Human fingerprint on structural density of forests globally

Wang Li; Wen Yong Guo; Maya Pasgaard; Zheng Niu; Li Wang; Fang Chen; Yuchu Qin; Jens Christian Svenning

doi:10.1038/s41893-022-01020-5

Human fingerprint on structural density of forests globally

Wang Li^*, Wen Yong Guo, Maya Pasgaard, Zheng Niu, Li Wang, Fang Chen, Yuchu Qin, Jens Christian Svenning

^*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift/Konferencebidrag i tidsskrift /Bidrag til avis › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › peer review

2 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

Climate change and human activities strongly influence forests, but uncertainties persist about the pervasiveness of these stressors and how they will shape future forest structure. Disentangling the relative influences of climate and human activities on global forest structure is essential for understanding and predicting the role of forests in biosphere carbon cycling and biodiversity conservation as well as for climate mitigation strategies. Using a synthetic forest canopy structure index, we map forest structural density at a near-global scale using a satellite dataset. We find distinct latitudinal patterns of multidimensional forest structure and that forests in protected areas (PAs) and so-called intact forest landscapes (IFLs) have an overall higher structural density than other forests. Human factors are the second-most important driver of forest structure after climate (temperature and rainfall), both globally and regionally, with negative associations to structural density. Human factors are the dominant driver of regional-scale variation in structural density in 35.1% of forests globally and even of forest structure in 31.4% and 22.4% of forests in PAs and IFLs, respectively. As anthropogenic forest degradation clearly affects many areas that are formally protected or perceived to be intact, it is vital to counteract human impacts more effectively in the planning and sustainable management of PAs and IFLs.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Tidsskrift	Nature Sustainability
Vol/bind	6
Nummer	4
Sider (fra-til)	368–379
Antal sider	12
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-01020-5
Status	Udgivet - apr. 2023

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@article{eca96d08cf994f7fb0d13358308954d0,

title = "Human fingerprint on structural density of forests globally",

abstract = "Climate change and human activities strongly influence forests, but uncertainties persist about the pervasiveness of these stressors and how they will shape future forest structure. Disentangling the relative influences of climate and human activities on global forest structure is essential for understanding and predicting the role of forests in biosphere carbon cycling and biodiversity conservation as well as for climate mitigation strategies. Using a synthetic forest canopy structure index, we map forest structural density at a near-global scale using a satellite dataset. We find distinct latitudinal patterns of multidimensional forest structure and that forests in protected areas (PAs) and so-called intact forest landscapes (IFLs) have an overall higher structural density than other forests. Human factors are the second-most important driver of forest structure after climate (temperature and rainfall), both globally and regionally, with negative associations to structural density. Human factors are the dominant driver of regional-scale variation in structural density in 35.1% of forests globally and even of forest structure in 31.4% and 22.4% of forests in PAs and IFLs, respectively. As anthropogenic forest degradation clearly affects many areas that are formally protected or perceived to be intact, it is vital to counteract human impacts more effectively in the planning and sustainable management of PAs and IFLs.",

author = "Wang Li and Guo, {Wen Yong} and Maya Pasgaard and Zheng Niu and Li Wang and Fang Chen and Yuchu Qin and Svenning, {Jens Christian}",

note = "Funding Information: This study was financed by the Youth Innovation Promotion Association Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant 2018084, to W.L.), H2020 Marie Sk{\l}odowska-Curie Actions (grant 893060, to W.L. and J.-C.S.), VILLUM Investigator project {\textquoteleft}Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World{\textquoteright} funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant 16549, to J.-C.S.), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 42171369, to W.L.; grant 41730107, to Z.N.), the Director Fund of the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (grant CBAS2022DF012, to W.L.), the National Key Research and Development Project of China (grant 2021YFE0117900, to L.W.) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant XDA19030000, to F.C.). We further consider this study a contribution to Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), funded by Danish National Research Foundation (grant DNRF173, to J.-C.S.). We appreciate NASA for providing the valuable GEDI and MODIS data for our analyses. We also appreciate the Freepik company for providing the graphic resources for Fig. . Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.",

year = "2023",

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doi = "10.1038/s41893-022-01020-5",

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AU - Guo, Wen Yong

AU - Pasgaard, Maya

AU - Niu, Zheng

AU - Wang, Li

AU - Chen, Fang

AU - Qin, Yuchu

AU - Svenning, Jens Christian

N1 - Funding Information: This study was financed by the Youth Innovation Promotion Association Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant 2018084, to W.L.), H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (grant 893060, to W.L. and J.-C.S.), VILLUM Investigator project ‘Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World’ funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant 16549, to J.-C.S.), National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant 42171369, to W.L.; grant 41730107, to Z.N.), the Director Fund of the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (grant CBAS2022DF012, to W.L.), the National Key Research and Development Project of China (grant 2021YFE0117900, to L.W.) and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant XDA19030000, to F.C.). We further consider this study a contribution to Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO), funded by Danish National Research Foundation (grant DNRF173, to J.-C.S.). We appreciate NASA for providing the valuable GEDI and MODIS data for our analyses. We also appreciate the Freepik company for providing the graphic resources for Fig. . Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

PY - 2023/4

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N2 - Climate change and human activities strongly influence forests, but uncertainties persist about the pervasiveness of these stressors and how they will shape future forest structure. Disentangling the relative influences of climate and human activities on global forest structure is essential for understanding and predicting the role of forests in biosphere carbon cycling and biodiversity conservation as well as for climate mitigation strategies. Using a synthetic forest canopy structure index, we map forest structural density at a near-global scale using a satellite dataset. We find distinct latitudinal patterns of multidimensional forest structure and that forests in protected areas (PAs) and so-called intact forest landscapes (IFLs) have an overall higher structural density than other forests. Human factors are the second-most important driver of forest structure after climate (temperature and rainfall), both globally and regionally, with negative associations to structural density. Human factors are the dominant driver of regional-scale variation in structural density in 35.1% of forests globally and even of forest structure in 31.4% and 22.4% of forests in PAs and IFLs, respectively. As anthropogenic forest degradation clearly affects many areas that are formally protected or perceived to be intact, it is vital to counteract human impacts more effectively in the planning and sustainable management of PAs and IFLs.

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Human fingerprint on structural density of forests globally

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