Loss Of Cover Research Articles

Germination response to winter temperature changes with seed shape and length of temperature exposure.

In many regions, the climate is changing faster during winter than during the other seasons, and a loss of snow cover combined with increased temperature variability can expose overwintering organisms to harmful conditions. Understanding how species respond to these changes during critical developmental times, such as seed germination, helps us assess the ecological implications of winter climate change. To address this concern, we measured the breaking of seed dormancy and cold tolerance of temperate grassland species in the lab and field. In the lab, we ran germination trials testing the tolerance of 17 species to an extreme cold event. In the field, we deployed seeds of two species within a snow manipulation experiment at three locations and measured germination success biweekly from seeds subjected to ambient and reduced snow cover from winter into spring. From lab trials, cold tolerance varied among species, with seed germination decreasing <10%-100% following extreme cold events. Cold tolerance was related to seed traits, specifically less round seeds, seeds that required cold stratification, and seeds that mature later in the season tended to be more impacted by extreme cold temperatures. This variation in seed cold tolerance may contribute to altered community composition with continued winter climate change. In the field, germination increased through late winter, coinciding with the accumulation of days where temperatures were favorable for cold stratification. Through spring, germination success decreased as warm temperatures accumulated. Collectively, species-specific seed cold tolerances and mortality rates may contribute to compositional changes in grasslands under continued winter climate change.

Land transformation across agroecological zones reveals expanding cropland and settlement at the expense of tree-cover and wetland areas in Nigeria

ABSTRACT Evaluating how land cover is being transformed is essential to identify patterns necessary to infer the change trajectories and the driving factors. This study considers the case of Nigeria, where various natural ecosystems are being converted and for which a current national scale assessment at high spatial resolution is lacking. Producing 30 m Landsat-based time-series data, we analyze change among land cover types (i.e. tree-covered area, grassland, wetland, waterbody, cropland, artificial surface, and otherland) across seven agroecological zones. The annual change intensity was assessed at multi-levels across two time-intervals (i.e. 2000–2013, 2013–2022). Distinguishing between natural land cover and human activity-related land-use, we estimate the extent of change signifying how humans have appropriated natural land cover. Insights from analysis at the interval level reveal that land transformation accelerated from 3.3% in 2000–2013 to 4.5% during 2013–2022 in all agroecological zones (e.g. rainforest, mangrove), except in Sudan savannah and Sahel savannah where speed was higher in 2000–2013 as grasslands were increasingly cultivated. Cropland expanded almost two-fold (22% to 37%), whereas tree-cover declined from 50% to 31% and wetland from 7% to 3.7% over the 23 years. Much loss of natural land cover (e.g. tree-cover, grassland, and wetland) to cropland occurred in 2000–2013 (22%) when most irrigation schemes in Nigeria were established. In contrast, the loss of natural land cover to settlement (0.9%) during 2000–2013 increased to 2.0% in 2013–2022. Of all agroecological zones, the mangrove zone was most disturbed as its persisting land cover areas reduced from 69% to 5% between 2000–2013 and 2013–2022. The amount of persisting land cover was highest in the Sudan savannah at 44% in 2000–2013 and 49% in 2013–2022. Processes of human-appropriated natural land cover in Nigeria are related to urbanization and cropland expansion into natural areas with some instances of natural regeneration, especially in croplands and abandoned settlement areas.

Typhoon-Induced Forest Damage Mapping in the Philippines Using Landsat and PlanetScope Images

Forests provide valuable resources for households in the Philippines, particularly in poor and upland communities. This makes forests an integral part of building resilient communities. This relationship became complex during extreme events such as typhoon occurrence as forests can be a contributor to the intensity and impact of disasters. However, little attention has been paid to forest cover losses due to typhoons during disaster assessments. In this study, forest damage caused by typhoons was measured using harmonic analysis of time series (HANTS) with Landsat-8 Operation Land Imager (OLI) images. The ΔHarmonic Vegetation Index was computed by calculating the difference between HANTS and the actual observed vegetation index value. This was used to identify damaged areas in the forest regions and create a damage map. To validate the reliability of the results, the resulting maps produced using ΔHarmonic VI were compared with the damage mapped from PlanetScope’s high-resolution pre- and post-typhoon images. The method achieved an overall accuracy of 69.20%. The accuracy of the results was comparable to the traditional remote sensing techniques used in forest damage assessment, such as ΔVI and land cover change detection. To further the understanding of the relationship between forest and typhoon occurrence, the presence of time lag in the observations was investigated. Additionally, different contributing factors in forest damage were identified. Most of the forest damage observed was in forest areas with slopes facing the typhoon direction and in vulnerable areas such as near the coast and hill tops. This study will help the government and forest management sectors preserve forests, which will ultimately result in the development of a more resilient community, by making it easier to identify forest areas that are vulnerable to typhoon damage.

