Power laws and critical fragmentation in global forests.

摘要: The replacement of forest areas with human-dominated landscapes usually leads to fragmentation, altering the structure and function forest. Here we studied dynamics patch sizes at a global level, examining signals critical transition from an unfragmented fragmented state, using MODIS vegetation continuous field. We defined wide regions connected across continents big islands, combined five criteria, including distribution fluctuations largest over last sixteen years, evaluate closeness each region fragmentation threshold. Regions highest deforestation rates–South America, Southeast Asia, Africa–all met these criteria may thus be near This implies that if current loss rates are maintained, continental could suddenly fragment, triggering extensive species degradation ecosystems services.