A5018565170- Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
- Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Agricultural Innovations and Practices
- Energy and Environment Impacts
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- African Botany and Ecology Studies
- Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development
- Remote Sensing in Agriculture
- Plant Diversity and Evolution
- Remote Sensing and LiDAR Applications
- Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology
- Plant Water Relations and Carbon Dynamics
- Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare
- Satellite Image Processing and Photogrammetry
- Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Applications and Techniques
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Land Rights and Reforms
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Income, Poverty, and Inequality
- Plant and animal studies
University of Edinburgh
2011-2021
Abstract Carbon emissions from tropical land‐use change are a major uncertainty in the global carbon cycle. In African woodlands, small‐scale farming and need for fuel thought to be reducing vegetation stocks, but quantification of these processes is hindered by limitations optical remote sensing lack ground data. Here, we present method mapping stocks their changes over 3‐year period > 1000 km 2 region central Mozambique at 0.06 ha resolution. L‐band synthetic aperture radar imagery an...
Significance We develop a biogeographic approach to analyzing the presence of alternative stable states in tropical biomes. Whilst forest–savanna bistability has been widely hypothesized and modeled, empirical evidence remained scarce controversial, here, applying our method Africa, we provide large-scale that there are tree species composition vegetation. Furthermore, results have produced more accurate maps forest savanna distributions which take into account differences composition,...
African woodlands form a major part of the tropical grassy biome and support livelihoods millions rural urban people. Charcoal production in particular is economic activity, but its impact on other ecosystem services little studied. To address this, our study collected biophysical social datasets, which were combined ecological functions, to assess service provision change under different charcoal scenarios Gaza Province, southern Mozambique. We found that villages with longer histories had...
Tree phenology mediates land-atmosphere mass and energy exchange is a determinant of ecosystem structure function. In the dry tropics, including African savannas, many trees grow new leaves during season - weeks or months before rains typically start. This syndrome pre-rain green-up has long been recognized at small scales, but high spatial interspecific variability in leaf precluded regional generalizations. We used remote sensing data to show that this precocious ubiquitous across...
Charcoal is an important source of energy and income for millions people in Africa. Its production often drives forest degradation deforestation which have impacts on the local that remain poorly understood. We present a novel methodology analysing contribution woodland ecosystem services (ES) to rural well-being poverty alleviation, takes into account access mechanisms ES, trade-offs between human response options. Using participatory approach, set land use change scenarios were translated...
The charcoal industry is among the most important semiformal economic sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa and a key cash income source for local households who produce it. This has intensified debate as to role of from production alleviation rural poverty. While number cases been identified potential alleviator monetary poverty, this paper takes its departure point lack analysis on effect acute multidimensional poverty (AMP). understood inability household members meet minimum national...
Sub-Saharan Africa's charcoal sector is rarely considered a mechanism for rural development or poverty alleviation; instead, current regulations often marginalise producers. The of sustainable sector, that does not further populations, restricted by limited understanding these stakeholders. We assess the heterogeneity producers supplying two differentially sized urban markets in Mozambique. Drawing on data from 767 household surveys, our findings suggest size market affects type producer and...
Edward T.A. Mitcharda*Edward Mitchard is a NERC Research Fellow. He researches the development of robust systems for measuring and monitoring carbon stocks in tropical forest savanna systems, based on smart integration ground remote sensing data., Patrick Meira, Casey M. Ryana, Emily S. Woollena, Mathew Williamsa, Lucy E. Goodmanb, Joey A. Mucaveleb, Paul Wattsb, Iain H. Woodhousea & Sassan Saatchic School GeoSciences , University Edinburgh UK b Envirotrade London c Jet Propulsion Laboratory...
Abstract Aim In tropical Africa, savannas cover huge areas, have high plant species richness and are considered as a major natural resource for most countries. There is, however, little information available on their floristics biogeography at the continental scale, despite importance of such our understanding drivers diversity various scales effective conservation management. Here, we collated analysed floristic data from across continent in order to propose biogeographical regionalization...
Abstract Land use change (LUC) is the leading cause of biodiversity loss worldwide. However, global understanding LUC's impact on mainly based comparisons land endpoints (habitat vs non-habitat) in forest ecosystems. Hence, it may not generalise to savannas, which are ecologically distinct from forests, as they inherently patchy, and disturbance adapted. Endpoint also cannot inform management intermediate mosaic landscapes. We aim address these gaps by investigating species- community-level...
Abstract Land use change (LUC) is the leading cause of biodiversity loss worldwide. However, global understanding LUC's impact on mainly based comparisons land endpoints (habitat vs non-habitat) in forest ecosystems. Hence, it may not generalise to savannas, which are ecologically distinct from forests, as they inherently patchy, and disturbance adapted. Endpoint also cannot inform management intermediate mosaic landscapes. We aim address these gaps by investigating species- community-level...