The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems

James E.M. Watson; Tom Evans; Oscar Venter; Brooke Williams; Ayesha Tulloch; Claire Stewart; Ian Thompson; Justina C. Ray; Kris Murray; Alvaro Salazar; Clive McAlpine; Peter Potapov; Joe Walston; John G. Robinson; Michael Painter; David Wilkie; Christopher Filardi; William F. Laurance; Richard A. Houghton; Sean Maxwell; Hedley Grantham; Cristián Samper; Stephanie Wang; Lars Laestadius; Rebecca K. Runting; Gustavo A. Silva-Chávez; Jamison Ervin; David Lindenmayer

doi:10.1038/s41559-018-0490-x

The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems

James E.M. Watson^*, Tom Evans, Oscar Venter, Brooke Williams, Ayesha Tulloch, Claire Stewart, Ian Thompson, Justina C. Ray, Kris Murray, Alvaro Salazar, Clive McAlpine, Peter Potapov, Joe Walston, John G. Robinson, Michael Painter, David Wilkie, Christopher Filardi, William F. Laurance, Richard A. Houghton, Sean MaxwellHedley Grantham, Cristián Samper, Stephanie Wang, Lars Laestadius, Rebecca K. Runting, Gustavo A. Silva-Chávez, Jamison Ervin, David Lindenmayer

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

817 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

As the terrestrial human footprint continues to expand, the amount of native forest that is free from significant damaging human activities is in precipitous decline. There is emerging evidence that the remaining intact forest supports an exceptional confluence of globally significant environmental values relative to degraded forests, including imperilled biodiversity, carbon sequestration and storage, water provision, indigenous culture and the maintenance of human health. Here we argue that maintaining and, where possible, restoring the integrity of dwindling intact forests is an urgent priority for current global efforts to halt the ongoing biodiversity crisis, slow rapid climate change and achieve sustainability goals. Retaining the integrity of intact forest ecosystems should be a central component of proactive global and national environmental strategies, alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and promoting reforestation.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	599-610
Number of pages	12
Journal	Nature Ecology and Evolution
Volume	2
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0490-x
Publication status	Published - 1 Apr 2018

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Watson, J. E. M., Evans, T., Venter, O., Williams, B., Tulloch, A., Stewart, C., Thompson, I., Ray, J. C., Murray, K., Salazar, A., McAlpine, C., Potapov, P., Walston, J., Robinson, J. G., Painter, M., Wilkie, D., Filardi, C., Laurance, W. F., Houghton, R. A., ... Lindenmayer, D. (2018). The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2(4), 599-610. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0490-x

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title = "The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems",

abstract = "As the terrestrial human footprint continues to expand, the amount of native forest that is free from significant damaging human activities is in precipitous decline. There is emerging evidence that the remaining intact forest supports an exceptional confluence of globally significant environmental values relative to degraded forests, including imperilled biodiversity, carbon sequestration and storage, water provision, indigenous culture and the maintenance of human health. Here we argue that maintaining and, where possible, restoring the integrity of dwindling intact forests is an urgent priority for current global efforts to halt the ongoing biodiversity crisis, slow rapid climate change and achieve sustainability goals. Retaining the integrity of intact forest ecosystems should be a central component of proactive global and national environmental strategies, alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and promoting reforestation.",

author = "Watson, {James E.M.} and Tom Evans and Oscar Venter and Brooke Williams and Ayesha Tulloch and Claire Stewart and Ian Thompson and Ray, {Justina C.} and Kris Murray and Alvaro Salazar and Clive McAlpine and Peter Potapov and Joe Walston and Robinson, {John G.} and Michael Painter and David Wilkie and Christopher Filardi and Laurance, {William F.} and Houghton, {Richard A.} and Sean Maxwell and Hedley Grantham and Cristi{\'a}n Samper and Stephanie Wang and Lars Laestadius and Runting, {Rebecca K.} and Silva-Ch{\'a}vez, {Gustavo A.} and Jamison Ervin and David Lindenmayer",

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doi = "10.1038/s41559-018-0490-x",

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Watson, JEM, Evans, T, Venter, O, Williams, B, Tulloch, A, Stewart, C, Thompson, I, Ray, JC, Murray, K, Salazar, A, McAlpine, C, Potapov, P, Walston, J, Robinson, JG, Painter, M, Wilkie, D, Filardi, C, Laurance, WF, Houghton, RA, Maxwell, S, Grantham, H, Samper, C, Wang, S, Laestadius, L, Runting, RK, Silva-Chávez, GA, Ervin, J & Lindenmayer, D 2018, 'The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems', Nature Ecology and Evolution, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 599-610. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-018-0490-x

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AU - Watson, James E.M.

AU - Evans, Tom

AU - Venter, Oscar

AU - Williams, Brooke

AU - Tulloch, Ayesha

AU - Stewart, Claire

AU - Thompson, Ian

AU - Ray, Justina C.

AU - Murray, Kris

AU - Salazar, Alvaro

AU - McAlpine, Clive

AU - Potapov, Peter

AU - Walston, Joe

AU - Robinson, John G.

AU - Painter, Michael

AU - Wilkie, David

AU - Filardi, Christopher

AU - Laurance, William F.

AU - Houghton, Richard A.

AU - Maxwell, Sean

AU - Grantham, Hedley

AU - Samper, Cristián

AU - Wang, Stephanie

AU - Laestadius, Lars

AU - Runting, Rebecca K.

AU - Silva-Chávez, Gustavo A.

AU - Ervin, Jamison

AU - Lindenmayer, David

PY - 2018/4/1

Y1 - 2018/4/1

N2 - As the terrestrial human footprint continues to expand, the amount of native forest that is free from significant damaging human activities is in precipitous decline. There is emerging evidence that the remaining intact forest supports an exceptional confluence of globally significant environmental values relative to degraded forests, including imperilled biodiversity, carbon sequestration and storage, water provision, indigenous culture and the maintenance of human health. Here we argue that maintaining and, where possible, restoring the integrity of dwindling intact forests is an urgent priority for current global efforts to halt the ongoing biodiversity crisis, slow rapid climate change and achieve sustainability goals. Retaining the integrity of intact forest ecosystems should be a central component of proactive global and national environmental strategies, alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and promoting reforestation.

AB - As the terrestrial human footprint continues to expand, the amount of native forest that is free from significant damaging human activities is in precipitous decline. There is emerging evidence that the remaining intact forest supports an exceptional confluence of globally significant environmental values relative to degraded forests, including imperilled biodiversity, carbon sequestration and storage, water provision, indigenous culture and the maintenance of human health. Here we argue that maintaining and, where possible, restoring the integrity of dwindling intact forests is an urgent priority for current global efforts to halt the ongoing biodiversity crisis, slow rapid climate change and achieve sustainability goals. Retaining the integrity of intact forest ecosystems should be a central component of proactive global and national environmental strategies, alongside current efforts aimed at halting deforestation and promoting reforestation.

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DO - 10.1038/s41559-018-0490-x

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EP - 610

JO - Nature Ecology and Evolution

JF - Nature Ecology and Evolution

IS - 4

ER -

The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems

Abstract

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