Episodic changes in global forest edges in the 21st century
Abstract
Seventy percent of global forests lie within 1 km of an edge, yet their temporal dynamics remain poorly characterized. By developing the high spatial-resolution (0.00025°) global forest edge maps for 2000-2020, we find a 24 million km (7%) decline in edge length. During 2015-2020, edge length falls while forest area slightly grows, driven by patch merging in temperate/boreal regions and tropical fragmentation. In contrast, countries such as Laos, Liberia, India, and China gain edges from new forest patches. These episodic changes closely track policy-driven land management, including logging bans, agricultural expansion, and reforestation. Given forest edges' critical roles in biodiversity and microclimate regulation, our results highlight contrasting biome patterns and the need for adaptive policies balancing conservation, carbon storage, and land use.
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BibTeX
@article{you2026episodic,
title = {{Episodic changes in global forest edges in the 21st century}},
author = {Hangkai You and Fujiang Ji and Taejin Park and Volker C. Radeloff and George Hurtt and Minhui Jiang and Min Chen},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-78347-6},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78347-6},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Episodic changes in global forest edges in the 21st century
AU - Hangkai You
AU - Fujiang Ji
AU - Taejin Park
AU - Volker C. Radeloff
AU - George Hurtt
AU - Minhui Jiang
AU - Min Chen
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-78347-6
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78347-6
AB - Seventy percent of global forests lie within 1 km of an edge, yet their temporal dynamics remain poorly characterized. By developing the high spatial-resolution (0.00025°) global forest edge maps for 2000-2020, we find a 24 million km (7%) decline in edge length. During 2015-2020, edge length falls while forest area slightly grows, driven by patch merging in temperate/boreal regions and tropical fragmentation. In contrast, countries such as Laos, Liberia, India, and China gain edges from new forest patches. These episodic changes closely track policy-driven land management, including logging bans, agricultural expansion, and reforestation. Given forest edges' critical roles in biodiversity and microclimate regulation, our results highlight contrasting biome patterns and the need for adaptive policies balancing conservation, carbon storage, and land use.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -