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Conversion from Forest to Agriculture in the Brazilian Amazon from 1985 to 2021

Author

Listed:
  • Hugo Tameirão Seixas

    (Center for Environmental Studies and Research (NEPAM), State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-970, Brazil)

  • Hilton Luís Ferraz da Silveira

    (Strategic Territorial Intelligence Group, Embrapa Territorial, Campinas 13070-115, Brazil)

  • Alan Pereira da Silva Falcão Mendes

    (State Center for Research in Remote Sensing and Meteorology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFGRS), Porto Alegre 90010-150, Brazil)

  • Fabiana Da Silva Soares

    (Graduate Program in Planning and Use of Renewable Resources, Federal University of de São Carlos (UFSCAR), Sorocaba 18052-780, Brazil)

  • Ramon Felipe Bicudo da Silva

    (Center for Environmental Studies and Research (NEPAM), State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13083-970, Brazil)

Abstract

Land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes in the Amazon biome are key processes that influence the environment and societies at local, national, and global scales. Numerous studies have already relied on land-cover and land-use maps to analyze change processes. This study presents a new dataset created by calculating the time required for deforested areas to transition to agriculture (annual and permanent crops) in the Brazilian Amazon biome. The calculations were performed over MapBiomas land-cover data (version 7), which range from 1985 to 2021, at a spatial resolution of 30 m. The method consists of basic algebraic operation and recursion to identify every conversion from forest to agriculture between 1985 and 2021. The results show a correlation between environmental policies and the time required for the conversion to be completed, such as the adoption of the soy moratorium and the New Forest Code, that were followed by a search for old cleared areas for the establishment of new agricultural sites. The new data can be useful in interdisciplinary studies focused on land-use and land-cover change analysis in Brazil, such as planning of forest restoration initiatives, and the evaluation of carbon stocks according to conversion length. Our accuracy assessment shows an opportunity to improve conversion length calculations by reducing errors in the classification of agriculture establishment. The major innovation of this study is the establishment of explicit links between the deforestation year of a given pixel and its respective year of agriculture establishment, which can provide new insights into understanding long-term land-use conversion processes in tropical ecosystems.

Suggested Citation

  • Hugo Tameirão Seixas & Hilton Luís Ferraz da Silveira & Alan Pereira da Silva Falcão Mendes & Fabiana Da Silva Soares & Ramon Felipe Bicudo da Silva, 2025. "Conversion from Forest to Agriculture in the Brazilian Amazon from 1985 to 2021," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:2:p:300-:d:1581110
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    2. Dambala Gelo & Jane Turpie, 2022. "The effect of forest land use on the cost of drinking water supply: machine learning evidence from South African data," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(4), pages 361-374, October.
    3. Jean-François Pekel & Andrew Cottam & Noel Gorelick & Alan S. Belward, 2016. "High-resolution mapping of global surface water and its long-term changes," Nature, Nature, vol. 540(7633), pages 418-422, December.
    4. Joana Castro Pereira & Eduardo Viola, 2019. "Catastrophic Climate Risk and Brazilian Amazonian Politics and Policies: A New Research Agenda," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 19(2), pages 93-103, May.
    5. Gollnow, Florian & Hissa, Leticia de Barros Viana & Rufin, Philippe & Lakes, Tobia, 2018. "Property-level direct and indirect deforestation for soybean production in the Amazon region of Mato Grosso, Brazil," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 377-385.
    6. Luciana V. Gatti & Luana S. Basso & John B. Miller & Manuel Gloor & Lucas Gatti Domingues & Henrique L. G. Cassol & Graciela Tejada & Luiz E. O. C. Aragão & Carlos Nobre & Wouter Peters & Luciano Mara, 2021. "Amazonia as a carbon source linked to deforestation and climate change," Nature, Nature, vol. 595(7867), pages 388-393, July.
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