Proximate causes of deforestation in the Bolivian lowlands: an analysis of spatial dynamics
Open accessAbstract
Forests in lowland Bolivia suffer from severe deforestation caused by different types of agents and land use activities. We identify three major proximate causes of deforestation. The largest share of deforestation is attributable to the expansion of mechanized agriculture, followed by cattle ranching and small-scale agriculture. We utilize a spatially explicit multinomial logit model to analyze the determinants of each of these proximate causes of deforestation between 1992 and 2004. We substantiate the quantitative insights with a qualitative analysis of historical processes that have shaped land use patterns in the Bolivian lowlands to date. Our results suggest that the expansion of mechanized agriculture occurs mainly in response to good access to export markets, fertile soil, and intermediate rainfall conditions. Increases in small-scale agriculture are mainly associated with a humid climate, fertile soil, and proximity to local markets. Forest conversion into pastures for cattle ranching occurs mostly irrespective of environmental determinants and can mainly be explained by access to local markets. Land use restrictions, such as protected areas, seem to prevent the expansion of mechanized agriculture but have little impact on the expansion of small-scale agriculture and cattle ranching. The analysis of future deforestation trends reveals possible hotspots of future expansion for each proximate cause and specifically highlights the possible opening of new frontiers for deforestation due to mechanized agriculture. Whereas the quantitative analysis effectively elucidates the spatial patterns of recent agricultural expansion, the interpretation of long-term historic drivers reveals that the timing and quantity of forest conversion are often triggered by political interventions and historical legacies.
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One Brazilian Amazon study did not find any effect of land titling on deforestation.
“While one Brazilian 485 Amazon study did not find any effect [133]”
From A systematic comparison of deforestation drivers and policy effectiveness across the Amazon biome (2023) · cites this paper as [133]
The Study area and historical land use section identifies the study area as the Bolivian lowlands. The Variables on land policies and Dynamics of land use change sections discuss protected areas, forest concessions, and indigenous territories, but do not report whether land titling affected deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Searches for land titling, tenure, and the claimed Brazilian finding found no passage addressing it; page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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Estimating the global conservation status of more than 15,000 Amazonian tree species
ter Steege, H., Pitman, N. C. A., Killeen, T. J., Laurance, W. F., Peres, C. A., Guevara, J. E., Salomão, R. P., Castilho, C. V., Amaral, I. L., de Almeida Matos, F. D., et al. (2015) · Science Advances · doi:10.1126/sciadv.1500936 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
A systematic comparison of deforestation drivers and policy effectiveness across the Amazon biome
Hänggli, A., Levy, S. A., Armenteras, D., Bovolo, C. I., Brandão, J., Rueda, X., & Garrett, R. D. (2023) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/acd408 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
- Authors
- Müller, R., Müller, D., Schierhorn, F., Gerold, G., & Pacheco, P.
- Affiliations
- University of Göttingen (DE)
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
- Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (DE)
- Center for International Forestry Research (ID)
- Corresponding author
- Müller, Robert
- Venue
- Regional Environmental Change
- Published
- 2011-10-28
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 445-459
- ISSN
- 1436-378X (ISSN-L)
- 1436-3798
- OpenAlex
- W2094873854
- Cited by
- 114
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 4.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Regional Environmental Change (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Geo-Leo e-docs (Deutsche Initiative für Netzwerkinformation) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- CGSPace A Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- EconStor Open Access Articles (submittedVersion)
- Geo-Leo e-docs (Deutsche Initiative für Netzwerkinformation) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nd)
- Econstor (Econstor) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- GoeScholar The Publication Server of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- GRO (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- FID-GEO SUB
- Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › General Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development
- Keywords
- deforestation, Bolivian lowlands, agricultural mechanization, cattle ranching, smallholder farming, forest conversion, land use change, protected areas, market access, deforestation hotspots, political intervention, historical legacy
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