Quantifying Forest Cover Loss during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Lubumbashi Charcoal Production Basin (DR Congo) through Remote Sensing and Landscape Analysis

In the context of the Lubumbashi Charcoal Production Basin (LCPB), the socio-economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic have exacerbated pressures on populations dependent on forest resources for their subsistence. This study employs a comprehensive methodological approach, integrating advanced remote sensing techniques, including image classification, mapping, and detailed landscape analysis, to quantify alterations in forest cover within the LCPB during the pandemic period. Our findings reveal a consistent trend of declining forested area, characterized by processes of attrition and dissection observed throughout various study phases, spanning from May 2019 to November 2023. This reduction in forest cover, notably more pronounced in the vicinity of Lubumbashi city and the northern zone of the LCPB, proved to be less pronounced between November 2019 and September 2020, underscoring the influence of COVID-19 pandemic-induced confinement measures on forest management practices in the region. However, subsequent to this period of restriction, deforestation activity intensified, leading to significant landscape transformations within the LCPB, primarily attributable to expanded human activities, consequently resulting in a notable decrease in the proportion of land occupied by these natural ecosystems. Consequently, the size of the largest forest patch declined substantially, decreasing from 14.62% to 8.20% between May 2019 and November 2023, thereby fostering a heightened density of forest edges over time. Our findings provide a significant contribution to understanding the complex interactions between the COVID-19 pandemic and deforestation phenomena, emphasizing the urgent need to adopt adaptive management strategies and appropriate conservation measures in response to current economic challenges.

Do voluntary sustainability standards reduce primary forest loss? A global analysis for food commodities

Agricultural expansion is the main driver of forest and biodiversity loss. As a countermeasure, Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) try to enhance sustainability in agricultural production but evidence if VSS reduce deforestation at country level is lacking. We used annual certification data of seven VSS (Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ, 4C, Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), GlobalGAP, Organic) certifying five food commodities (cocoa, coffee, tea, palm oil, banana) and data on tree cover loss in humid tropical primary forest to study the impact of VSS on primary forest loss in 67 tropical countries. Using two generalised additive models (GAMs), one with VSS separately and one with VSS coverage aggregated, we found only Fairtrade to coincide with lower tree cover loss in primary forests at country level while we observed higher tree cover loss with higher certification for UTZ, RSPO and Organic. Using spatially explicit certification data in Google Earth Engine, we did not observe an effect of VSS on tree cover loss, thereby raising doubts on the potential of VSS to govern deforestation free supply chains. Reasons for this might be, among others, certification displacing unsustainable agriculture to other regions (leakage), weak or insufficiently enforced VSS criteria, and outcomes being context specific depending on, for example, institutional factors.

Fertilizer prices and deforestation in Africa

This study explores the impact of fertilizer (urea) prices on local deforestation by exploiting the exogenous variation in the world price of urea inclusive of trade costs from the world market to the local market. The empirical analysis relies on a unique geo-coded dataset on the market price of urea across 158 subnational hub markets in 21 African countries and satellite-derived forest loss estimates over the period 2003 – 2012. The results suggest that fertilizer prices positively affect deforestation rate and forest cover loss. On average, a 1 % increase in local urea prices corresponds to 97.65 Ha of forest loss within a particular local market catchment. Specifically, the results reveal a price elasticity of approximatively 1 between urea prices and forest loss. The heterogeneity analysis suggests that the effects of urea prices on forest loss tend to be concentrated in markets with subtropical and tropical ecological features. Furthermore, I provide evidence for the land-conversion mechanism, implying that urea prices are positively associated with the expansion of agricultural land. Estimating an event study around exposure to a sustained jump in urea prices reveals a persistent response of deforestation and forest cover loss to fertilizer prices.

