High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change
- M. C. Hansen1,*,
- P. V. Potapov1,
- R. Moore2,
- M. Hancher2,
- S. A. Turubanova1,
- A. Tyukavina1,
- D. Thau2,
- S. V. Stehman3,
- S. J. Goetz4,
- T. R. Loveland5,
- A. Kommareddy6,
- A. Egorov6,
- L. Chini1,
- C. O. Justice1,
- J. R. G. Townshend1
- 1Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
- 2Google, Mountain View, CA, USA.
- 3Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management, State University of New York, Syracuse, NY, USA.
- 4Woods Hole Research Center, 149 Woods Hole Road, Falmouth, MA 02540, USA.
- 5Earth Resources Observation and Science, United States Geological Survey, 47914 252nd Street, Sioux Falls, SD 57198, USA.
- 6Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD, USA.
- ↵*Corresponding author. E-mail: mhansen{at}umd.edu
Forests in Flux
Forests worldwide are in a state of flux, with accelerating losses in some regions and gains in others. Hansen et al. (p. 850) examined global Landsat data at a 30-meter spatial resolution to characterize forest extent, loss, and gain from 2000 to 2012. Globally, 2.3 million square kilometers of forest were lost during the 12-year study period and 0.8 million square kilometers of new forest were gained. The tropics exhibited both the greatest losses and the greatest gains (through regrowth and plantation), with losses outstripping gains.
Abstract
Quantification of global forest change has been lacking despite the recognized importance of forest ecosystem services. In this study, Earth observation satellite data were used to map global forest loss (2.3 million square kilometers) and gain (0.8 million square kilometers) from 2000 to 2012 at a spatial resolution of 30 meters. The tropics were the only climate domain to exhibit a trend, with forest loss increasing by 2101 square kilometers per year. Brazil’s well-documented reduction in deforestation was offset by increasing forest loss in Indonesia, Malaysia, Paraguay, Bolivia, Zambia, Angola, and elsewhere. Intensive forestry practiced within subtropical forests resulted in the highest rates of forest change globally. Boreal forest loss due largely to fire and forestry was second to that in the tropics in absolute and proportional terms. These results depict a globally consistent and locally relevant record of forest change.
- Received for publication 14 August 2013.
- Accepted for publication 15 October 2013.
