Browsing by Subject "forest degradation"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Open Access
Caught in the act! Using camera trapping to investigate the link between tropical forest degradation and biodiversity in the Belize Maya Forest
(2023-04-27) Boos, Elise; Bruno, Kelly
Tropical forests retain an abundance of the world’s species yet are acutely threatened by habitat loss and overharvesting. Habitat loss is largely driven by widespread deforestation and potentially forest degradation – a decrease in forest quality primarily caused by logging. Some evidence suggests that degradation drives biodiversity loss, while other studies argue that managed forests can preserve species. Belize, a country in the Neotropics, retains 60% of its forest cover but is predicted to lose most of it in the next decade. One proposed method for sustainable forest management is reduced impact logging (RIL). We modeled species occupancy of terrestrial wildlife across RIL and unlogged sites within the Belize Maya Forest and evaluated the effect of anthropogenic and environmental covariates. We provide evidence that managed forests can preserve biodiversity and that the effect of occupancy covariates varies by species.
Open Access
Spatial patterns of market participation and resource extraction: Fuelwood collection in Northern Uganda
(American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2017-07-01) Miteva, DA; Kramer, RA; Brown, ZS; Smith, MD
While distance to markets is a key determinant of market participation for households that are dependent on natural resources, the distance to the resource stock is also essential. Thus, a household's location with respect to markets and the resource stock determines household market participation and associated resource degradation. Applying a discrete-choice framework for fuelwood collection in a developing country, we characterize the spatial pattern of market participation regimes and forest use. All else being equal, autarkic households are closest to the forest and furthest from the market, buyer households are closest to the market and furthest from the forest, and seller households are at intermediate distances. Empirical tests based on survey data from northern Uganda support the predictions from our theoretical model. Our findings have important implications for understanding the spatial patterns of forest degradation and determining the control group when designing impact evaluations of the effectiveness of development and conservation interventions.