Tanentzap Andrew J
Ecosystems and Global Change Group, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
PLoS Biol. 2017 Jul 31;15(7):e2003292. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2003292. eCollection 2017 Jul.
Clearing wild forests to grow food, fibre, and fuel products can deliver large financial gains. However, the benefits that people obtain from forests-known as ecosystem services-are rarely considered in economic calculations, partly because there are few markets onto which they can be traded. In some regions, the benefits delivered by nature might be more economically valuable. A new study maps where it is profitable to replace tropical forests with cropland and how this might change under future agricultural production and carbon prices. The findings address a major applied challenge by helping to identify sites where forest conservation can be economically viable.
砍伐天然森林以种植粮食、纤维和燃料产品能够带来巨大的经济收益。然而，人们从森林中获得的益处——即所谓的生态系统服务——在经济核算中很少被考虑，部分原因是几乎没有可供它们交易的市场。在一些地区，大自然带来的益处可能在经济上更具价值。一项新研究绘制了用农田取代热带森林在何处有利可图，以及在未来农业生产和碳价格情况下这可能如何变化。这些发现通过帮助确定森林保护在经济上可行的地点，解决了一个重大的应用挑战。
