Charcoal-related forest degradation dynamics in dry African woodlands: Evidence from Mozambique

Silva, Julie A.; Sedano, Fernando; Flanagan, S.; Ombe, Zacarias Alexandre; Machoco, Rene; Meque, Cardoso H.; Sitoe, Almeida; Ribeiro, Natasha; Anderson, Kelly J.; Baule, Susana; Hurtt, George C.

doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2019.04.006

Cited by 32 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The loss of vegetation productivity with time is a great concern globally and, most particularly, in low-income countries like Mozambique prone to climatic hazards. Mozambican forests and other natural ecosystems are under greater anthropogenic pressure (e.g., slash and burn agriculture, timber for building local infrastructures, firewood, and charcoal production, and urban expansion) while being adversely affected by natural factors (e.g., climate hazards, rising sea levels and frequent flooding) [11,59,60]. The category four tropical Cyclone Idai was the most devastating and deadliest ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere.…”

Section: The Changes In Ndvimentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of the Tropical Cyclone Idai in Mozambique: A Multi-Temporal Landsat Satellite Imagery Analysis

et al. 2021

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The Central Region of Mozambique (Sofala Province) bordering on the active cyclone area of the southwestern Indian Ocean has been particularly affected by climate hazards. The Cyclone Idai, which hit the region in March 2019 with strong winds causing extensive flooding and a massive loss of life, was the strongest recorded tropical cyclone in the Southern Hemisphere. The aim of this study was to use pre- and post-cyclone Idai Landsat satellite images to analyze temporal changes in Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) across the Sofala Province. Specifically, we aimed—(i) to quantify and map the changes in LULC between 2012 and 2019; (ii) to investigate the correlation between the distance to Idai’s trajectory and the degree of vegetation damage, and (iii) to determine the damage caused by Idai on different LULC. We used Landsat 7 and 8 images (with 30 m resolution) taken during the month of April for the 8-year period. The April Average Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) over the aforementioned period (2012–2018, pre-cyclone) was compared with the values of April 2019 (post-cyclone). The results showed a decreasing trend of the productivity (NDVI 0.5 to 0.8) and an abrupt decrease after the cyclone. The most devastated land use classes were dense vegetation (decreased by 59%), followed by wetland vegetation (−57%) and shrub land (−56%). The least damaged areas were barren land (−23%), barren vegetation (−27%), and grassland and dambos (−27%). The Northeastern, Central and Southern regions of Sofala were the most devastated areas. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient between the relative vegetation change activity after Idai (NDVI%) and the distance to Idai’s trajectory was 0.95 (R-square 0.91), suggesting a strong positive linear correlation. Our study also indicated that the LULC type (vegetation physiognomy) might have influenced the degree of LULC damage. This study provides new insights for the management and conservation of natural habitats threatened by climate hazards and human factors and might accelerate ongoing recovery processes in the Sofala Province.

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Section: The Changes In Ndvimentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of the Tropical Cyclone Idai in Mozambique: A Multi-Temporal Landsat Satellite Imagery Analysis

et al. 2021

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“…If similar numbers are considered in this context, gross carbon emissions from forest degradation would, despite just partially removing AGB, be comparable to those of deforestation in southern Mozambique. Furthermore, ecosystem model simulations have showed that, in similar environmental conditions, woodlands could require more than 80 years to recover from standard charcoal production AGB removals (Silva et al 2019). Thus, while charcoal production may be relatively localized in space, its implications in terms of forest cover change area and carbon emissions in the SSA context are relevant at larger geographical scales.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Forest degradation estimates reported in this study are expected to miss the household component. Malimbwi et al (2010) and Silva et al (2019) identified several consecutive waves of charcoal production in mopane woodlands of central Mozambique, each wave being less selective in terms of tree species and size. Ahrends et al (2010), reported a similar spatial pattern of forest degradation drivers in eastern Africa.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Monitoring forest degradation from charcoal production with historical Landsat imagery. A case study in southern Mozambique

Sedano

Lisboa²,

Duncanson

et al. 2020

Environ. Res. Lett.

