Harvested area did not increase abruptly – How an inconsistency in satellite-based mapping led to erroneous conclusions
Creators
- 1. Department of Forestry and Forest Resources, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Ås, Norway
- 2. Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden; Land Systems and Sustainable Land Management Unit, Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Ellison Consulting, Baar, Switzerland
- 3. Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden
- 4. Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Helsinki, Finland
- 5. Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
Description
Using satellite-based maps, Ceccherini et al. report abruptly increasing harvested area estimates in several EU26-countries beginning in 2015. They identify Finland and Sweden as countries with the largest harvest increases and the biggest potential effect on the EU’s climate policy strategy. Using more than 120,000 field reference observations to analyze the satellite-based map employed by Ceccherini et al. we found that the map’s ability to detect harvested areas abruptly increases after 2015. While the abrupt detected increase in harvest is merely an artifact, Ceccherini et al. interpret this difference as an indicator of increasing intensity in forest management and harvesting practice.
Ceccherini, G. et al. Abrupt increase in harvested forest area over Europe after 2015. Nature 583, 72-77 (2020).
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