Deforestation

Here are some citations and ummaries, sorry they're not very organized, but they are all from Proquest and about half of them are Scholarly Journals

1. Mery Galanternick. "Brazil: Amazon Deforestation Slows :[Brief]. " New York Times [New York, N.Y.] 14 Aug. 2007, Late Edition (East Coast): 9. National Newspapers (5). ProQuest. Foley Library, Spokane, Washington. 10 Nov. 2007 http://www.proquest.com/

2. Andrew Downie Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor. "Amazon destruction rising fast ; Brazil has launched a $140 million plan to reverse Amazon deforestation, which hit near record levels last year :[ALL Edition]. " The Christian Science Monitor [Boston, Mass.] 22 Apr. 2004,01. National Newspapers (5). ProQuest. Foley Library, Spokane, Washington. 10 Nov. 2007 http://www.proquest.com/

Abstract (Summary) Brazil is the world's second-biggest soy producer and has the second-largest herd of cattle - 57 million of which are in the Amazon. Beef exports have increased fivefold over the past six years, according to a report by the Center for International Forestry Research, and soy production has grown from 32 million tons in 2000 to 52 million tons last year. Although the Lula government says it needs time for its antideforestation measures, launched last month, to take effect, environmentalists say that if the government's other promises are anything to go by, then they are right to be wary. Since taking power, Lula has done about-turns on several key environmental issues - such as flip- flopping on genetically modified foods and possibly opening another nuclear reactor outside Rio - prompting activists to openly question his commitment to protecting the environment. Economic growth has historically been one of the main catalysts for the deforestation. A boom during the mid 1990s prompted unprecedented destruction - in 1995, more than 11,220 square miles were cut down - and turned saving the rain forest into a trendy international cause. The forest fell off Western radar screens and the destruction continued in the area that is home to 80,000 kinds of trees and plants, more than 2,000 different birds, and more species of fish than in the whole of Western Europe. The Amazon has lost 16 perecnt of it's original tree cover.

3. Matt Kantz. "Amazon jungle in dire threat. " National Catholic Reporter 29 Aug. 2003: 6-7. Research Library. ProQuest. ***INSERT Library name or system, City, State***. 10 Nov. 2007 <http://www.proquest.com/> Periodical Full Text (177 words) Copyright National Catholic Reporter Publishing Company Aug 29, 2003 RIO DE JANERO, Brazil - Faced with accelerating deforestation of Amazon regions, Brazilian officials announced that the government environmental agency, the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources will receive $7 million to crack down on illegal tree cutting and land clearing. Experts say about 16 percent of Brazil's 4.1 million square kilometers of Amazon rainforest have already been destroyed. Satellite data showed that an estimated 26,390 square kilometers of Amazon forest vanished between August 2001 and August 2002. This represents a 40 percent increase from the previous 12 months, when an estimated 18,820 square kilometers were cleared. In their search for new lands, cattle ranchers and farmers have been pushing into the northern regions of Mato Grosso state and southern Para state, which used to be completely covered by Amazon forest or savannah. "The numbers show clearly that the federal government has been incapable of stopping Amazon deforestation," said Paulo Adario of Greenpeace, which has warned that the Amazon rainforest will be wiped out in 80 years if deforestation continues at the current rate.

4. Lykke E Andersen, Clive W J Granger. "Modeling Amazon deforestation for policy purposes: reconciling conservation priorities and human development. " Environmental Economics and Policy Studies 8.3 (2007): 201-210. Research Library. ProQuest. ***INSERT Library name or system, City, State***. 10 Nov. 2007 http://www.proquest.com/

Scholarly Journal

Abstract (Summary) Brazil has long ago removed most of the perverse government incentives that stimulated massive deforestation in the Amazon in the 1970s and 1980s, but the highly controversial policy concerning road building still remains. While data is now abundantly available due to the constant satellite surveillance of the Amazon, the analytical methods typically used to analyze the impact of roads on natural vegetation cover are methodologically weak and not very helpful in guiding public policy. This article discusses the respective weaknesses of typical geographic information system (GIS) analysis and typical municipality-level regression analysis, and shows what would be needed to construct an ideal model of deforestation processes. It also presents an alternative approach that is much less demanding in terms of modeling and estimation and is more useful for policymakers. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

