Carbon Sink to Carbon Source: Fires, Deforestation, and Carbon Storage in the Southwestern Amazon

Keywords: Amazonia, deforestation, fire, carbon, Peru, Brazil
Session Type: Virtual Guided Poster Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 63

Abstract

As Amazonian nations continue to create and promote deforestation policies in an Amazon basin experiencing climate change, it is increasingly important to analyze deforestation, carbon stocks, hot spots, and their relationship with climate systems and ecosystem services. In this case study, we focus on the borderlands shared by Peru and Brazil in the southwestern Amazon, specifically Acre, Brazil and Ucayali, Peru. Our research utilizes remotely sensed datasets derived from Geographic Information Systems and Google Earth Engine to quantify deforestation and carbon loss between 2010-2020 across the transboundary region. We compare our results with the official deforestation and fire data and rates for both Peru and Brazil from 2019-2020. This research has potential to provide a framework for remotely studying deforestation, carbon, and fire datasets within the southwestern Amazon and the greater basin as a whole.