The impact of Amazon deforestation is magnified by changing the configuration of forest cover

Goebel, Luan Gabriel Araujo; Vancine, Maurício Humberto; Bogoni, Juliano A; Longo, Gabriela Rodrigues; Calicis, Mathilde; Fearnside, Philip M; Palmeirim, Ana Filipa; Santos-Filho, Manoel dos

doi:10.1017/S0376892925000086

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The impact of Amazon deforestation is magnified by changing the configuration of forest cover

Goebel, Luan Gabriel Araujo; Vancine, Maurício Humberto; Bogoni, Juliano A et al.

2025 • In Environmental Conservation, 52 (3), p. 108-117

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https://hdl.handle.net/2268/346612

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10.1017/S0376892925000086

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Keywords :

Brazil; connectivity; forest fragmentation; MapBiomas; Rondônia; % reductions; Amazon deforestation; Connectivity; Environmental change; Forest cover; Forest fragmentations; Mapbiomas; Natural vegetation; Rondonium; Water Science and Technology; Pollution; Nature and Landscape Conservation; Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law; Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

Abstract :

[en] The Amazon comprises the most biodiverse region in the world, but, despite being highly threatened by human-induced environmental changes, little is known about how those changes influence the remaining forest's extent and configuration in Brazil's arc of deforestation. We analysed the spatial and temporal dynamics and the configuration of forest cover in Brazil's state of Rondônia over 34 years. We calculated seven landscape metrics based on freely available satellite imagery to understand the habitat transformations. Overall, natural vegetation cover declined from 90.9% to 62.7% between 1986 and 2020, and fragmentation greatly increased, generating 78 000 forest fragments and 100 000 fragments of 'natural vegetation', which also includes forest. We found that c. 50% of the vegetation is within c. 1 km of the nearest forest edge, and the mean isolation between fragments is c. 2.5 km. Most natural vegetation and forest vegetation layers outside protected areas (PAs; Brazil's 'conservation units') and Indigenous territories (ITs) are >10 km from the nearest PA or IT. This reduction of natural vegetation in Rondônia is posing major threats to the survival of species and is undermining the dynamics of ecosystems. Measures to control deforestation and avoid the reduction of large remnants are urgently needed.

Disciplines :

Phytobiology (plant sciences, forestry, mycology...)

Author, co-author :

Goebel, Luan Gabriel Araujo ; Center for Research on Limnology, Biodiversity, and Ethnoecology, Laboratory of Mastozoology, Graduate Program of Environmental Science, University of Mato Grosso State (UNEMAT), Cáceres, Brazil

Vancine, Maurício Humberto ; Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Biodiversidade, Laboratório de Ecologia Espacial e Conservação, São Paulo, Brazil

Bogoni, Juliano A ; Center for Research on Limnology, Biodiversity, and Ethnoecology, Laboratory of Mastozoology, Graduate Program of Environmental Science, University of Mato Grosso State (UNEMAT), Cáceres, Brazil

Longo, Gabriela Rodrigues ; Instituto de Conservação de Animais Silvestres (ICAS), Campo Grande, Brazil

Calicis, Mathilde ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech

Fearnside, Philip M ; Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil

Palmeirim, Ana Filipa ; Laboratório de Ecologia e Zoologia de Vertebrados, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), Belém, Brazil

Santos-Filho, Manoel dos ; Center for Research on Limnology, Biodiversity, and Ethnoecology, Laboratory of Mastozoology, Graduate Program of Environmental Science, University of Mato Grosso State (UNEMAT), Cáceres, Brazil

Language :

English

Title :

The impact of Amazon deforestation is magnified by changing the configuration of forest cover

Publication date :

2025

Journal title :

Environmental Conservation

ISSN :

0376-8929

eISSN :

1469-4387

Publisher :

Cambridge University Press

Volume :

Issue :

Pages :

108-117

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

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https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0376892925000086

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since 30 June 2026

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