5. Gregory P Asner, David E Knapp, Eben N Broadbent, Paulo J C Oliveira, et al. "Selective Logging in the Brazilian Amazon. " Science 310.5747 (2005): 480-2. Research Library. ProQuest. ***INSERT Library name or system, City, State***. 10 Nov. 2007 <http://www.proquest.com/>

Scholarly Journal

Abstract (Summary) Amazon deforestation has been measured by remote sensing for three decades. In comparison, selective logging has been mostly invisible to satellites. We developed a large-scale, high-resolution, automated remote-sensing analysis of selective logging in the top five timber-producing states of the Brazilian Amazon. Logged areas ranged from 12,075 to 19,823 square kilometers per year (±14%) between 1999 and 2002, equivalent to 60 to 123% of previously reported deforestation area. Up to 1200 square kilometers per year of logging were observed on conservation lands. Each year, 27 million to 50 million cubic meters of wood were extracted, and a gross flux of ~0.1 billion metric tons of carbon was destined for release to the atmosphere by logging. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

6. David Werth, Roni Avissar. "Effects of Amazon deforestation. " Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 83.1 (2002): 11-12. Research Library. ProQuest. ***INSERT Library name or system, City, State***. 10 Nov. 2007 <http://www.proquest.com/>

Scholarly Journal

Abstract (Summary) Many studies agree that Amazon deforestation greatly reduces summertime rainfall in that region. Now, results from studies with a global climate model show that deforestation in the Amazon region also can reduce precipitation far from South America.

Full Text (357 words) Copyright American Meteorological Society Jan 2002 Many studies agree that Amazon deforestation greatly reduces summertime rainfall in that region. Now, results from our studies with a global climate model show that deforestation in the Amazon region also can reduce precipitation far from South America. So far, only a few researchers have looked at possible remote effects of Amazon deforestation, and these have generally been limited to effects related to atmospheric flow. We ran the GISS Model II GCM six times with the Amazon rainforest replaced by grassland, creating an ensemble. This scenario was then compared to a control ensemble without deforestation, and the annual precipitation of several areas was reduced in the deforested runs. The strength of the effect was verified through further analysis. For example, the globally averaged reduction in precipitation due to deforestation was larger than the precipitation differences between different model runs with no vegetation differences between them. We explored our modeling results for a mechanism that might connect the Amazon deforestation and remote areas. Amazon geopotential aloft correlates well with precipitation in two remote areas, suggesting a Rossby wave propagation. Winds above the Amazon correlate well with wind shear over an area downstream of the Amazon, and this wind shear correlates negatively with precipitation within that area. It is also possible that the removal of the rainforest vegetation alters moisture transport or changes the Hadley circulation in the vicinity of the Amazon. This research underscores the importance of human activity in the Amazon. Ultimately, the goal of our study was to highlight the sensitivity of the climate system to changes in land cover and land use. In the future, it will be valuable to perform long simulations with an interacting ocean, allowing for the effects of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation. Additionally, a higher model resolution could increase the effect found here. By no means is this study complete and further research on this topic is very much needed.-DAVID WERTH AND RONI AVISSAR (DEPT. OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING, DUKE UNIVERSITY). "The Local and Global Effects ofAmazon Deforestation- will be presented at the 13th Symposium on Global Change and Climate Variations at the AMS Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida, January 2002.

7. Kathryn R Kirby, William F Laurance, Ana K Albernaz, Gotz Schroth, et al. "The future of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. " Futures 38.4 (2006): 432-453. Research Library. ProQuest. ***INSERT Library name or system, City, State***. 10 Nov. 2007 <http://www.proquest.com/>

Scholarly Journal

Abstract (Summary) Concern about the future of Amazonian forests is growing as both the extent and rate of primary forest destruction increase. We combine spatial information on various biophysical, demographic and infrastructural factors in the Brazilian Amazon with satellite data on deforestation to evaluate the relative importance of each factor to deforestation in the region. We assess the sensitivity of results to alternative sampling methodologies, and compare our results to those of previous empirical studies of Amazonian deforestation. Our findings, in concert with those of previous studies, send a clear message to planners: both paved and unpaved roads are key drivers of the deforestation process. Proximity to previous clearings, high population densities, low annual rainfall, and long dry seasons also increase the likelihood that a site will be deforested; however, roads are consistently important and are the factors most amenable to policymaking. We argue that there is ample evidence to justify a fundamental change in current Amazonian development priorities if additional large-scale losses of forests and environmental services are to be avoided. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