Effects of legacy mining on mercury concentrations in conifer needles and mushrooms in northern Palatinate, Germany

Due to integrated pollution prevention and control measures and the reduced burning of coal, air concentrations of mercury (Hg0) are currently levelling off. In the future, however, evasion from land surfaces will probably reverse this trend. Reasons are the rising temperatures and the loss of forest cover caused by calamities, droughts, storms and wildfires. Plant leaves constitute an important matrix for the accumulation of gaseous mercury and uptake and re-volatilisation by plants depends on the species, the vitality and the age and morphology of leaf organs. It has been shown that older conifer needles show higher concentrations than young needles and Hg accumulation is increasing throughout the season.In present study, we collected branches from Norway Spruce (Picea abies) in a former cinnabar mining region in Northern Palatinate, where artisanal and small-scale mining left innumerable waste dumps. While mining, smelting and processing of the ores were terminated during WWII, high total mercury concentrations remained in the top soils locally, with presumably only small fractions being plant available. In the lab, up to seven needle age classes were analysed. 1000 needle weights increased with age and as expected, also the Hg concentrations were elevated in the older needles. Needle concentrations were higher than those reported from other national biomonitoring programs confirming the regional imprint from legacy mercury. To complement our biomonitoring study, we collected edible mushrooms in former mining areas. Hg concentrations in most samples exceeded the EU maximum residue levels (MRL), while only a few broke the existing cadmium and lead limits. Tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for inorganic mercury would be surpassed with the consumption of a small portion of mushrooms. Further studies should be performed on the outgassing of Hg from mine wastes and the incorporation of Hg in the local food web, including its methylation and biomagnification.

Impact and recovery of forest cover following wildfire in the Northern Rocky Mountains of the United States

BackgroundAnthropogenic climate change is expected to catalyze forest conversion to grass and shrublands due to more extreme fire behavior and hotter and drier post-fire conditions. However, field surveys in the Northern Rocky Mountains of the United States show robust conifer regeneration on burned sites. This study utilizes a machine learning (GBM) approach to monitor canopy cover systematically on a census of burned areas in two large wilderness areas from 1985 to 2021, to contextualize these recent field surveys and create a monitoring baseline for future change.ResultsA predictive model was developed from coincident LiDAR and Landsat observations and used to create time series of canopy cover on 352 burned sites (individual wildfires subset by number of times burned), which were then summarized using fire impact and recovery metrics. Fire impact, defined as canopy cover loss relative to pre-fire condition, was highly correlated with burn severity (Spearman’s R = 0.70). Recovery was characterized by the following: (1) whether a burned area began gaining canopy cover and (2) how long would it take to reach pre-fire cover given observed rates of gain. Eighty-five percent of the land area studied showed evidence of recovery. Areas that are failing to recover are burning more recently than their recovering counterparts, with 60% of non-recovering sites burning for the first time after 2003. However, the 5-year probability of recovery is similar among recent burns and for those that burned earlier in the record, suggesting that they may recover with more time. Once sites begin recovering, median time to reach pre-fire cover is 40 years. Seven sites have expected recovery times greater than 200 years, six of which burned for the first time after 2006.ConclusionOverall, burned sites in wilderness areas of the Northern Rocky Mountains are broadly recovering from wildfire. However, anthropogenic climate change adds a layer of uncertainty to the future prognosis of conifer recovery. This work provides a framework for systematic monitoring into the future and establishes a baseline of impact and recovery in the mountains of western Montana and northern Idaho.

