Switch to corn promotes Amazon deforestation [1]

Science

Volumn 318, Issue 5857, 2007, Pages 1721-

  Laurance, William F ^a  

^a SMITHSONIAN TROPICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE   (Panama)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

AGRICULTURAL MANAGEMENT; AGRICULTURAL WORKER; BIOFUEL PRODUCTION; BRAZIL; CATTLE FARMING; CORN; DEFORESTATION; ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT; FIRE; LETTER; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SOYBEAN;

CONSERVATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES; CROPS, AGRICULTURAL; ENERGY-GENERATING RESOURCES; SOYBEANS; TREES; ZEA MAYS;

ZEA MAYS;

EID: 37249089388     PISSN: 00368075     EISSN: 10959203     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Letter

References (12)

1. P. C. Westcott, "U.S. ethanol expansion driving changes throughout the agricultural sector" (www.ers.usda.gov/amberwaves/september07/features/ ethanol.htm).
2. National Agricultural Statistics Service Acreage Report, U.S. Department of Agriculture (www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/acrg0607.pdf).
3. USDA-ERS (www.ers.usda.gov/data/priceforecast/data/futmodsoybeans.xls). Growing global demands for soy for edible oil, livestock feed, and biodiesel are also contributing to high soy prices.
4. The corn-soy-deforestation link was evidently first noted by D. C. Nepstad et al., The Amazon in a Changing Climate: Large-Scale Reductions of Carbon Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Impoverishment [Amazon Institute for Environmental Research (IPAM), 2006].
5. C. Angelo, Desmatamento cresce 8% na Amazonia, Folha de São Paulo Online (www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/ambiente/ult10007u337678.shtml).
6. ImazonGeo (http://imazongeo.org.br/alerta2.php).
7. R. A. Butler, "Is the Amazon more valuable for carbon offsets than cattle or soy?" (mongabay.com, 17 October 2007); http://news.mongabay.com/ 2007/1017-amazon.html.
8. D. C. Morton et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103, 14637 (2006).
9. D. C. Nepstad et al., Conserv. Biol. 20, 1595 (2006).
10. D. L. Hard, in Protein Sources for the Animal Feed Industry (Animal and Production Health Proceedings, FAO, Rome, 2002), pp. 125-140.
11. W. F. Laurance et al., Science 291, 438 (2001).
12. P. M. Fearnside, Environ. Conserv. 28, 23 (2001).