8. Andrea Cattaneo. "Inter-regional innovation in Brazilian agriculture and deforestation in the Amazon: income and environment in the balance. " Environment and Development Economics 10.4 (2005): 485-511. Research Library. ProQuest. ***INSERT Library name or system, City, State***. 10 Nov. 2007 <http://www.proquest.com/>

Scholarly Journal

Abstract (Summary) The paper examines how recent trends in agricultural productivity in Brazil, occurring both inside and outside the Amazon, affected deforestation and agricultural incomes. The analysis uses a computable general equilibrium model adapted to capture regional economic structures, and accounts for uncertainty concerning productivity improvements. Due to countervailing effects on deforestation of innovation inside and outside the Amazon - respectively, increasing and decreasing it - innovation in Brazilian agriculture in the period from 1985 to 1995 has not altered substantially deforestation rates. However, innovation inside the Amazon has to be reckoned as a driving force behind the continuing high levels of deforestation rates. Innovation rates for livestock activities, inside and outside the Amazon, prove crucial in determining deforestation and agricultural income. Technological improvements outside the Amazon for small farm production systems and for farms in general in the North-East increase agricultural income, improve income distribution, and limit deforestation rates. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

9. Schemo, Diana Jean. “Brazil, Its Forests Besieged, Adds Teeth to Environmental Laws.” (1998, January 29). New York Times (Late Edition (east Coast)), p. 8. Proquest. Foley Library, Spokane, WA. 11 Nov. 2007 <http://www.proquest.com/>

Abstract (Summary) The Brazilian Congress voted today to give the federal environmental agency legal authority to enforce environmental protection laws, two days after Government figures showed destruction of the Amazon rain forest reached record levels in the mid-1990's.

In a voice vote, the Chamber of Deputies established criminal penalties for damaging the environment and granted the environmental agency the right to levy fines, prosecute polluters and order companies to correct environmental hazards they cause. Until now, offending companies have typically appealed to the courts, which throw out 94 percent of the fines the agency hands out on the ground that it lacks statutory authority.

A Senate version of the bill, passed unanimously last July and sent to the Chamber of Congress, was hailed by ecologists as a model of protection. But environmentalists complained that the Government had taken away major provisions of the bill in the last few days, significantly weakening it.

10. Stephen Buckley (2000, March 4). An Eye on the Amazon; Project Aims to Protect Brazil's Rain Forest With Surveillance :[FINAL Edition]. The Washington Post, p. A.11. Proquest. Foley Library, Spokane, WA. 11 Nov. 2007 <http://www.proquest.com/>

Abstract (Summary) The plane, which landed safely, carried engineers who work for Project SIVAM --the Portuguese acronym for the System for the Vigilance of the Amazon--a $1.4 billion project being fashioned in Brazil to ensure that air-traffic controllers and other officials know exactly what is happening in the world's largest tropical rain forest.

"I don't think anyone who has ever been to the Amazon could be against [controllers] having radar in their airports, or against Brazil having greater control over its airspace," said Stephan Schwartzman, senior scientist with Environmental Defense who has studied the Amazon for two decades. "The question is whether better and new data by itself can make a difference."

SIVAM is supposed to fill the huge gaps left by the lack of manpower. The five-year project, being carried out by Massachusetts- based Raytheon Co. for the government, will employ a complex web of sensory devices that provide information to three capitals in Amazon states, which will in turn feed the data to a primary base in Brasilia, the nation's capital. The project, initially awarded to Raytheon in 1994, was paralyzed by controversy for nearly three years after allegations surfaced that a top-level Raytheon executive had bribed Brazilian government officials to win the contract. Raytheon essentially was awarded the bid a second time after congressional investigations here concluded that neither the government nor Raytheon had acted illegally. The information gathered by the technology, which is set to be in place by July 2002, will affect the work of virtually all of Brazil's government ministries.

11. The Monitor's View. “The Amazon Can't Be a Soy Farm :[ALL Edition].” The Christian Science Monitor, p. 08. Proquest. Foley Library, Spokane, WA. 11 Nov. 2007 <http://www.proquest.com/>

Abstract (Summary) At the same time, the president has set up many preserves that aim to protect critical Amazon areas as well as Indian tribes. Enforcing such restrictions has proven to be difficult in the lawless, wild-west atmosphere of the Amazon basin. So it's significant that earlier this month, his government arrested nearly 90 people - half of them officials charged with safeguarding the Amazon - for allegedly allowing illegal logging.

