title: Degradation in carbon stocks near tropical forest edges.
abstract: Carbon stock estimates based on land cover type are critical for informing climate change assessment and landscape management, but field and theoretical evidence indicates that forest fragmentation reduces the amount of carbon stored at forest edges. Here, using remotely sensed pantropical biomass and land cover data sets, we estimate that biomass within the first 500 m of the forest edge is on average 25% lower than in forest interiors and that reductions of 10% extend to 1.5 km from the forest edge. These findings suggest that IPCC Tier 1 methods overestimate carbon stocks in tropical forests by nearly 10%. Proper accounting for degradation at forest edges will inform better landscape and forest management and policies, as well as the assessment of carbon stocks at landscape and national levels.
authors.affiliation: Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chaplin-Kramer
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics, St Lawrence University, 23 Romoda Drive, Canton, New York 13617, USA.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ramler
authors.affiliation: Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sharp
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Ecology, David Clark Labs, North Carolina State University, 100 Brooks Avenue, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-7617, USA.
authors.forename: Nick M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Haddad
authors.affiliation: Institute on the Environment (IonE), University of Minnesota, 1954 Buford Avenue, St Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA.
authors.forename: James S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Gerber
authors.affiliation: Institute on the Environment (IonE), University of Minnesota, 1954 Buford Avenue, St Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Paul C
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9024-1657
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: West
authors.affiliation: Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, 371 Serra Mall, Stanford, California 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mandle
authors.affiliation: Institute on the Environment (IonE), University of Minnesota, 1954 Buford Avenue, St Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA.
authors.forename: Peder
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Engstrom
authors.affiliation: Woods Hole Research Center, 149 Woods Hole Road, Falmouth, Massachusetts 02540, USA.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baccini
authors.affiliation: Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever R&D, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44 1LQ, UK.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sim
authors.affiliation: Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever R&D, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44 1LQ, UK.
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mueller
authors.affiliation: Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre, Unilever R&D, Colworth Science Park, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44 1LQ, UK.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: King
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D001938:Brazil; D002244:Carbon; D057231:Climate Change; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D065928:Forests; D014329:Tropical Climate
chemical_list: D002244:Carbon