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Land-Cover and Land-Use Change in the Brazilian Amazon: Smallholders, Ranchers, and Frontier Stratification

Author

Listed:
  • Stephen P. Aldrich
  • Robert T. Walker
  • Eugenio Y. Arima
  • Marcellus M. Caldas
  • John O. Browder
  • Stephen Perz

Abstract

Tropical deforestation is a significant driver of global environmental change, given its impacts on the carbon cycle and biodiversity. Loss of the Amazon forest, the focus of this article, is of particular concern because of the size and the rapid rate at which the forest is being converted to agricultural use. In this article, we identify what has been the most important driver of deforestation in a specific colonization frontier in the Brazilian Amazon. To this end, we consider (1) the land-use dynamics of smallholder households, (2) the formation of pasture by large-scale ranchers, and (3) structural processes of land aggregation by ranchers. Much has been written about relations between smallholders and ranchers in the Brazilian Amazon, particularly those involving conflict over land, and this article explicates the implications of such social processes for land cover. Toward this end, we draw on panel data (1996–2002) and satellite imagery (1986–1999) to show the deforestation that is attributable to small- and largeholders, and the deforestation that is attributable to aggregations of property arising from a process that we refer to as frontier stratification. Evidently, most of the recent deforestation in the study area has resulted from the household processes of smallholders, not from conversions to pasture pursuant to the appropriations of smallholders’ property by well-capitalized ranchers or speculators.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen P. Aldrich & Robert T. Walker & Eugenio Y. Arima & Marcellus M. Caldas & John O. Browder & Stephen Perz, 2006. "Land-Cover and Land-Use Change in the Brazilian Amazon: Smallholders, Ranchers, and Frontier Stratification," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 82(3), pages 265-288, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:recgxx:v:82:y:2006:i:3:p:265-288
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1944-8287.2006.tb00311.x
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Zimbres, Barbara & Machado, Ricardo B. & Peres, Carlos A., 2018. "Anthropogenic drivers of headwater and riparian forest loss and degradation in a highly fragmented southern Amazonian landscape," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 354-363.
    2. Barbier, Edward B., 2020. "Long run agricultural land expansion, booms and busts," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    3. Alary, Véronique & Aboul-Naga, Adel & Osman, Mona A. & Daoud, Ibrahim & Abdelraheem, Sahar & Salah, Ehab & Juanes, Xavier & Bonnet, Pascal, 2018. "Desert land reclamation programs and family land dynamics in the Western Desert of the Nile Delta (Egypt), 1960–2010," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 140-153.
    4. Browder, John O. & Pedlowski, Marcos A. & Walker, Robert & Wynne, Randolph H. & Summers, Percy M. & Abad, Ana & Becerra-Cordoba, Nancy & Mil-Homens, Joao, 2008. "Revisiting Theories of Frontier Expansion in the Brazilian Amazon: A Survey of the Colonist Farming Population in Rondônia's Post-Frontier, 1992-2002," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1469-1492, August.
    5. Andrea Chávez Michaelsen & Leticia Huamani Briceño & Ronny Fernandez Menis & Nemin Bejar Chura & Frank Valera Tito & Stephen Perz & I. Foster Brown & Sandro Domínguez Del Aguila & Raúl Pinedo Mora & G, 2013. "Regional Deforestation Trends within Local Realities: Land-Cover Change in Southeastern Peru 1996–2011," Land, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-27, April.
    6. Flávia Leite & Marcellus Caldas & Cynthia Simmons & Stephen Perz & Stephen Aldrich & Robert Walker, 2011. "The social viability and environmental sustainability of direct action land reform settlements in the Amazon," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 773-788, August.
    7. Caviglia-Harris, Jill L., 2018. "Agricultural innovation and climate change policy in the Brazilian Amazon: Intensification practices and the derived demand for pasture," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 232-248.
    8. Schielein, Johannes & Börner, Jan, 2018. "Recent transformations of land-use and land-cover dynamics across different deforestation frontiers in the Brazilian Amazon," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 81-94.
    9. Amacher, Gregory S. & Merry, Frank D. & Bowman, Maria S., 2009. "Smallholder timber sale decisions on the Amazon frontier," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1787-1796, April.
    10. Mendonça, Mário Jorge & Loureiro, Paulo R.A. & Sachsida, Adolfo, 2012. "The dynamics of land-use in Brazilian Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 23-36.
    11. P. P. Braga, Daniel & Pokorny, Benno & Porro, Roberto & Vidal, Edson, 2023. "Good life in the Amazon? A critical reflection on the standard of living of cocoa and cattle-based smallholders in Pará, Brazil," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    12. Merry, Frank & Amacher, Gregory & Lima, Eirivelthon, 2008. "Land Values in Frontier Settlements of the Brazilian Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2390-2401, November.

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