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1. Biophysical Impact of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change on Subgrid Temperature in CMIP6 Models

   https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-22-0073.1  

   Tang, Tao ; Lee, Xuhui ; Zhang, Keer ; Cai, Lei ; Lawrence, David M. ; Shevliakova, Elena ( March 2023 , Journal of Hydrometeorology)

   Abstract In this study, we investigate the air temperature response to land-use and land-cover change (LULCC; cropland expansion and deforestation) using subgrid land model output generated by a set of CMIP6 model simulations. Our study is motivated by the fact that ongoing land-use activities are occurring at local scales, typically significantly smaller than the resolvable scale of a grid cell in Earth system models. It aims to explore the potential for a multimodel approach to better characterize LULCC local climatic effects. On an annual scale, the CMIP6 models are in general agreement that croplands are warmer than primary and secondary land (psl; mainly forests, grasslands, and bare ground) in the tropics and cooler in the mid–high latitudes, except for one model. The transition from warming to cooling occurs at approximately 40°N. Although the surface heating potential, which combines albedo and latent heat flux effects, can explain reasonably well the zonal mean latitudinal subgrid temperature variations between crop and psl tiles in the historical simulations, it does not provide a good prediction on subgrid temperature for other land tile configurations (crop vs forest; grass vs forest) under Shared Socioeconomic Pathway 5–8.5 (SSP5–8.5) forcing scenarios. A subset of simulations with the CESM2more »model reveals that latitudinal subgrid temperature variation is positively related to variation in net surface shortwave radiation and negatively related to variation in the surface energy redistribution factor, with a dominant role from the latter south of 30°N. We suggest that this emergent relationship can be used to benchmark the performance of land surface parameterizations and for prediction of local temperature response to LULCC.« less
2. Carbon declines along tropical forest edges correspond to heterogeneous effects on canopy structure and function

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1914420117  

   Ordway, Elsa M. ; Asner, Gregory P. ( March 2020 , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   Nearly 20% of tropical forests are within 100 m of a nonforest edge, a consequence of rapid deforestation for agriculture. Despite widespread conversion, roughly 1.2 billion ha of tropical forest remain, constituting the largest terrestrial component of the global carbon budget. Effects of deforestation on carbon dynamics in remnant forests, and spatial variation in underlying changes in structure and function at the plant scale, remain highly uncertain. Using airborne imaging spectroscopy and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data, we mapped and quantified changes in forest structure and foliar characteristics along forest/oil palm boundaries in Malaysian Borneo to understand spatial and temporal variation in the influence of edges on aboveground carbon and associated changes in ecosystem structure and function. We uncovered declines in aboveground carbon averaging 22% along edges that extended over 100 m into the forest. Aboveground carbon losses were correlated with significant reductions in canopy height and leaf mass per area and increased foliar phosphorus, three plant traits related to light capture and growth. Carbon declines amplified with edge age. Our results indicate that carbon losses along forest edges can arise from multiple, distinct effects on canopy structure and function that vary with edge age and environmental conditions, pointingmore »to a need for consideration of differences in ecosystem sensitivity when developing land-use and conservation strategies. Our findings reveal that, although edge effects on ecosystem structure and function vary, forests neighboring agricultural plantations are consistently vulnerable to long-lasting negative effects on fundamental ecosystem characteristics controlling primary productivity and carbon storage.

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3. Shaping of topography by topographically-controlled vegetation in tropical montane rainforest

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281835  

   Brocard, Gilles ; Willebring, Jane K. ; Scatena, Fred N. ( March 2023 , PLOS ONE)

   Van Stan, John Toland (Ed.)

   Topography is commonly viewed as a passive backdrop on which vegetation grows. Yet, in certain circumstances, a bidirectional feedback may develop between the control of topography and the spatial distribution of vegetation and landform development, because vegetation modulates the erosion of the land surface. Therefore, if reinforcing feedbacks are established between erosion and land cover distribution over timescales relevant to landform development, then the interactions between vegetation and topography may create distinctive landforms, shaped by vegetation. We expose here a strong correlation between the spatial distribution of vegetation, erosion rates, and topography at a characteristic length scale of 10 2 -10 3 m (mesoscale topography) in the Luquillo Experimental forest (LEF) of Puerto Rico. We use high-resolution LiDAR topography to characterize landforms, satellite images to classify the vegetation into forest types, and in-situ produced cosmogenic 10 Be in the quartz extracted from soils and stream sediments to document spatial variations in soil erosion. The data document a strong correlation between forest type and topographic position (hilltop vs. valleys), and a correlation between topographic position and 10 Be-derived erosion rates over 10 3 −10 4 years. Erosion is faster in valleys, which are mostly covered by monocot Palm Forest, and slowermore »on surrounding hills mostly covered by the dicot Palo Colorado Forest. Transition from one forest type to the next occurs across a break-in-slope that separates shallowly convex hilltops from deeply concave valleys (coves). The break-in-slope is the consequence of a longer-lasting erosional imbalance whereby coves erode faster than hills over landscape-shaping timescales. Such a deepening of the coves is usually spurred by external drivers, but such drivers are here absent. This implies that cove erosion is driven by a process originating within the coves themselves. We propose that vegetation is the primary driver of this imbalance, soil erosion being faster under Palm forest than under Palo Colorado forest. Concentration of the Palm forest in the deepening coves is reinforced by the better adaptation of Palm trees to the erosive processes that take place in the coves, once these develop steep slopes. At the current rate of landscape development, we find that the imbalance started within the past 0.1–1.5 My. The initiation of the process could correspond to time of settlement of these mountain slopes by the Palm and Palo Colorado forests.« less
4. Rapid Recent Deforestation Incursion in a Vulnerable Indigenous Land in the Brazilian Amazon and Fire-Driven Emissions of Fine Particulate Aerosol Pollutants