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We used historical Landsat imagery to monitor forest degradation from charcoal production in the main supplying region of the Mozambican capital, Maputo, during a ten-year period (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017)(2018). We applied a change detection method that exploits temporal NDVI dynamics associated with charcoal production. This forest degradation temporal sequence exposes the magnitude and the spatial and temporal dynamics of charcoal production, which is the main forest degradation driver in sub-Saharan Africa. The annual area under charcoal production has been steadily increasing since 2008 and reached 11 673 ha in 2018. The total forest degraded extent in the study area during the 10year study period covered 79 630 ha, which represents 68% of the available mopane woodlands in 2008. Only 5% of the available mopane woodlands area remain undisturbed in the study area. Total gross carbon emissions associated charcoal production during this 10-year period were estimated in 1.13 Mt. These results mark forest degradation from charcoal production as the main driver of forest cover change in southern Mozambique. They also denote that, while charcoal production may be relatively localized in space, its implications for forest cover change and carbon emissions in a sub-Saharan African context are relevant at larger geographical scales. This study represents a proof of concept of the feasibility of medium resolution Earth observation data to monitor forest degradation from charcoal production in the context of the growing urban energy demand. It also highlights the potential opportunities to improve REDD+monitoring, reporting and verification efforts in sub-Saharan Africa as a first step toward designing effective management and policy interventions.

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“…Those findings supported additional research into the transient response of plant migration in that domain under that climate scenario. ED has also been successfully implemented in South, Central, and North America, as well as Mozambique [34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. It is currently being used in NASA's Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) [39,41], and the NASA Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission [42].…”

Section: Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Transient Response of Terrestrial Vegetation and Carbon in Northern North America from Climate Change

Flanagan

Hurtt

Fisk

et al. 2019

Climate

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Terrestrial ecosystems and their vegetation are linked to climate. With the potential of accelerated climate change from anthropogenic forcing, there is a need to further evaluate the transient response of ecosystems, their vegetation, and their influence on the carbon balance, to this change. The equilibrium response of ecosystems to climate change has been estimated in previous studies in global domains. However, research on the transient response of terrestrial vegetation to climate change is often limited to domains at the sub-continent scale. Estimation of the transient response of vegetation requires the use of mechanistic models to predict the consequences of competition, dispersal, landscape heterogeneity, disturbance, and other factors, where it becomes computationally prohibitive at scales larger than sub-continental. Here, we used a pseudo-spatial ecosystem model with a vegetation migration sub-model that reduced computational intensity and predicted the transient response of vegetation and carbon to climate change in northern North America. The ecosystem model was first run with a current climatology at half-degree resolution for 1000 years to establish current vegetation and carbon distribution. From that distribution, climate was changed to a future climatology and the ecosystem model run for an additional 2000 simulation years. A model experimental design with different combinations of vegetation dispersal rates, dispersal modes, and disturbance rates produced 18 potential change scenarios. Results indicated that potential redistribution of terrestrial vegetation from climate change was strongly impacted by dispersal rates, moderately affected by disturbance rates, and marginally impacted by dispersal mode. For carbon, the sensitivities were opposite. A potential transient net carbon sink greater than that predicted by the equilibrium response was estimated on time scales of decades–centuries, but diminished over longer time scales. Continued research should further explore the interactions between competition, dispersal, and disturbance, particularly in regards to vegetation redistribution.

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Charcoal-related forest degradation dynamics in dry African woodlands: Evidence from Mozambique

Cited by 32 publications

References 38 publications

Impacts of the Tropical Cyclone Idai in Mozambique: A Multi-Temporal Landsat Satellite Imagery Analysis

Impacts of the Tropical Cyclone Idai in Mozambique: A Multi-Temporal Landsat Satellite Imagery Analysis

Monitoring forest degradation from charcoal production with historical Landsat imagery. A case study in southern Mozambique

Potential Transient Response of Terrestrial Vegetation and Carbon in Northern North America from Climate Change

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