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- Title
Extensive 21st‐Century Woody Encroachment in South America's Savanna.
- Authors
Rosan, Thais M.; Aragão, Luiz E.O.C.; Wagner, Fabien H.; Oliveras, Imma; Malhi, Yadvinder; Phillips, Oliver L.; Gloor, Emanuel
- Abstract
Woody encroachment is occurring in all tropical savannas of the world. However, in the Brazilian savanna (the Cerrado), the extent of this phenomenon is still poorly documented. Here woody encroachment was quantified throughout the Cerrado biome and transitional ecotones using a trend analysis of the annual maximum of enhanced vegetation index obtained from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer. The associations with potential local drivers, such as fire and land use regime, were assessed using satellite data of land cover and fire regime. We found that 19% of the remaining native vegetation showed significant evidence of woody encroachment in the last 15 years and 7% exhibited degradation processes. The local factors that favored woody expansion in 19% of the biome were a decrease of fire (34%) and land use abandonment (26%). Our study highlights that local human‐associated drivers are playing a major role in woody encroachment and savanna degradation. Plain Language Summary: Increases in tree cover have been observed locally across the savannas of the globe, systems that are typically more dominated by grasses. Despite the increase in biomass, this process has the potential to decrease biodiversity. We used satellite data to identify where this woody encroachment is occurring in the Brazilian savanna biome, known as the Cerrado, and the potential local factors associated to this phenomenon. The results show that woody encroachment is widespread across the remaining areas of the Cerrado, with the absence of fire, decrease of fire incidence, and land use abandonment being associated with this process. These findings suggest the importance of land use management strategies and conservation policies focused on the Cerrado to conserve this unique biodiversity hotspot in the near future. Key Points: Native Brazilian savannas and transitional ecotones are exhibiting widespread evidence of woody encroachmentThe main local factors found to be associated with woody encroachment were the recent fire suppression and land use abandonment
- Subjects
SOUTH America; WOODY plants; SAVANNAS; CERRADO ecology; BIODIVERSITY conservation
- Publication
Geophysical Research Letters, 2019, Vol 46, Issue 12, p6594
- ISSN
0094-8276
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2019GL082327