High-intensity fires can significantly reduce woody cover in African savannas
Source: Journal of Applied Ecology
Projects Land Use
Mapping tree species and their abundance across fragmented agricultural landscapes with CAO
Landscape fragmentation boosts mistletoe invasion in California oaks
Forest fragmentation alters ecological dynamics for more than a century following initial disturbance
For more than a century, the Amazon Basin has undergone boom and bust cycles with gold miners, leading to enormous ecological damage still observable in regions like eastern Brazil. In this century, however, hotspots of gold mining have emerged in the western Amazon lowlands, in places such as Peru, which harbors the highest biodiversity forests on Earth.
Illegal miners have invaded an indigenous reserve in the Peruvian Amazon, reveals new analysis of satellite imagery. Gold mining in the region is extensive. Research published by Greg Asner of the Carnegie Institution for Science found that the extent of mining in Peru’s Madre de Dios expanded from less than 10,000 hectares in 1999 to more than 50,000 ha as of September 2012. Rising gold prices combined with increased access to the region fueled the increase.
On May 1 2015, the third generation Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO) was unveiled at the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California to a crowd of conservation, science, aviation and technology enthusiasts. CAO-3 stands out as one of the most advanced Earth mapping and data-analytics platforms operating in the civil sector today. Here’s the behind-the-scenes story of the CAO.
Amazon gold mining has hit and re-hit the headlines over the past 24 months, with reports of increasing deforestation and mercury pollution in places like the Peruvian Amazon. Today, CAO was featured in continuing coverage of this important story on National Public Radio (NPR) news across the United States.
Conservation efforts in Borneo’s embattled rainforest may get a boost with the launch of the newest version of an advanced airplane-based monitoring and assessment system.
Airborne LiDAR sheds light on the productivity of culturally important taro farms in historic Hawaiian culture