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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Agricultural Intensification Can Preserve The Brazilian Cerrado: Applying Lessons From Mato Grosso And Goia's To Brazil’S Last Agricultural Frontier, Stephanie A. Spera
Agricultural Intensification Can Preserve The Brazilian Cerrado: Applying Lessons From Mato Grosso And Goia's To Brazil’S Last Agricultural Frontier, Stephanie A. Spera
Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications
Food security and climate change are two pressing issues shaping the future of tropical land use. Brazil, home to abundant land that is rich in carbon, water, and biodiversity and often cleared for agropastoral and renewable energy purposes, is the ideal location for studying socioeconomic and environmental trade-offs of land use dynamics. Here, I use recent (2000–2016) land-use land-cover change dynamics in the established agricultural states of Mato Grosso and Goia's to demonstrate how incentivizing intensive agricultural practices and improving degraded pastures may be a means by which Brazil can increase agricultural production while conserving the remainder of the Cerrado. …
Soybean Development: The Impact Of A Decade Of Agricultural Change On Urban And Economic Growth In Mato Grosso, Brazil, Peter Richards, Heitor Pellegrina, Leah Vanwey, Stephanie A. Spera
Soybean Development: The Impact Of A Decade Of Agricultural Change On Urban And Economic Growth In Mato Grosso, Brazil, Peter Richards, Heitor Pellegrina, Leah Vanwey, Stephanie A. Spera
Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications
In this research we consider the impact of export-driven, soybean agriculture in Mato Grosso on regional economic growth. Here we argue that the soybean sector has served as a motor to the state’s economy by increasing the demand for services, housing, and goods, and by providing a source of investment capital to the non-agricultural sector. Specifically, we show that each square kilometer of soybean production supports 2.5 formal sector jobs outside of agriculture, and the equivalent of approximately 150,000 US in annual, non-agricultural GDP. We also show that annual gains in non-agricultural employment and GDP are closely tied to soybean …
Recent Cropping Frequency, Expansion, And Abandonment In Mato Grosso, Brazil Had Selective Land Characteristics, Stephanie A. Spera, Avery S. Cohn, Leah K. Vanwey, Jack F. Mustard, Bernardo F.T. Rudorff, Marcos Adami
Recent Cropping Frequency, Expansion, And Abandonment In Mato Grosso, Brazil Had Selective Land Characteristics, Stephanie A. Spera, Avery S. Cohn, Leah K. Vanwey, Jack F. Mustard, Bernardo F.T. Rudorff, Marcos Adami
Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications
This letter uses satellite remote sensing to examine patterns of cropland expansion, cropland abandonment, and changing cropping frequency in Mato Grosso, Brazil from 2001 to 2011. During this period, Mato Grosso emerged as a globally important center of agricultural production. In 2001, 3.3 million hectares of mechanized agriculture were cultivated in Mato Grosso, of which 500 000 hectares had two commercial crops per growing season (double cropping). By 2011, Mato Grosso had 5.8 million hectares of mechanized agriculture, of which 2.9 million hectares were double cropped. We found these agricultural changes to be selective with respect to land attributes —significant …