Integrating local ecological knowledge and remote sensing reveals patterns and drivers of forest cover change: North Korea as a case study

Satellite-based remote sensing approaches provide a cost-efficient means to collect information on the world’s forests and to repeatedly survey large, or inaccessible, forest areas. However, it may not always be possible to ground truth–associated findings using direct ecological field surveys conducted by trained forest scientists. Local ecological knowledge (LEK) is an alternative form of data which could be used to complement, interpret and verify information from satellite data. Using a case study on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea), we evaluate the potential for integrating remote sensing and LEK data, gathered with non-specialist former residents, to understand patterns and drivers of forest cover change. LEK reports often concurred with, or provided key information to enable interpretation of, satellite data. This revealed that between 1986 and 2021, North Korea experienced high, but uneven, rates of deforestation. There was a pronounced northwards deforestation shift in the mid-1990s, coinciding with a period of extreme hardship and famine (the “Arduous March”), and associated with clearance of trees in more forested northern provinces as an economic and fuel resource, and conversion of forest to agricultural cropland. Loss of forest cover in North Korea has continued and recently accelerated, to a rate of > 200 km2 per annum between 2019 and 2021. This increases the vulnerability of North Korean socio-ecological systems to future environmental change and is an obstacle to the recovery of threatened species across the Korean Peninsula. We recommend that LEK- and remote sensing–based approaches are considered within a suite of complementary techniques to analyse forest changes where ecological field surveys cannot be conducted.

Conservation status assessments of species-rich tropical taxa in the face of data availability limitations: insights from Sulawesi Begonia

Species conservation assessments using the criteria outlined by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Red List can be compromised by limited data availability. Species-rich tropical plant taxa with numerous microendemics are particularly problematic. This study focusses on the Begonia flora of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, comprised of 65 herbaceous species mainly found in rainforest habitats. Sixty-two species are Sulawesi endemics, including 20 species restricted to limestone karst landscapes. Forty-eight species are represented by fewer than 10 herbarium collections. Here, we outline and discuss an approach that, despite these data limitations, allows meaningful conservation assessments by integrating analyses of occurrences, data primarily based on remote sensing approaches, including forest landscape integrity, forest cover loss, and land cover, and extent of suitable habitat estimation. The results indicate that most Sulawesi Begonia species are narrow endemics whose rainforest habitats have substantially deteriorated in the last two decades: 27 species are assessed as Critically Endangered, 24 as Endangered, six as Vulnerable, five as Least Concern, and three species are Data Deficient. Conservation action, including extension of the protected area network in Sulawesi with emphasis on areas of old-growth forest and limestone karst landscapes, and strengthening of ex-situ living collections, is recommended.

Urban expansion and vegetation dynamics: The role of protected areas in preventing vegetation loss in a growing mega city

The decrease in vegetation cover due to urban expansion poses serious challenge to urban sustainability. Protected areas (PAs) are the most effective tools to prevent the loss of urban vegetation cover and to control urban expansion. Hence, this study aims to assess the importance of PAs in protecting urban vegetation and the urban expansion in the mega city of Delhi. For this, Landsat datasets were used for land use and land cover (LULC) mapping and then land cover change rate (LCCR) and land cover intensity (LCI) were calculated. For assessing urban expansion dynamics, mean landscape expansion index (MLEI) and the area-weighted LEI (AWLEI) were calculated. To evaluate the significance of PAs in protecting vegetation cover, kernel density estimation (KDE) was applied to assess the spatial variation and concentration of vegetation cover under different PAs. The result shows that urban expansion in Delhi was initially characterized by edge expansion during 1991–2001, followed by outlying expansion of built-up area during 2001–2021, while infilling of open and vegetated areas by built-up area was consistent during 1991–2021. Vegetation cover on the other hand, has followed a fluctuating trend in the city, but has overall it has declined from 13.36% to 9.30% during 1991–2021. The vegetation cover has declined significantly in eastern, northern, and western parts of Delhi but has increased significantly in central and southern parts, especially during 2001–21. This is because the central and southern parts of Delhi are well planned and have several PAs while the western, northern, and eastern parts of Delhi are unplanned regions and have only a few PAs. The KDE chart shows that the PAs have played an important role in protecting the vegetation cover in Delhi with R2 value > 0.70. Hence, this study suggests to give special emphasis on preservation and expansion of PAs in urban planning for the long-term conservation of urban vegetation cover and sustainable urban development.

Impact of Deforestation on Water Quality in Cameroon

Purpose: The aim of the study was to analyze the impact of deforestation on water quality in Cameroon. Methodology: This study adopted a desk methodology. A desk study research design is commonly known as secondary data collection. This is basically collecting data from existing resources preferably because of its low cost advantage as compared to a field research. Our current study looked into already published studies and reports as the data was easily accessed through online journals and libraries. Findings: Deforestation in Cameroon significantly impacts water quality, as evidenced by increased sedimentation, higher pollutant levels, and elevated risks of waterborne diseases. Loss of forest cover reduces natural filtration capacities, leading to higher concentrations of contaminants in water sources. Alterations in hydrological patterns and changes in land use further exacerbate these issues, affecting water availability and aquatic habitats. Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: Hydrological cycle theory, land use/land cover change (LU/LC) theory &amp; ecosystem services theory may be used to anchor future studies on impact of deforestation on water quality in Cameroon. Implement land-use planning measures that prioritize the conservation and sustainable management of forest ecosystems, including protected area designation, forest restoration initiatives, and sustainable forest management practices. Develop and enforce policies that incentivize forest conservation and sustainable land management practices, such as payment for ecosystem services schemes, land-use zoning regulations, and carbon offset programs.

Loss of coral thermotolerance following year-long in situ nursery propagation with a consecutively high summer heat-load

Exposure to more frequent ocean warming events is driving the loss of coral reef cover as the window of recovery between episodes of bleaching reduces. Coral propagation via in situ nurseries and subsequent outplanting have increased worldwide to support replenishing coral cover on degraded reefs. However, challenges in identifying fast-growing and bleaching-resistant target corals have limited how informative we can be regarding the resilience of outplanted corals. Here, we employed short-term thermal stress assays using the Coral Bleaching Automated Stress System (CBASS) to assess the thermal threshold of a fast-growing coral pre- and post-propagation on in situ nursery frames. We show that year-long nursery-propagated corals exhibit a statistically significant reduction in thermal thresholds (i.e., ED50s) compared to their corresponding reef-based donor colonies based on dose–response modelling of dark acclimated photosynthetic efficiency. RNA-Seq was then used to assess the underlying drivers of this thermotolerance reduction, identifying that processes involved in metabolic and oxidative stress management were disrupted in nursery versus donor heat-treated corals. Whether trade-offs during potential growth-focused phases (post-fragmentation), nursery conditions, and/or a consecutively high summer heat-load drove the lower thermal capacity remains to be determined. However, nursery corals expressed genes associated with telomere maintenance, which are typically expressed in stress-sensitive fast-growing corals under seasonal environmental stress, suggesting consecutively high summer heat-loading contributed to the observed patterns. Our results highlight that thermal tolerance is (i) variable and (ii) subject to acclimation to varying degrees across colonies. Thus, a path forward for reef practitioners to improve propagation efforts may entail the initial screening of a larger reef population from which thermally superior colonies can be selected for propagation.

Restoring frequent fire to dry conifer forests delays the decline of subalpine forests in the southwest United States under projected climate

Abstract In southwestern US forests, the combined impact of climate change and increased fuel loads due to more than a century of human‐caused fire exclusion is leading to larger and more severe wildfires. Restoring frequent fire to dry conifer forests can mitigate high‐severity fire risk, but the effects of these treatments on the vegetation composition and structure under projected climate change remain uncertain. We used a forest landscape model to assess the impact of thinning and prescribed burns in dry conifer forests across an elevation gradient, encompassing low‐elevation pinyon‐juniper woodlands, mid‐elevation ponderosa pine and high‐elevation mixed‐conifer forests. Our results demonstrated that the treatments decreased the probability of high‐severity fires by 42% in the study area. At low elevation, the treatments did not prevent loss in forest cover and biomass with decreases in Pinus edulis and Juniperus monosperma abundances. At mid‐elevation, changes in fire effects maintained a greater diversity of tree species by favouring the maintenance of cohorts of old trees, in particular Pinus ponderosa which accumulated 5.41 Mg ha−1 more above‐ground biomass than without treatments by late‐century. Treatments in dry conifer forests modified fire effects beyond the treated area, resulting in increased cover and biomass of old Picea englemannii and Abies lasiocarpa cohorts. Synthesis and applications: Our findings indicate that thinning and prescribed burning can enhance tree species diversity in dry conifer forests by protecting old cohorts from stand‐replacing fires. Moreover, our results suggest that treatments mainly implemented in dry pine forests with high risk of high‐severity fires can be beneficial for subalpine species conservation by reducing the chance that high‐severity fire at mid‐elevation is transmitted into high‐elevation forest.

