Deforestation and biomass loss in Argentina dry forests in relation to global drivers.

GASPARRI, NI; MANGHI, E; GRAU, HR; MONTENEGRO, C; PARMUCHI, MG; BONO, J; STRADA, S; AIDE, TM

Bohn, Alemania

Conferencia; 6th Open meeting of the Human Dimension of global Environmental Change Research community; 2005

Bohn University

We quantified deforestation in northern Argentina (420,000 Km2) between 1998-2002 using Landsat images and GIS. To compute biomass loss as a consequence of deforestation, we estimated per-hectare biomass using field-based data of the national forest inventory in two biomes: Chaco (dry forest) and Yungas (moist forest). In a subset of the study area,  (600 by 100 km in the NW border) we conducted a detailed analysis of deforestation in relation with socioeconomic and environmental factors in four periods between 1972 and 2001.Between 1998 and 2002 approximately 800,000 ha where deforested, yielding an estimated annual emission of  55,000 Gg (1Gg = 109g) of CO2, this is represents a 150% of the emissions produced by fuel combustion of the transport system of Argentina and 46 % of the total emissions by fuel combustion (including energy production, etc) in 1997. Agriculture expansion during the last 30 years was gradually and continually increasing, despite strong fluctuations in the domestic economy. Agriculture expansion (black beans) started in the 1970s favored by rainfall increase in the area; during the 1980s, deforestation accelerated by the adoption of Soybean as major crop in the area, and was further stimulated by the adoption of transgenic soybean cultivars since 1997. Deforestation of northern Argentina represents a major process of biomass loss, largely controlled global factors (climate change, international markets, genetic technology). Local factors seem to have only a minor effect on deforestation rates and carbon emission, but they seem to influence local patterns of landscape change.