12. Understanding Tropical Forests Gary S Hartshorn. Bioscience. Washington: Mar 2006. Vol. 56, Iss. 3; pg. 264, 2 pgs http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1008989371&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1194460710&clientId=10553&cfc=1

Abstract (Summary) Let me point out that I agree with Primack and Corlett s thesis that there are major ecoregional differences among tropical forests, yet most of these biodiversity-rich and ecologically complex ecosystems face the same vexing problems, such as deforestation and slash-and-burn agriculture, as well as the daunting quest for sustainable development options. Tropical Forests and Global Atmospheric Change, edited by Yadvinder Malhi and Oliver Phillips, addresses the question, "What will (any remaining) mature old-growth forests look like at the end of the century?" Its 18 chapters, distributed among four sections, include contributions from 74 authors from 16 countries, with a strong representation from Latin America.

13. Agriculture and Deforestation in the Tropics: A Critical Theoretical and Empirical Review James K A Benhin. Ambio. Stockholm: Feb 2006. Vol. 35, Iss. 1; pg. 9, 8 pgs http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1011324461&SrchMode=1&sid=4&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1194460909&clientId=10553

Abstract (Summary) Despite the important role that tropical forests play in human existence, their depletion, especially in the developing world, continue relentlessly. Agriculture has been cited as the major cause of this depletion. This paper discusses two main theoretical underpinnings for the role of agriculture in tropical deforestation. First, the forest biomass as input in agricultural production, and second, the competition between agriculture and forestry underlined by their relative marginal benefits. These are supported by empirical evidence from selected countries in Africa and South America. The paper suggests a need to find a win-win situation to control the spate of tropical deforestation. This may imply improved technologies in the agriculture sector in the developing world, which would lead both to increased production in the agriculture sector, and would also help control the use of tropical forest as an input in agriculture production. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

14. Population Growth and Land Use Intensification in a Subsistence-based Indigenous Community in the Amazon Anders Henrik Sirén. Human Ecology. New York: Dec 2007. Vol. 35, Iss. 6; pg. 669, 12 pgs http://www.proquest.com/

Abstract (Summary) Shifting cultivation practiced by indigenous peoples living at low population densities in tropical forests has often been described as sustainable and compatible with conservation. However, shifting cultivation at increasing population densities has historically been, and still is, a main cause of deforestation worldwide. As many indigenous peoples in tropical forests currently experience rapid demographic growth, this raises the question to what extent their agricultural activities actually contribute to deforestation. This paper examines land use change in an indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazon which is only loosely connected to the market economy, and where agriculture is almost exclusively subsistence oriented. During the last seven decades, people have increasingly begun to clear fallows instead of old-growth forest to farm. Although the population was growing at an estimated 1.6% per year, the expansion of the area of land used for agriculture was only 0.4% per year, corresponding to an annual deforestation rate of only 0.015%. Whereas these changes may seem negligible in terms of deforestation, they do cause hardships to the local people, because of increasing walking distance to old-growth forest, and problems with weeds, pests, and decreasing soil productivity when farming after reclearing fallows. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

15. Barnabas Suebu Jason Tedjasukmana. Time International. (Atlantic ed.). New York: Oct 29, 2007. Vol. 170, Iss. 17; pg. 60 http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=6&did=1371701441&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1195117294&clientId=10553

Abstract (Summary) Since taking office in July 2006, Suebu has made plans to declare a moratorium on log exports and recommended that no new logging concessions be granted to timber companies. The Papua native has also begun talks on trading carbon credits to help protect the province's forests, which extend over an area estimated at 77 million acres (31 million hectares).

16. Dozens of Species of Primates Are Under Threat, Study Finds Andrew C. Revkin. New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Oct 27, 2007. pg. A.6 http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=7&did=1372975371&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1195117294&clientId=10553

Abstract (Summary) The report focuses on the plight of the 25 most endangered species, which live scattered around the tropics, mainly in areas of Asia and Africa. You could fit all the surviving members of these 25 species in a single football stadium, that's how few of them remain on earth today, said Russell A. Mittermeier, the chairman of the panel of primate experts who wrote the report and the president of Conservation International.

