Degradation, Deforestation, Long-term Phase Shifts, and Further Transitions

While research continues on the causes, consequences, and rates of deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics, there is little agreement about what exactly is being lost, what we want back, and to whom the 'we' refers. Particularly unsettling is that many analyses and well-intende...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Biotropica Vol. 42; no. 1; pp. 10 - 20
Main Authors:	Putz, Francis E, Redford, Kent H
Format:	Journal Article Conference Proceeding
Language:	English
Published:	Malden, USA Malden, USA : Blackwell Publishing Inc 2010 Blackwell Publishing Inc Wiley
Subjects:	Afforestation Animal, plant and microbial ecology Applied ecology biodiversity Biological and medical sciences biomass canopy carbon carbon markets carbon sequestration carbon sinks climate change Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife deforestation ecosystems Forestry Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology General aspects General forest ecology Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology guidelines land cover land-use change nontimber forest products plantation plantations planting REDD remote sensing savanna savannas scrub shrublands species diversity trees tropical forests tropics understory Japan, Honshu, Kyoto Prefect., Kyoto Deforestation Savannah Tropical zone land-use change Tropical forest Biodiversity scrub Long term Carbon sequestration Land use Breeding site Dynamical climatology Degradation Climate change REDD plantation savanna Transition Shrubbery
ISSN:	0006-3606, 1744-7429
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	While research continues on the causes, consequences, and rates of deforestation and forest degradation in the tropics, there is little agreement about what exactly is being lost, what we want back, and to whom the 'we' refers. Particularly unsettling is that many analyses and well-intended actions are implemented in fogs of ambiguity surrounding definitions of the term 'forest'--a problem that is not solely semantic; with development of markets for biomass carbon, vegetation classification exercises take on new relevance. For example, according to the basic implementation guidelines of the Kyoto Protocol, closed canopy natural forest could be replaced by monoclonal plantations of genetically engineered exotic tree species and no deforestation would have occurred. Following these same guidelines, carbon credits for afforestation could be available for planting trees in species-rich savannas; these new plantations would count towards a country moving towards the 'forest transition,' the point at which there is no net 'forest' loss. Such obvious conflicts between biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration might be avoided if 'forest' was clearly defined and if other vegetation types and other ecosystem values were explicitly recognized. While acknowledging that no one approach to vegetation classification is likely to satisfy all users at all scales, we present an approach that recognizes the importance of species composition, reflects the utility of land-cover characteristics that are identifiable via remote sensing, and acknowledges that many sorts of forest degradation do not reduce carbon stocks (e.g., defaunation) or canopy cover (e.g., over-harvesting of understory nontimber forest products).
Bibliography:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7429.2009.00567.x ArticleID:BTP567 istex:EC8A97698693F979026F2416B44EC706A61368EB ark:/67375/WNG-86GDGHG8-6 1 Corresponding author; e‐mail fep@botany.ufl.edu ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2 ObjectType-Feature-1
ISSN:	0006-3606 1744-7429
DOI:	10.1111/j.1744-7429.2009.00567.x