Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20740, USA.
College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA.
Sci Adv. 2018 Nov 7;4(11):eaat2993. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aat2993. eCollection 2018 Nov.
A regional assessment of forest disturbance dynamics from 2000 to 2014 was performed for the Congo Basin countries using time-series satellite data. Area of forest loss was estimated and disaggregated by predisturbance forest type and direct disturbance driver. An estimated 84% of forest disturbance area in the region is due to small-scale, nonmechanized forest clearing for agriculture. Annual rates of small-scale clearing for agriculture in primary forests and woodlands doubled between 2000 and 2014, mirroring increasing population growth. Smallholder clearing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo alone accounted for nearly two-thirds of total forest loss in the basin. Selective logging is the second most significant disturbance driver, contributing roughly 10% of regional gross forest disturbance area and more than 60% of disturbance area in Gabon. Forest loss due to agro-industrial clearing along the Gulf of Guinea coast more than doubled in the last half of the study period. Maintaining natural forest cover in the Congo Basin into the future will be challenged by an expected fivefold population growth by 2100 and allocation of industrial timber harvesting and large-scale agricultural development inside remaining old-growth forests.
利用时间序列卫星数据，对刚果盆地国家 2000 年至 2014 年的森林扰动动态进行了区域评估。估计了森林损失的面积，并按扰动前的森林类型和直接扰动驱动因素进行了细分。该地区约 84%的森林扰动面积是由于小规模、非机械化的森林清理用于农业。2000 年至 2014 年间，主要森林和林地中小规模农业清理的年增长率翻了一番，反映出人口增长的加快。仅刚果民主共和国的小农清理就占该盆地森林总损失的近三分之二。选择性采伐是第二大重要的干扰驱动因素，占区域总森林干扰面积的约 10%，占加蓬干扰面积的 60%以上。在研究期间的后半段，几内亚湾沿岸的农业-工业清理导致的森林损失增加了一倍多。到 2100 年，预计人口将增加五倍，以及在剩余的原始森林中进行工业木材采伐和大规模农业发展，这将对刚果盆地未来保持自然森林覆盖构成挑战。
