Abstract
Potapov, P., A. Yaroshenko, S. Turubanova, M. Dubinin, L. Laestadius, C. Thies, D. Aksenov, A. Egorov, Y. Yesipova, I. Glushkov, M. Karpachevskiy, A. Kostikova, A. Manisha, E. Tsybikova, and I. Zhuravleva. 2008. Mapping the world’s intact forest landscapes by remote sensing. Ecology and Society 13(2): 51. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-02670-130251
Highlights
As the most biologically diverse terrestrial ecosystem, forests provide critical habitats to more than half of all known plant and animal species on Earth (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) 2001, Hassan et al 2005)
This paper introduces a new approach for mapping large intact forest landscapes (IFL), defined as an unbroken expanse of natural ecosystems within areas of current forest extent, without signs of significant human activity, and having an area of at least 500 km2
We developed and used the IFL definition to achieve two important objectives: (1) to formalize a replicable procedure for analysis of disturbance and fragmentation in forest landscapes at a regionally and nationally relevant scale, and (2) to produce a globally consistent map of remaining intact areas that is suitable for underpinning the targeting of conservation work at these levels
Summary
As the most biologically diverse terrestrial ecosystem, forests provide critical habitats to more than half of all known plant and animal species on Earth (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) 2001, Hassan et al 2005). Forests and the non-forest ecosystems associated with them (e.g., wetlands and mountain grasslands) maintain environmental conditions and provide ecosystem services at both regional and global scales: from regional hydrological cycles to global climate constituents. The basic provisional (timber, food, and forage) and supporting (water purification, climate regulation) ecosystem services provided by forests are essential for human well-being. The forest extent has rapidly declined throughout human history as a result of agricultural expansion, urban development, mining operations, etc (Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2005, Hassan et al 2005). Destructive modes of economic development have led to the rapid deforestation, fragmentation, and Ecology and Society 13(2): 51 http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art51/
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