Proximate Population Factors and Deforestation in Tropical Agricultural Frontiers
Carr, D.L.
Population and Environment 25(6): 585-612
2004
ISSN/ISBN: 0199-0039 PMID: 19672475 DOI: 10.1023/b:poen.0000039066.05666.8dDocument Number: 238615
Forest conversion for agriculture expansion is the most salient signature of human occupation of the earth's land surface. Although population growth and deforestation are significantly associated at the global and regional scales, evidence for population links to deforestation at micro-scales-where people are actually clearing0020forests-is scant. Much of the planet's forest elimination is proceeding along tropical agricultural frontiers. This article examines the evolution of thought on population-environment theories relevant to deforestation in tropical agricultural frontiers. Four primary ways by which population dynamics interact with frontier forest conversion are examined: population density, fertility, and household demographic composition, and in-migration.