Disentangling the numbers behind agriculture-driven tropical deforestation

Florence Pendrill; Toby A. Gardner; Patrick Meyfroidt; U.M. Persson; Justin Adams; Tasso Azevedo; Mairon G. Bastos Lima; Matthias Baumann; Philip G. Curtis; Veronique De Sy; Rachael Garrett; Javier Godar; Elizabeth Dow Goldman; Matthew C. Hansen; Robert Heilmayr; Martin Herold; Tobias Kuemmerle; Michael J. Lathuillière; Vivian Ribeiro; Alexandra Tyukavina; Mikaela J. Weisse; Chris West

doi:10.1126/science.abm9267

Disentangling the numbers behind agriculture-driven tropical deforestation

Florence Pendrill^*, Toby A. Gardner^*, Patrick Meyfroidt, U.M. Persson, Justin Adams, Tasso Azevedo, Mairon G. Bastos Lima, Matthias Baumann, Philip G. Curtis, Veronique De Sy, Rachael Garrett, Javier Godar, Elizabeth Dow Goldman, Matthew C. Hansen, Robert Heilmayr, Martin Herold, Tobias Kuemmerle, Michael J. Lathuillière, Vivian Ribeiro, Alexandra TyukavinaMikaela J. Weisse, Chris West

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

206 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Agricultural expansion is recognized as a major driver of forest loss in the tropics. However, accurate data on the links between agriculture and tropical deforestation are lacking. Pendrill et al. synthesized existing research and datasets to quantify the extent to which tropical deforestation from 2011 to 2015 was associated with agriculture. They estimated that at least 90% of deforested land occurred in landscapes where agriculture drove forest loss, but only about half was converted into productive agricultural land. Data availability and trends vary across regions, suggesting complex links between agriculture and forest loss. —BEL

Original language	English
Article number	eabm9267
Number of pages	13
Journal	Science
Volume	377
Issue number	6611
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm9267
Publication status	Published - 9 Sept 2022

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https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/191067/1/AcceptedManuscript_Disentangling.pdf

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Pendrill, F., Gardner, T. A., Meyfroidt, P., Persson, U. M., Adams, J., Azevedo, T., Bastos Lima, M. G., Baumann, M., Curtis, P. G., De Sy, V., Garrett, R., Godar, J., Goldman, E. D., Hansen, M. C., Heilmayr, R., Herold, M., Kuemmerle, T., Lathuillière, M. J., Ribeiro, V., ... West, C. (2022). Disentangling the numbers behind agriculture-driven tropical deforestation. Science, 377(6611), Article eabm9267. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm9267

@article{e8a561f307f049bcbbe27e797d301e89,

title = "Disentangling the numbers behind agriculture-driven tropical deforestation",

abstract = "Agricultural expansion is recognized as a major driver of forest loss in the tropics. However, accurate data on the links between agriculture and tropical deforestation are lacking. Pendrill et al. synthesized existing research and datasets to quantify the extent to which tropical deforestation from 2011 to 2015 was associated with agriculture. They estimated that at least 90% of deforested land occurred in landscapes where agriculture drove forest loss, but only about half was converted into productive agricultural land. Data availability and trends vary across regions, suggesting complex links between agriculture and forest loss. —BEL",

author = "Florence Pendrill and Gardner, {Toby A.} and Patrick Meyfroidt and U.M. Persson and Justin Adams and Tasso Azevedo and {Bastos Lima}, {Mairon G.} and Matthias Baumann and Curtis, {Philip G.} and {De Sy}, Veronique and Rachael Garrett and Javier Godar and Goldman, {Elizabeth Dow} and Hansen, {Matthew C.} and Robert Heilmayr and Martin Herold and Tobias Kuemmerle and Lathuilli{\`e}re, {Michael J.} and Vivian Ribeiro and Alexandra Tyukavina and Weisse, {Mikaela J.} and Chris West",

year = "2022",

month = sep,

day = "9",

doi = "10.1126/science.abm9267",

language = "English",

volume = "377",

journal = "Science",

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Pendrill, F, Gardner, TA, Meyfroidt, P, Persson, UM, Adams, J, Azevedo, T, Bastos Lima, MG, Baumann, M, Curtis, PG, De Sy, V, Garrett, R, Godar, J, Goldman, ED, Hansen, MC, Heilmayr, R, Herold, M, Kuemmerle, T, Lathuillière, MJ, Ribeiro, V, Tyukavina, A, Weisse, MJ & West, C 2022, 'Disentangling the numbers behind agriculture-driven tropical deforestation', Science, vol. 377, no. 6611, eabm9267. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm9267

TY - JOUR

T1 - Disentangling the numbers behind agriculture-driven tropical deforestation

AU - Pendrill, Florence

AU - Gardner, Toby A.

AU - Meyfroidt, Patrick

AU - Persson, U.M.

AU - Adams, Justin

AU - Azevedo, Tasso

AU - Bastos Lima, Mairon G.

AU - Baumann, Matthias

AU - Curtis, Philip G.

AU - De Sy, Veronique

AU - Garrett, Rachael

AU - Godar, Javier

AU - Goldman, Elizabeth Dow

AU - Hansen, Matthew C.

AU - Heilmayr, Robert

AU - Herold, Martin

AU - Kuemmerle, Tobias

AU - Lathuillière, Michael J.

AU - Ribeiro, Vivian

AU - Tyukavina, Alexandra

AU - Weisse, Mikaela J.

AU - West, Chris

PY - 2022/9/9

Y1 - 2022/9/9

N2 - Agricultural expansion is recognized as a major driver of forest loss in the tropics. However, accurate data on the links between agriculture and tropical deforestation are lacking. Pendrill et al. synthesized existing research and datasets to quantify the extent to which tropical deforestation from 2011 to 2015 was associated with agriculture. They estimated that at least 90% of deforested land occurred in landscapes where agriculture drove forest loss, but only about half was converted into productive agricultural land. Data availability and trends vary across regions, suggesting complex links between agriculture and forest loss. —BEL

AB - Agricultural expansion is recognized as a major driver of forest loss in the tropics. However, accurate data on the links between agriculture and tropical deforestation are lacking. Pendrill et al. synthesized existing research and datasets to quantify the extent to which tropical deforestation from 2011 to 2015 was associated with agriculture. They estimated that at least 90% of deforested land occurred in landscapes where agriculture drove forest loss, but only about half was converted into productive agricultural land. Data availability and trends vary across regions, suggesting complex links between agriculture and forest loss. —BEL

U2 - 10.1126/science.abm9267

DO - 10.1126/science.abm9267

M3 - Article

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 377

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6611

M1 - eabm9267

ER -

Disentangling the numbers behind agriculture-driven tropical deforestation

Abstract

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