Publications by authors named "Eric L Bullock"
Article Synopsis
- State-of-the-art cloud computing platforms like Google Earth Engine (GEE) enhance the process of mapping land cover changes globally using machine learning, but high-quality training data for accurate mapping is still expensive and labor-heavy.
- To solve this, we developed a global database with nearly 2 million training units from 1984 to 2020, covering seven main and nine secondary land cover classes, using GEE and machine learning for quality and representation.
- Our database, which includes diverse datasets and reflects regional land characteristics, is useful for various fields, including land cover change studies, agriculture, forestry, hydrology, and urban development.
Article Synopsis
- * The assessment utilized k-nearest neighbor and random forest models for mapping forest structure and aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks, finding that the k-nearest neighbor model outperformed the random forest model.
- * Pohnpei's mangroves had a mean AGC of 167 MgC ha-1 in 2018, exceeding the global average, and contained over 1.07 million MgC in AGC pools, offering insights for targeted conservation efforts based on carbon
Carbon loss and removal due to forest disturbance and regeneration in the Amazon.
Sci Total Environ
April 2021
The forest carbon flux is the difference between the total carbon loss from deforestation, forest degradation, and natural disturbance and removal of atmospheric CO due to photosynthetic activity. The Amazon rainforest accounts for approximately a quarter of global emissions from land use change, due in part to its' immense size, carbon storage, and recent history of land use change. Large area estimates of carbon exchange in forests are highly uncertain, however, which reflects the pervasive challenges in estimating carbon flux parameters, such as disturbance area and forest carbon pools.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProtected areas in Guatemala provide habitat for diverse tropical ecosystems, contain ancient archeological sites, sequester carbon, and support economic activity through eco-tourism. However, many of the forests in these protected areas have been converted to other uses or degraded by human activity, and therefore are considered "paper parks". In this study, we analyzed time series of satellite data to monitor deforestation, degradation, and natural disturbance throughout Guatemala from 2000 to 2017.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAnthropogenic and natural forest disturbance cause ecological damage and carbon emissions. Forest disturbance in the Amazon occurs in the form of deforestation (conversion of forest to non-forest land covers), degradation from the extraction of forest resources, and destruction from natural events. The crucial role of the Amazon rainforest in the hydrologic cycle has even led to the speculation of a disturbance "tipping point" leading to a collapse of the tropical ecosystem.
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