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Assessment of global forest change between 1986 and 1993 using satellite-derived terrestrial net primary productivity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 October 2009

Christine J. Jang ,
Yasuko Nishigami  and
Yukio Yanagisawa
Christine J. Jang
Affiliation:
System Analysis for Global Environment Laboratory (SAGE), Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE), 9–2, Kizugamadai, Kizu-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619–02 Japan
Yasuko Nishigami
Affiliation:
System Analysis for Global Environment Laboratory (SAGE), Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE), 9–2, Kizugamadai, Kizu-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619–02 Japan
Yukio Yanagisawa*
Affiliation:
System Analysis for Global Environment Laboratory (SAGE), Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE), 9–2, Kizugamadai, Kizu-cho, Soraku-gun, Kyoto, 619–02 Japan
*
* Yukio Yanagisawa Fax: +81 774 75 2317 email: yukio@rite.or.jp
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Summary

Although forest removal has been well documented at a global level, knowledge of how major forest processes such as photosynthesis have been affected remains poor. Global forest change between 1986 and 1993 was assessed using the NOAA/AVHRR satellite data converted to terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP). Forest loss was a dominant feature in tropical regions, with the most severe destruction in Latin America followed by southeast Asia and Africa. Loss of high-productivity forests over wide areas was observed for countries such as Brazil and Bolivia. Further analysis showed that approximately 12% (9100999 km2) and 19% (2 600000 km2) of the low-NPP regions (<500 g m−2yr−1, e.g., deserts, tundra) and the high-NPP regions (> 2000 g m−2yr−1, e.g., tropical rain forests), respectively, were transformed to intermediate-NPP regions (500–1500 g m−2yr−1, e.g., savanna, grassland, or cultivated land), between 1986 and 1993. The extent of global forest degradation or fragmentation may be more severe than the deforestation itself. Low-latitude ecosystems were more prone to decline in NPP than mid- and high-latitude ecosystems. The NPP method offers insight into global forest change in a timely, practical and consistent manner.

Keywords

net primary productionnormalized difference vegetation indexglobal vegetation indexglobal carbon cycleNOAAsatellite data
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , December 1996 , pp. 315 - 321
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1996

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