Parts of Amazon on the verge of forest-to-grassland shift
Tuesday, September 3, 2013 - 09:21
in Earth & Climate
The stability of the Amazon rainforest, and the ecosystem's resilience to widespread deforestation, may be much lower than previously thought. The replacement of stands of trees with grassland changes evapotranspiration rates and atmospheric moisture convergence, which in turn reduce regional rainfall, a feedback effect that could drive further deforestation. Previous research indicated that a dramatic shift from forest to grassland could overtake the Amazon when the total deforested area hits 40 to 50 percent of the forest's current size. New research by Pires and Costa, however, find that the deforestation needed to trigger this equilibrium shift is much lower, closer to just 10 percent.