Tropical forests are important regulators of the flux and storage of carbon, water, and energy in the Biosphere, and they are the habitat of more than three-fourths of the world’s plant and animal species. These ecosystems are also undergoing rapid conversion through pasture formation, shifting cultivation and timber highgrading as the people of tropical nations turn to forestlands for sustenance and wealth.
Upland agricultural and forestry development in the Amazon: sustainability, criticality and resilience
Upland agricultural and forestry development in the Amazon: sustainability, criticality and resilience
This paper provides an overview of agricultural and forestry development in the Amazon basin, and presents and discusses the main land use systems in evidence today in that region. These are logging, shifting-cultivation and ranching. The issue of sustainability is...