respectively, were generated from primary forest slash burns. Regenerating forest ... losses from slash and pasture fires during the study period. In 1984, study ...
AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF
Liane S. Guild for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Wildlife Science presented on February 24, 2000. Title: Detection of Deforestation and Land Conversion and Estimation of Atmospheric Emissions and Elemental Pool Losses from Biomass Burning in Rondonia, Brazil.
Abstract approved
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Biomass burning associated with deforestation and land use in the Amazon, greatly contributes to emissions as well as depletion of elemental pools. We identified deforestation and pasture formation and quantified resultant burning emissions and terrestrial aboveground elemental pool losses during a period of early colonization in the vicinity of Jamari, Rondonia. Using the Tasseled Cap transformation on multi-date Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data (1984-1992), we developed a land cover and change map for a 94,372-ha study area. Between 1984 and 1992, 8,250 ha of primary and 828 ha of regenerating forest were cleared (18% and 1% of the study area, respectively). Cleared land increased from 1,231 ha to 2,692 ha (1 % to 3% of the study area) by 1986 and this area was in a cleared state in 1992. We developed equations using realistic pasture management burn scenarios to model cumulative area of pasture burned (19,008 ha). We computed emissions using a model that scaled up ground-based data (biomass, combustion factors, and flaming and smoldering combustion emission factors) by land cover type (primary forest, regenerating forest, and pasture). Over the extent of the entire 1
study area, an average of 138,920, and 16 kg C ha- y(l in CO, CO 2 , and CRt, respectively, were generated from primary forest slash burns. Regenerating forest 1
slash fires contributed 4, 31, and
