Biogeochemical Consequences of Land Cover and Land Use Changes in the Agricultural Frontier of the Brazilian Amazon

Galford, Gillian L.

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Year:: 2009
Contributor:: Galford, Gillian L. (creator); Mustard, John (director); Melillo, Jerry (director); Herbert, Timothy (reader); VanWey, Leah (reader); Sanchez, Pedro (reader); Brown University. Geological Sciences (sponsor)
Genre:: theses
Subject:: Amazon; land-cover and land-use change; ecosystems modeling; greenhouse gas emissions; cerrado; croplands; Deforestation; Remote sensing; Pastures
Extent:: xxvi, 223 p.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0W957G9

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Abstract:: The agricultural frontier of the Brazilian Amazon is one of the fastest growing agricultural regions in the world, and rapid deforestation makes it one of the largest anthropogenic sources of greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change. Chapter 1 tracks contemporary (2000 to 2006) changes in land cover and land use with a new remote sensing methodology, applied to the entire state of Mato Grosso, a hot spot for Amazon agricultural development. A bookkeeping model is applied to estimate the impacts of land-cover and land-use change on the regional carbon budget. In Chapter 2, the land-use data set is expanded to cover historical changes in land use (1901-2006), as reconstructed here with government census and survey data disaggregated in a spatial reconstruction. The impacts of 105 years of land-use change are evaluated using a process-based ecosystems model (Terrestrial Ecosystems Model, TEM). There is a land-use legacy effect not included in previous land-use modeling efforts for this region. Additionally, the long-term historic modeling effort allows identifies the CO2 fertilization effect on intact vegetation that shorter-term studies have dismissed despite recent field studies documenting this effect in the Amazon. Chapter 3 combines deforestation scenarios (Business-As-Usual and Governance) with different land uses (Pasture and Crop) in TEM to estimate the range of future greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The results from this chapter show that nitrous oxide emissions from croplands will become an increasing source of greenhouse gas emissions under all scenarios and weighs the trade-offs for agricultural development and potential conservation in terms of carbon emissions or uptake.
Notes:: Thesis (Ph.D.) -- Brown University (2010)

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Rights: In Copyright
Restrictions on Use: Collection is open for research.

Citation

Galford, Gillian L., "Biogeochemical Consequences of Land Cover and Land Use Changes in the Agricultural Frontier of the Brazilian Amazon" (2009). Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0W957G9

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Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations for the Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences department.
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