Geography of forest disturbance

Abstract

For some, the phrase “forest disturbance” conjures a vision of bulldozed trees to make room for agricultural fields. For others, the term evokes a mental picture of a tree falling in the forest, creating a gap. In reality, these are two end-members on a continuum of physical disturbances that commonly take place in forests. Critically, the frequency, size, and type of disturbances—the disturbance regime—is a fundamental characteristic of forests associated with processes ranging from carbon and water cycling to the interactions among the flora and fauna (1, 2). As a result, interest in the geography of disturbance has not only increased in forest ecology, it is also recognized in the climate-change science and policy-development arenas (3). In this context, a report by Chambers et al. (4) in PNAS takes us another step forward to determining the geography of natural disturbance in the central Amazon basin. More broadly, their work provides a fresh perspective on ways to address the challenge of quantifying and understanding forest disturbance regimes.