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The impact of Amazon deforestation is magnified by changing the configuration of forest cover

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2025

Luan Gabriel Araujo Goebel Open the ORCID record for Luan Gabriel Araujo Goebel [Opens in a new window] ,
Maurício Humberto Vancine Open the ORCID record for Maurício Humberto Vancine [Opens in a new window] ,
Juliano A Bogoni Open the ORCID record for Juliano A Bogoni [Opens in a new window] ,
Gabriela Rodrigues Longo Open the ORCID record for Gabriela Rodrigues Longo [Opens in a new window] ,
Mathilde Anne Laurance Calicis Open the ORCID record for Mathilde Anne Laurance Calicis [Opens in a new window] ,
Philip M Fearnside Open the ORCID record for Philip M Fearnside [Opens in a new window] ,
Ana Filipa Palmeirim Open the ORCID record for Ana Filipa Palmeirim [Opens in a new window]  and
Manoel dos Santos-Filho Open the ORCID record for Manoel dos Santos-Filho [Opens in a new window]
Luan Gabriel Araujo Goebel*
Affiliation:
Center for Research on Limnology, Biodiversity, and Ethnoecology, Laboratory of Mastozoology, Graduate Program of Environmental Science, University of Mato Grosso State (UNEMAT), Cáceres, Mato Grosso, Brazil
Maurício Humberto Vancine
Affiliation:
Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Biodiversidade, Laboratório de Ecologia Espacial e Conservação, Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brazil
Juliano A Bogoni
Affiliation:
Center for Research on Limnology, Biodiversity, and Ethnoecology, Laboratory of Mastozoology, Graduate Program of Environmental Science, University of Mato Grosso State (UNEMAT), Cáceres, Mato Grosso, Brazil
Gabriela Rodrigues Longo
Affiliation:
Instituto de Conservação de Animais Silvestres (ICAS), Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil
Mathilde Anne Laurance Calicis
Affiliation:
Université de Liège, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, Terra Teaching and Research Centre, Forest is Life, Tropical Forestry, Gembloux, Belgium
Philip M Fearnside
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Ana Filipa Palmeirim
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Ecologia e Zoologia de Vertebrados, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), Belém, Pará, Brazil
Manoel dos Santos-Filho
Affiliation:
Center for Research on Limnology, Biodiversity, and Ethnoecology, Laboratory of Mastozoology, Graduate Program of Environmental Science, University of Mato Grosso State (UNEMAT), Cáceres, Mato Grosso, Brazil
*
Corresponding author: Luan Gabriel Araujo Goebel; Email: lg.araujogoebel@gmail.com
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Summary

The Amazon comprises the most biodiverse region in the world, but, despite being highly threatened by human-induced environmental changes, little is known about how those changes influence the remaining forest’s extent and configuration in Brazil’s arc of deforestation. We analysed the spatial and temporal dynamics and the configuration of forest cover in Brazil’s state of Rondônia over 34 years. We calculated seven landscape metrics based on freely available satellite imagery to understand the habitat transformations. Overall, natural vegetation cover declined from 90.9% to 62.7% between 1986 and 2020, and fragmentation greatly increased, generating 78 000 forest fragments and 100 000 fragments of ‘natural vegetation’, which also includes forest. We found that c. 50% of the vegetation is within c. 1 km of the nearest forest edge, and the mean isolation between fragments is c. 2.5 km. Most natural vegetation and forest vegetation layers outside protected areas (PAs; Brazil’s ‘conservation units’) and Indigenous territories (ITs) are >10 km from the nearest PA or IT. This reduction of natural vegetation in Rondônia is posing major threats to the survival of species and is undermining the dynamics of ecosystems. Measures to control deforestation and avoid the reduction of large remnants are urgently needed.

Keywords

Brazilconnectivityforest fragmentationMapBiomasRondônia
Type
Research Paper
Information
Environmental Conservation , First View , pp. 1 - 10
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Foundation for Environmental Conservation

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