The Rubber Juggernaut
Abstract
Rubber plantations are expanding rapidly throughout montane mainland Southeast Asia (1–3). More than 500,000 ha may have been converted already in the uplands of China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar (see the figure, panel A). By 2050, the area of land dedicated to rubber and other diversified farming systems could more than double or triple, largely by replacing lands now occupied by evergreen broadleaf trees and swidden-related secondary vegetation (2). What are the environmental consequences of this conversion of vast landscapes to rubber?
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References and Notes
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Science
Volume 324 | Issue 5930
22 May 2009
22 May 2009
Copyright
Copyright © 2009, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Submission history
Published in print: 22 May 2009
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by NASA grants NNG04GH59G and NNX08AL90G and by APN grant ARCP2006-0GNMY. We acknowledge the contributions of M. Guardiola- Claramonte, T. W. Giambelluca, J. B. Vogler, P. Troch, and J. Sturgeon.
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