TY - JOUR
T1 - Deforestation scenarios show the importance of secondary forest for meeting Panama’s carbon goals
AU - Hall, Jefferson S.
AU - Plisinski, Joshua S.
AU - Mladinich, Stephanie K.
AU - van Breugel, Michiel
AU - Lai, Hao Ran
AU - Asner, Gregory P.
AU - Walker, Kendra
AU - Thompson, Jonathan R.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work is a contribution of the Agua Salud Project, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the Ministry of the Environment of Panama (MiAmbiente). Agua Salud is part of the Smithsonian Institution Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO). This research was made possible thanks to funding from the Lloyd’s Tercentenary Research Foundation (LTRF) and support from Stanley Motta, Frank and Kristin Levinson, the Hoch family, the U Trust, and the Working Land and Seascapes Program of the Smithsonian Conservation Commons.
Funding Information:
This work is a contribution of the Agua Salud Project, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) and the Ministry of the Environment of Panama (MiAmbiente). Agua Salud is part of the Smithsonian Institution Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO). This research was made possible thanks to funding from the Lloyd?s Tercentenary Research Foundation (LTRF) and support from Stanley Motta, Frank and Kristin Levinson, the Hoch family, the U Trust, and the Working Land and Seascapes Program of the Smithsonian Conservation Commons.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/3
Y1 - 2022/3
N2 - Context: Tropical forest loss has a major impact on climate change. Secondary forest growth has potential to mitigate these impacts, but uncertainty regarding future land use, remote sensing limitations, and carbon model accuracy have inhibited understanding the range of potential future carbon dynamics. Objectives: We evaluated the effects of four scenarios on carbon stocks and sequestration in a mixed-use landscape based on Recent Trends (RT), Accelerated Deforestation (AD), Grow Only (GO), and Grow Everything (GE) scenarios. Methods: Working in central Panama, we coupled a 1-ha resolution LiDAR derived carbon map with a locally derived secondary forest carbon accumulation model. We used Dinamica EGO 4.0.5 to spatially simulate forest loss across the landscape based on recent deforestation rates. We used local studies of belowground, woody debris, and liana carbon to estimate ecosystem scale carbon fluxes. Results: Accounting for 58.6 percent of the forest in 2020, secondary forests (< 50 years) accrue 88.9 percent of carbon in the GO scenario by 2050. RT and AD scenarios lost 36,707 and 177,035 ha of forest respectively by 2030, a carbon gain of 7.7 million Mg C (RT) and loss of 2.9 million Mg C (AD). Growing forest on all available land (GE) could achieve 56 percent of Panama’s land-based carbon sequestration goal by 2050. Conclusions: Our estimates of potential carbon storage demonstrate the important contribution of secondary forests to land-based carbon sequestration in central Panama. Protecting these forests will contribute significantly to meeting Panama’s climate change mitigation goals and enhance water security.
AB - Context: Tropical forest loss has a major impact on climate change. Secondary forest growth has potential to mitigate these impacts, but uncertainty regarding future land use, remote sensing limitations, and carbon model accuracy have inhibited understanding the range of potential future carbon dynamics. Objectives: We evaluated the effects of four scenarios on carbon stocks and sequestration in a mixed-use landscape based on Recent Trends (RT), Accelerated Deforestation (AD), Grow Only (GO), and Grow Everything (GE) scenarios. Methods: Working in central Panama, we coupled a 1-ha resolution LiDAR derived carbon map with a locally derived secondary forest carbon accumulation model. We used Dinamica EGO 4.0.5 to spatially simulate forest loss across the landscape based on recent deforestation rates. We used local studies of belowground, woody debris, and liana carbon to estimate ecosystem scale carbon fluxes. Results: Accounting for 58.6 percent of the forest in 2020, secondary forests (< 50 years) accrue 88.9 percent of carbon in the GO scenario by 2050. RT and AD scenarios lost 36,707 and 177,035 ha of forest respectively by 2030, a carbon gain of 7.7 million Mg C (RT) and loss of 2.9 million Mg C (AD). Growing forest on all available land (GE) could achieve 56 percent of Panama’s land-based carbon sequestration goal by 2050. Conclusions: Our estimates of potential carbon storage demonstrate the important contribution of secondary forests to land-based carbon sequestration in central Panama. Protecting these forests will contribute significantly to meeting Panama’s climate change mitigation goals and enhance water security.
KW - Biodiversity
KW - Ecosystem services
KW - Forest carbon
KW - Mesoamerican Biological Corridor
KW - Panama Vegetation-Cover Time-Series
KW - Scenario planning
KW - Tropical hydrology
KW - Tropical secondary forest
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U2 - 10.1007/s10980-021-01379-4
DO - 10.1007/s10980-021-01379-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85122099108
SN - 0921-2973
VL - 37
SP - 673
EP - 694
JO - Landscape Ecology
JF - Landscape Ecology
IS - 3
ER -