Assessment of Human Health Risk Indices Due to Metal Contamination in the Surface Water of the Negro River Sub-Basin, Áncash.

The accelerated loss of glacial cover in the Cordillera Blanca in Áncash, Peru, exposes the underlying rocks with high concentrations of sulfides from the Chicama Formation to oxidation and leaching processes, generating acid rock drainage (ARD) in glacial and periglacial areas. These are transported by surface runoff, contaminating the surface water with high concentrations of metals and sulfates, as well as increasing the acidity, which poses a risk to human health and the ecosystem. Therefore, the risk indices for human health due to metal contamination were evaluated at 19 surface water sampling points distributed in the Río Negro sub-basin. Hydrochemical analyses revealed average metal concentrations in the following order: Fe (28.597 mg/L), Al (3.832 mg/L), Mn (1.085 mg/L), Zn (0.234 mg/L), Ni (0.085 mg/L), Co (0.053 mg/L), Li (0.036 mg/L), Cu (0.005 mg/L), and Pb (0.002 mg/L). The risk was determined by calculating the Heavy Metal Pollution Index (HPI) and the Hazard Index (HI). The average HPI value was 360.959, indicating a high level of contamination (HPI ≥ 150). The human health risk assessment indicated that adverse effects caused by iron, lithium, and cobalt in children and adults should be considered. Through the use of Pearson correlation analysis, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis, it was identified that SO42-, Fe, S, Al, Co, Mn, Ni, Zn, and Li originate from natural sources, associated with the generation of ARD in glacial and periglacial areas.

Impact of Artisanal Gold Mining in Community Conserved Areas with High Biodiversity Using a Multi-Criteria Approach: A Case Study in Colombia

Artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) using mercury affects community agreements for the conservation of forests (CoS) and lakes (CoH), which have a high level of biodiversity in the Peasant Reserve Zone of the Cimitarra River Valley (ZRC-VRC) in Colombia. In this research, a multi-criteria approach (MCA) was applied to analyze the impact of ASGM. This analysis is based on the community environmental agreements to preserve CoS and CoH areas, the ecological importance of these areas, as well as the results of mercury dispersion in the Cimitarra river basin, with concentrations found 40 km downstream of the mining area of 0.09 µgTHg L−1 in the Cimitarra river, 0.07 µgTHg L−1 in the CoH, and 0.01 mgTHg kg−1 in the tissues of macrophytes, as well as the increase in deforestation since 2020 in the CoS, due to a 1.8% (990 ha) loss of forest cover, with 693 ha of the forest cover loss coinciding with areas related to the opening of new mines. The MCA showed that the main impact is found within the criterion Social and armed conflict, followed by Deforestation. This research offers recommendations to reduce impact scores, such as the implementation of a sustainable development plan (PDS) of the ZRC-VRC, and it highlights the urgent need to safeguard the community conservation areas.

Extreme wildfires in Canada and their contribution to global loss in tree cover and carbon emissions in 2023.

Canadian wildfires in 2023 were record breaking with wide-reaching impacts on people, nature, and climate. Extreme heat and low rainfall associated with climate change led to unprecedented forest fires that released enormous amounts of carbon as they burned. This study used data on fire-driven tree cover loss and forest carbon fluxes to estimate the total extent of stand-replacing forest fires and their associated carbon emissions. We found that the 2023 Canadian wildfires burned nearly 7.8 million hectares of forest and accounted for more than a quarter of all tree cover loss globally. Furthermore, forests impacted by wildfires emitted nearly 3 billion tons of CO2 or about 25% more carbon than all primary tropical tree cover loss that year. These results have important implications for global carbon budgets because emissions from these wildfires will largely be excluded from official greenhouse gas reporting.

Into the unknown: The role of post-fire soil erosion in the carbon cycle.

