Land cover dynamics following a deforestation ban in northern Costa Rica

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dc.contributor.authorFagan, M. E.
dc.contributor.authorDeFries, R. S.
dc.contributor.authorSesnie, S. E.
dc.contributor.authorArroyo, J. P.
dc.contributor.authorWalker, W.
dc.contributor.authorSoto, C.
dc.contributor.authorChazdon+, R. L.
dc.contributor.authorSanchun, A.
dc.date.accessioned2018-04-27T12:39:15Z
dc.date.available2018-04-27T12:39:15Z
dc.date.issued2013
dc.description.abstractForest protection policies potentially reduce deforestation and re-direct agricultural expansion to already-cleared areas. Using satellite imagery, we assessed whether deforestation for conversion to pasture and cropland decreased in the lowlands of northern Costa Rica following the 1996 ban on forest clearing, despite a tripling of area under pineapple cultivation in the last decade. We observed that following the ban, mature forest loss decreased from 2.2% to 1.2% per year, and the proportion of pineapple and other export-oriented cropland derived from mature forest declined from 16.4% to 1.9%. The post-ban expansion of pineapples and other crops largely replaced pasture, exotic and native tree plantations, and secondary forests. Overall, there was a small net gain in forest cover due to a shifting mosaic of regrowth and clearing in pastures, but cropland expansion decreased reforestation rates. We conclude that forest protection efforts in northern Costa Rica have likely slowed mature forest loss and succeeded in re-directing expansion of cropland to areas outside mature forest. Our results suggest that deforestation bans may protect mature forests better than older forest regrowth and may restrict clearing for large-scale crops more effectively than clearing for pasture.en_US
dc.format.extent10 pagesen_US
dc.genrejournal articlesen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/M22R3P027
dc.identifier.citationM E Fagan et al 2013 Environ. Res. Lett. 8 034017en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/3/034017
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/9143
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherIOP Scienceen_US
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Geography and Environmental Systems Department Collection
dc.rightsThis item may be protected under Title 17 of the U.S. Copyright Law. It is made available by UMBC for non-commercial research and education. For permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the author.
dc.rightsAttribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)*
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/*
dc.titleLand cover dynamics following a deforestation ban in northern Costa Ricaen_US
dc.typeTexten_US

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