Deforestation: Carving up the Amazon. Fraser, B. 509(7501):418–419.
Deforestation: Carving up the Amazon [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
A rash of road construction is causing widespread change in the world's largest tropical forest with potentially global consequences. [excerpt] The drying brought about by roads influences local atmospheric circulation patterns and can have farther-reaching effects that not only compromise the health of the Amazon but can also contribute to global warming by releasing carbon stored in the forest. [...] Stripping away trees not only eliminates a source of moisture; it also changes the regional air flow. As the forest dries, it transfers less moisture to the atmosphere, changing rainfall patterns hundreds or thousands of kilometres downwind. That could affect not only forests and agriculture across the basin, but also the amount of water available to power hydroelectric dams. In a simulation using climate, hydrological and land-use models, Coe and his colleagues projected that reductions in rainfall caused by deforestation could drastically cut the power-generating capacity of Amazonian dams5. That would upset the plans of Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, which intend to increase hydropower to meet rapidly growing electricity demands. The drying effect reaches well past the forest's edge. And the more fragmented the forest, the wider the impact, according to one study that found canopy drying 2.7 kilometres from the edge of a highly fragmented forest6. The influence of roads in the Amazon could even reach around the world. Recent lines of research suggest that changes in several factors prevent trees in disrupted forests from storing as much carbon as they did in the past, a shift that could accelerate global warming. [...] Changes in the Amazon's fire potential are also impeding the forest's ability to store carbon. [...] Because they have not evolved in an environment frequently beset by fires, trees in the Amazon forest are susceptible to heat and damage from flames. [...] As the wider impact of Amazonian roads becomes clearer, planners and conservationists face a dilemma. Although roads threaten the forest's health, they also significantly lower costs for farmers and businesses, and can make a difference between life and death for people in remote areas far from hospitals.
@article{fraserDeforestationCarvingAmazon2014,
  title = {Deforestation: Carving up the {{Amazon}}},
  author = {Fraser, Barbara},
  date = {2014-05},
  journaltitle = {Nature},
  volume = {509},
  pages = {418--419},
  issn = {0028-0836},
  doi = {10.1038/509418a},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/509418a},
  abstract = {A rash of road construction is causing widespread change in the world's largest tropical forest with potentially global consequences. [excerpt] The drying brought about by roads influences local atmospheric circulation patterns and can have farther-reaching effects that not only compromise the health of the Amazon but can also contribute to global warming by releasing carbon stored in the forest. [...] Stripping away trees not only eliminates a source of moisture; it also changes the regional air flow. As the forest dries, it transfers less moisture to the atmosphere, changing rainfall patterns hundreds or thousands of kilometres downwind. That could affect not only forests and agriculture across the basin, but also the amount of water available to power hydroelectric dams. In a simulation using climate, hydrological and land-use models, Coe and his colleagues projected that reductions in rainfall caused by deforestation could drastically cut the power-generating capacity of Amazonian dams5. That would upset the plans of Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, which intend to increase hydropower to meet rapidly growing electricity demands.

The drying effect reaches well past the forest's edge. And the more fragmented the forest, the wider the impact, according to one study that found canopy drying 2.7 kilometres from the edge of a highly fragmented forest6.

The influence of roads in the Amazon could even reach around the world. Recent lines of research suggest that changes in several factors prevent trees in disrupted forests from storing as much carbon as they did in the past, a shift that could accelerate global warming. [...] Changes in the Amazon's fire potential are also impeding the forest's ability to store carbon. [...] Because they have not evolved in an environment frequently beset by fires, trees in the Amazon forest are susceptible to heat and damage from flames. [...] As the wider impact of Amazonian roads becomes clearer, planners and conservationists face a dilemma. Although roads threaten the forest's health, they also significantly lower costs for farmers and businesses, and can make a difference between life and death for people in remote areas far from hospitals.},
  keywords = {*imported-from-citeulike-INRMM,~INRMM-MiD:c-13177940,amazonia,anthropogenic-changes,anthropogenic-impacts,cross-disciplinary-perspective,deforestation,forest-resources,fragmentation,global-scale,global-warming,integrated-natural-resources-modelling-and-management,tropical-forests,wildfires},
  number = {7501}
}

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