PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 55: Resource Management II: Terrestrial Systems.
Presiding: E Latty
Wednesday, August 6. 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM, SITCC Meeting Room 106.
Deforestation and the climate of equatorial African parks.
Baidya Roy, Somnath1, Walsh, Peter1, Pacala, Stephen1, 1 Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
ABSTRACT- Congo and Gabon contain some of the largest blocks of intact tropical forest in the world. However, more than half of the remaining forested area in each country has now been allocated in timber concession. We used a regional climate model to simulate the impact of future deforestation on local climate. Results show widespread increases in temperature and decreases in rainfall, both in regions slated for timber exploitation and in neighboring parks. Our results suggest that deforestation could undermine the effectiveness of isolated parks for wildlife conservation.
Key words: park planning, climate simulation, Equatorial Africa, deforestation