Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

Published in

Taylor and Francis Group, Journal of Land Use Science, 1(6), p. 33-52

DOI: 10.1080/1747423x.2010.501157

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Historical reconstruction of land use in the Brazilian Amazon (1940–1995)

This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Red circle
Preprint: archiving forbidden
Orange circle
Postprint: archiving restricted
Red circle
Published version: archiving forbidden
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

The construction of geographically precise, high-resolution time series of historical changes in land use is an important step in constructing more realistic models of bio-geophysical and bio-geochemical interactions with the atmosphere. However, such data are rarely available due to the typically imprecise nature of historical land use surveys and the relatively recent advent of sufficiently sensitive satellite remote sensing technology. In this article, we reconstruct and validate a geographically explicit historical database of land use in Amazonia for the period 1940–1995, at a 5′ × 5′ spatial resolution, through a fusion of historical census data and a contemporary land use classification. The reconstruction indicates that the main changes in the land use occurred in the south and southeast regions of the Amazon in the states of Tocantins, Goiás, and Mato Grosso. These states were characterized by an intensification of planted pasture during the study period, accelerating after 1970, although in many areas planted pasture replaced natural pasture rather than natural vegetation because it was considered more productive for raising cattle. Croplands were observed to expand significantly in Goiás and Mato Grosso, but were almost absent in the state of Amazonas. More generally, within the study region land use change was greatest in regions of pioneer occupation in the Amazon and near the main roads such as the trans-Amazonian highway.