Wildfires directly emit 2.1 Pg carbon (C) to the atmosphere annually. The net effect of wildfires on the C cycle, however, involves many interacting source and sink processes beyond these emissions from combustion. Among those, the role of post-fire enhanced soil organic carbon (SOC) erosion as a C sink mechanism remains essentially unquantified. Wildfires can greatly enhance soil erosion due to the loss of protective vegetation cover and changes to soil structure and wettability. Post-fire SOC erosion acts as a C sink when off-site burial and stabilization of C eroded after a fire, together with the on-site recovery of SOC content, exceed the C losses during its post-fire transport. Here we synthesize published data on post-fire SOC erosion and evaluate its overall potential to act as longer-term C sink. To explore its quantitative importance, we also model its magnitude at continental scale using the 2017 wildfire season in Europe. Our estimations show that the C sink ability of SOC water erosion during the first post-fire year could account for around 13% of the C emissions produced by wildland fires. This indicates that post-fire SOC erosion is a quantitatively important process in the overall C balance of fires and highlights the need for more field data to further validate this initial assessment.

Remote sensing monitoring of changes in forest cover in the Volyn region: a cross section for the first two decades of the 21st century

The aim of the article. This article highlights the significance of forest cover as an important indicator of the state of the environment. It discusses the findings of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020 report, which states that the world's forest area has decreased by 178 million hectares since 1990. The case study of Volyn region shows how cloud processing and vegetation classification can help quantify forest dynamics from 2000 to 2020, allowing local authorities and decision makers to monitor and analyze trends in near real time. Overall, this work provides insights into the importance of monitoring forest dynamics and the potential for remote sensing technology to facilitate this process. Data &amp; Methods. Remote sensing is an effective tool for monitoring forest ecology and management, and Google Earth Engine (GEE) is an online platform that combines data from various agencies to analyze environmental data. The article presents a case study of the Volyn region and how cloud processing and vegetation classification were used to assess forest dynamics from 2000 to 2020. The study used data from Landsat 7 Collection 1 Tier 1 composites and the CART algorithm for binary decision tree building. The study was based on information provided by the Main Department of Statistics in the Volyn region on the area of forests and areas where logging was carried out during the specified period. Research results. It is interesting to note that despite the decrease in logging activities, there is an increase in forest cover loss within forest ranges. This could be due to various reasons, such as illegal logging or natural disturbances like fires or disease outbreaks. The use of machine learning methods like CART classification can help to identify and monitor these changes, which can then be used to inform policy decisions and management practices to reduce forest cover loss. In general, in the Volyn region, there is a gradual decrease in the areas where various kinds of logging are carried out from 524 km2 in 2003 to 239 km2 in 2020. In contrast, forest cover loss within forest ranges increased rapidly from 37.85 km2 in 2015 to 84.01 km2 in 2017 and beyond from 5.53 km2 to 10.80 km2 in 2015 and 2017 respectively. In this study, the accuracy assessment was performed using 30% of the control points obtained initially, based on data on the reliability of the land cover. The manufacturer's accuracy and user accuracy were calculated to evaluate error omissions and possibilities of a pixel being categorized in a certain category. The spatial resolution of Landsat 7 data used in this study was 30 m, with a minimum calculation area of 0.337 hectares. The overall accuracy and the coefficient κ are the most representative measures of accuracy, with an average accuracy of classification of OAav=98.82% and κav=0.9764.

Impacts of Deforestation on Soil Quality and Water Resources in Tropical Forest Areas of Sumatra

Deforestation poses a significant threat to the tropical forest regions of Sumatra, impacting soil quality and water resources crucial for ecosystem health and human well-being. This paper synthesizes the multifaceted impacts of deforestation on soil and water in Sumatra and proposes strategies for sustainable land management. Deforestation leads to a decline in soil organic matter, nutrient levels, and microbial diversity, affecting soil fertility and erosion susceptibility. Additionally, the loss of forest cover disrupts the hydrological cycle, altering water availability, quality, and distribution. Increased surface runoff and sedimentation degrade water bodies, threatening aquatic biodiversity and community water supplies. Integrated analysis highlights the interdependencies between land cover change, soil degradation, and hydrological processes, emphasizing the need for holistic management approaches. Reforestation, agroforestry, and community engagement are proposed as essential strategies for mitigating deforestation impacts and promoting ecosystem resilience in Sumatra.