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Soy moratorium impacts on soybean and deforestation dynamics in Mato Grosso, Brazil
Kastens, Jude Heathcliff Brown, J. Christopher Coutinho, Alexandre Camargo Bishop, Christopher Ryan Esquerdo, Julio Cesar D. M.
Kastens, Jude Heathcliff
Brown, J. Christopher
Coutinho, Alexandre Camargo
Bishop, Christopher Ryan
Esquerdo, Julio Cesar D. M.
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Abstract
Previous research has established the usefulness of remotely sensed vegetation index (VI)
data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to characterize the
spatial dynamics of agriculture in the state of Mato Grosso (MT), Brazil. With these data it
has become possible to track MT agriculture, which accounts for ~85% of Brazilian Amazon
soy production, across periods of several years. Annual land cover (LC) maps support investigation
of the spatiotemporal dynamics of agriculture as they relate to forest cover and governance
and policy efforts to lower deforestation rates. We use a unique, spatially extensive 9-
year (2005±2013) ground reference dataset to classify, with approximately 80% accuracy,
MODIS VI data, merging the results with carefully processed annual forest and sugarcane
coverages developed by Brazil's National Institute for Space Research to produce LC maps
for MT for the 2001±2014 crop years. We apply the maps to an evaluation of forest and agricultural
intensification dynamics before and after the Soy Moratorium (SoyM), a governance
effort enacted in July 2006 to halt deforestation for the purpose of soy production in the Brazilian
Amazon. We find the pre-SoyM deforestation rate to be more than five times the post-
SoyM rate, while simultaneously observing the pre-SoyM forest-to-soy conversion rate to be
more than twice the post-SoyM rate. These observations support the hypothesis that SoyM
has played a role in reducing both deforestation and subsequent use for soy production.
Additional analyses explore the land use tendencies of deforested areas and the conceptual
framework of horizontal and vertical agricultural intensification, which distinguishes production
increases attributable to cropland expansion into newly deforested areas as opposed to
implementation of multi-cropping systems on existing cropland. During the 14-year study
period, soy production was found to shift from predominantly single-crop systems to majority
double-crop systems.
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2017-04-28
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Public Library of Science
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Kastens JH, Brown JC, Coutinho AC, Bishop CR, Esquerdo JCDM (2017) Soy moratorium impacts on soybean and deforestation
dynamics in Mato Grosso, Brazil. PLoS ONE 12(4): e0176168. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176168