   https://doi.org/10.3390/f11080829  

   de Oliveira, Gabriel ; Chen, Jing M. ; Mataveli, Guilherme A. ; Chaves, Michel E. ; Seixas, Hugo T. ; Cardozo, Francielle da ; Shimabukuro, Yosio E. ; He, Liming ; Stark, Scott C. ; dos Santos, Carlos A. ( August 2020 , Forests)

   Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon is related to the use of fire to remove natural vegetation and install crop cultures or pastures. In this study, we evaluated the relation between deforestation, land-use and land-cover (LULC) drivers and fire emissions in the Apyterewa Indigenous Land, Eastern Brazilian Amazon. In addition to the official Brazilian deforestation data, we used a geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) approach to perform the LULC mapping in the Apyterewa Indigenous Land, and the Brazilian biomass burning emission model with fire radiative power (3BEM_FRP) to estimate emitted particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5), a primary human health risk. The GEOBIA approach showed a remarkable advancement of deforestation, agreeing with the official deforestation data, and, consequently, the conversion of primary forests to agriculture within the Apyterewa Indigenous Land in the past three years (200 km2), which is clearly associated with an increase in the PM2.5 emissions from fire. Between 2004 and 2016 the annual average emission of PM2.5 was estimated to be 3594 ton year−1, while the most recent interval of 2017–2019 had an average of 6258 ton year−1. This represented an increase of 58% in the annual average of PM2.5 associated with fires formore »the study period, contributing to respiratory health risks and the air quality crisis in Brazil in late 2019. These results expose an ongoing critical situation of intensifying forest degradation and potential forest collapse, including those due to a savannization forest-climate feedback, within “protected areas” in the Brazilian Amazon. To reverse this scenario, the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices and development of conservation policies to promote forest regrowth in degraded preserves are essential.« less
5. Transnational agricultural land acquisitions threaten biodiversity in the Global South

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acb2de  

   Davis, Kyle Frankel ; Müller, Marc F. ; Rulli, Maria Cristina ; Tatlhego, Mokganedi ; Ali, Saleem ; Baggio, Jacopo A. ; Dell’Angelo, Jampel ; Jung, Suhyun ; Kehoe, Laura ; Niles, Meredith T. ; et al ( February 2023 , Environmental Research Letters)

   Agricultural large-scale land acquisitions have been linked with enhanced deforestation and land use change. Yet the extent to which transnational agricultural large-scale land acquisitions (TALSLAs) contribute to—or merely correlate with—deforestation, and the expected biodiversity impacts of the intended land use changes across ecosystems, remains unclear. We examine 178 georeferenced TALSLA locations in 40 countries to address this gap. While forest cover within TALSLAs decreased by 17% between 2000 and 2018 and became more fragmented, the spatio-temporal patterns of deforestation varied substantially across regions. While deforestation rates within initially forested TALSLAs were 1.5 (Asia) to 2 times (Africa) higher than immediately surrounding areas, we detected no such difference in Europe and Latin America. Our findings suggest that, whereas TALSLAs may have accelerated forest loss in Asia, a different mechanism might emerge in Africa where TALSLAs target areas already experiencing elevated deforestation. Regarding biodiversity (here focused on vertebrate species), we find that nearly all (91%) studied deals will likely experience substantial losses in relative species richness (−14.1% on average within each deal)—with mixed outcomes for relative abundance—due to the intended land use transitions. We also find that 39% of TALSLAs fall at least partially within biodiversity hotspots, placing these areas atmore »heightened risk of biodiversity loss. Taken together, these findings suggest distinct regional differences in the nature of the association between TALSLAs and forest loss and provide new evidence of TALSLAs as an emerging threat to biodiversity in the Global South.

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