17. FIRE IN THE AMAZON Isabel Vincent. Maclean's. Toronto: Oct 15, 2007. Vol. 120, Iss. 40; pg. 86, 2 pgs http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=9&did=1373233521&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1195117294&clientId=10553

Abstract (Summary) Recently, diplomat Hans Blix, the former head of the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, called global warming "a greater long-term threat to mankind than weapons of mass destruction." Recently, a group of them began the Forests Now Declaration from Brazil to Bali, an initiative that calls on governments to take urgent action on deforestation in the tropics, which contributes up to 25 per cent of global carbon emissions, second only to the use of fossil fuels.

18. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=17&did=1331753771&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1195117294&clientId=10553 "2 Recent Storms Show Forests Help Blunt Hurricanes' Force" Marc Lacey. New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Sep 7, 2007. pg. A.4

Abstract (Summary) Father [Jose Andres Tamayo] mobilizes local residents to stop illegal logging by blocking highways and bridges and taking over logging operations in Olancho Province, which has the largest reserves in the country. His group, the Environmental Movement of Olancho, takes on interests, including landowners and illegal loggers. If we don't get serious we're going to turn into a second Haiti, he said. Haiti, which has been stripped of trees, remains a cautionary tale. The difference between the lush forests in the Dominican Republic and the rocky hillsides on the other side of Hispaniola in Haiti is clear. Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 caused 19 deaths in the Dominican Republic and hundreds in Haiti.

19. Saving Trees Is Music To Guitar Makers' Ears Glenn Rifkin. New York Times. (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: Jun 7, 2007. pg. C.4 http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=43&did=1283772421&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1195118272&clientId=10553

Abstract (Summary) If I use up all the good wood, I'm out of business, Mr. Martin said. I have a 2-year-old daughter, Claire Frances Martin, and she can be the seventh generation C. [Christian F. Martin IV]. I want her to be able to get materials she'll need, just as my ancestors and I have over the past 174 years.

I used to buy Brazilian rosewood back in the 1970s at the lumber yard for $2 a square foot, Mr. Taylor said. Now it's impossible for us to make a guitar out of it and ship it outside the U.S. If we do get a little bit of it, it's extremely expensive. The cutting of it has all but halted.

Rock stars like Sting and Dave Matthews, among others, are lending their names to the effort. Orianthi, a 22-year-old Australian protegee of Carlos Santana who recently signed with Geffen Records, bought a new $3,000 Martin made of red birch and cherry, both sustainable woods. Guitars made from alternative woods generally don't sound very good, she said, but when I started playing this one, it sounded amazing, as good as the traditional instruments. I'm using it to record my new album.

20. Panic over? Adrian Barnett. New Scientist. London: May 12-May 18, 2007. Vol. 194, Iss. 2603; pg. 42, 4 pgs http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=51&did=1282787241&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1195118272&clientId=10553

Abstract (Summary) With many years' experience studying tropical forest loss in Amazonia, Africa and Australia, Laurance speaks of the "heroic assumptions and extrapolations" made by Wright and Muller-Landau's study (Trends in Ecology and Evolution, vol 22, p 65). The goal of the study, he explains, was "to change the focus away from old-growth forests to recovering logged and secondary forests, and away from deforestation to climate change".

21. Amphibian Population Declines: Evolutionary Considerations Andrew R Blaustein, Betsy A Bancroft. Bioscience. Washington: May 2007. Vol. 57, Iss. 5; pg. 437, 8 pgs http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=0&did=1281605731&SrchMode=1&sid=4&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1195119865&clientId=10553

Scholarly Journal

Abstract (Summary) Numerous factors, such as global environmental changes, habitat destruction, introduced species, diseases, and chemical pollution, appear to be contributing to amphibian population declines. Moreover, the life history characteristics and behavior of many amphibian species appear to be placing them in jeopardy. Such behaviors and ecological attributes were molded over evolutionary time under selection pressures that acted on amphibians in a variety of ways. Many biologists who study amphibian population declines, however, have failed to consider some of these evolutionary aspects. Better understanding of amphibian population declines requires that scientists and policymakers consider the ecological processes associated with the declines in light of evolutionary principles such as these: Evolution is limited by historical constraints; not all evolution is adaptive; adaptations are often compromises; evolution can only alter existing variations; and evolution takes time. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]