The forest loss within small reservoirs surpasses that of large reservoirs across the tropics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15545804 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Feng Yang (0009-0008-1432-2234), Yang Feng (0000-0002-9453-5924, Southern University of Science and Technology), Yingzuo Qin (0000-0002-9802-0733, Southern University of Science and Technology), Rongrong Xu (0000-0003-3390-2660, Southern University of Science and Technology), Lei Deng (0000-0001-8695-534X, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation), Zhenzhong Zeng (0000-0001-6851-2756, Southern University of Science and Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 084014-084014 |
| Publication date | 2024-07-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Research Letters (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1748-9326 • E-ISSN: 1748-9326 |
| Publisher | IOP Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1088/1748-9326/ad5dce |
| OpenAlex | W4400225213 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 34 |
The vast potential of hydropower remains crucial in addressing the escalating need for clean energy, particularly in Tropical Moist Forests (TMFs) regions. Yet, the widespread construction of reservoirs within TMFs has resulted in the inundation of forested areas, exacerbating the fragmentation of forest landscapes and contributing additional loss of carbon stored in these ecosystems. Despite this, the scale and degree of forest loss within reservoirs due to inundation from reservoir construction remain poorly quantified and mapped across tropical regions. Here, we leverage long-term TMFs data spanning from 1990 to 2021 to investigate forest loss within reservoirs across tropical regions. We reveal that forest losses within reservoirs total 3521 km 2 , constituting a relatively small fraction of total forest loss. Nonetheless, the spatial distribution of forest loss within reservoirs varies significantly across the tropics, with patchy distributions observed in the American and African TMFs, and striped patterns evident in the Asian TMFs. Contrary to common assumptions, we show that small reservoirs exhibit higher levels of forest loss compared to large reservoirs, particularly pronounced in the African TMFs region. Furthermore, our projections indicate that the exclusive construction of small reservoirs contributes to approximately 27% of Africa’s total forest area lost. We underscore the importance of policymakers carefully evaluating the trade-offs associated with the construction of large versus small reservoirs in TMF regions, to minimize the adverse impacts of hydropower development on forest ecosystems
Agroforestry · Ecosystem · Hydrology (agriculture · Hydropower · Tropical forest · Tropics · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Environmental Science · Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology · Ecology · Geology
Classifying drivers of global forest loss
Benchmark map of forest carbon stocks in tropical regions across three continents
High‐resolution mapping of the world's reservoirs and dams for sustainable river‐flow management
The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems
Long-term (1990–2019) monitoring of forest cover changes in the humid tropics
High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change
An index-based framework for assessing patterns and trends in river fragmentation and flow regulation by global dams at multiple scales
Forest loss is significantly higher near clustered small dams than single large dams per megawatt of hydroelectricity installed in the Brazilian Amazon
Urbanization in Africa
Monitoring and estimating tropical forest carbon stocks
Major dams and the challenge of achieving “No Net Loss” of biodiversity in the tropics
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |