Physical and human dimensions of deforestation in Amazonia

Journal Article · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1994 · Bioscience; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/1312381· OSTI ID:7035324

Skole, D L; Chomentowski, W H; Salas, W A ^[1]; Nobre, A D ^[2]

---

1. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
2. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Amazonas (Brazil)

In the Brazilian Amazon, regional trends are influenced by large scale external forces but mediated by local conditions. Tropical deforestation has a large influence on global hydrology, climate and biogeochemical cycles, but understanding is inadequate because of a lack of accurate measurements of rate, geographic extent and spatial patterns and lack of insight into its causes including interrelated social, economic and environmental factors. This article proposes an interdisciplinary approach for analyzing tropical deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. The first part shows how deforestation can be measured from satellite remote sensing and sociodemographic and economic data. The second part proposes an explanatory model, considering the relationship among deforestation and large scale social, economic, and institutional factors. 43 refs., 8 figs.

• OSTI ID: 7035324
• Journal Information: Bioscience; (United States), Journal Name: Bioscience; (United States) Vol. 44:5; ISSN 0006-3568; ISSN BISNAS
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AMAZON RIVER
BRAZIL
DEFORESTATION
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
LAND USE
LATIN AMERICA
MAPPING
RIVERS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
SOUTH AMERICA
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS