Citation

Aragão LE, Shimabukuro YE. Science 2010; 328(5983): 1275-1278.

Affiliation

Landscape and Ecosystems Dynamics Group, School of Geography, University of Exeter, Amory Building, Rennes Drive, Exeter, Devon, EX4 4RJ, UK. l.aragao@exeter.ac.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, American Association for the Advancement of Science)

DOI

10.1126/science.1186925

PMID

20522775

Abstract

Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) may curb carbon emissions, but the consequences for fire hazard are poorly understood. By analyzing satellite-derived deforestation and fire data from the Brazilian Amazon, we show that fire occurrence has increased in 59% of the area that has experienced reduced deforestation rates. Differences in fire frequencies across two land-use gradients reveal that fire-free land-management can substantially reduce fire incidence by as much as 69%. If sustainable fire-free land-management of deforested areas is not adopted in the REDD mechanism, then the carbon savings achieved by avoiding deforestation may be partially negated by increased emissions from fires.

Language: en