Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 620-635 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | BIOTROPICA |
| Volume | 49 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Abstract
Road networks are expanding in tropical countries, increasing human access to remote forests that act as refuges for biodiversity and provide globally important ecosystem services. Logging is one of the main drivers of road construction in tropical forests. We evaluated forest fragmentation and impacts of logging roads on forest resilience and wildlife, considering the full life cycle of logging roads. Through an extensive evidence review we found that for logging road construction, corridors between 3 and 66 m (median 20 m) width are cleared, leading to a loss of 0.6–8.0 percent (median 1.7%) of forest cover. More severe impacts are increased fire incidence, soil erosion, landslides, and sediment accumulation in streams. Once opened, logging roads potentially allow continued access to the forest interior, which can lead to biological invasions, increased hunting pressure, and proliferation of swidden agriculture. Some roads, initially built for logging, become converted to permanent, public roads with subsequent in-migration and conversion of forest to agriculture. Most logging roads, however, are abandoned to vegetation recovery. Given the far-reaching impacts of the roads that become conduits for human access, its control after the end of logging operations is crucial. Strategic landscape planning should design road networks that concentrate efficient forest exploitation and conserve roadless areas.
Keywords
- Amazonia, Congo Basin, deforestation, forest degradation, land sharing vs. sparing, reduced-impact logging, road ecology, Southeast Asia
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Sustainable Development Goals
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In: BIOTROPICA, Vol. 49, No. 5, 09.2017, p. 620-635.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › Research › peer review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Impacts of logging roads on tropical forests
AU - Kleinschroth, Fritz
AU - Healey, John R.
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2017 The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation
PY - 2017/9
Y1 - 2017/9
N2 - Road networks are expanding in tropical countries, increasing human access to remote forests that act as refuges for biodiversity and provide globally important ecosystem services. Logging is one of the main drivers of road construction in tropical forests. We evaluated forest fragmentation and impacts of logging roads on forest resilience and wildlife, considering the full life cycle of logging roads. Through an extensive evidence review we found that for logging road construction, corridors between 3 and 66 m (median 20 m) width are cleared, leading to a loss of 0.6–8.0 percent (median 1.7%) of forest cover. More severe impacts are increased fire incidence, soil erosion, landslides, and sediment accumulation in streams. Once opened, logging roads potentially allow continued access to the forest interior, which can lead to biological invasions, increased hunting pressure, and proliferation of swidden agriculture. Some roads, initially built for logging, become converted to permanent, public roads with subsequent in-migration and conversion of forest to agriculture. Most logging roads, however, are abandoned to vegetation recovery. Given the far-reaching impacts of the roads that become conduits for human access, its control after the end of logging operations is crucial. Strategic landscape planning should design road networks that concentrate efficient forest exploitation and conserve roadless areas.
AB - Road networks are expanding in tropical countries, increasing human access to remote forests that act as refuges for biodiversity and provide globally important ecosystem services. Logging is one of the main drivers of road construction in tropical forests. We evaluated forest fragmentation and impacts of logging roads on forest resilience and wildlife, considering the full life cycle of logging roads. Through an extensive evidence review we found that for logging road construction, corridors between 3 and 66 m (median 20 m) width are cleared, leading to a loss of 0.6–8.0 percent (median 1.7%) of forest cover. More severe impacts are increased fire incidence, soil erosion, landslides, and sediment accumulation in streams. Once opened, logging roads potentially allow continued access to the forest interior, which can lead to biological invasions, increased hunting pressure, and proliferation of swidden agriculture. Some roads, initially built for logging, become converted to permanent, public roads with subsequent in-migration and conversion of forest to agriculture. Most logging roads, however, are abandoned to vegetation recovery. Given the far-reaching impacts of the roads that become conduits for human access, its control after the end of logging operations is crucial. Strategic landscape planning should design road networks that concentrate efficient forest exploitation and conserve roadless areas.
KW - Amazonia
KW - Congo Basin
KW - deforestation
KW - forest degradation
KW - land sharing vs. sparing
KW - reduced-impact logging
KW - road ecology
KW - Southeast Asia
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85020492977&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/btp.12462
DO - 10.1111/btp.12462
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85020492977
VL - 49
SP - 620
EP - 635
JO - BIOTROPICA
JF - BIOTROPICA
SN - 0006-3606
IS - 5
ER -