The impact of forest conditions on water recycling across the Southwestern Amazon

The Southwestern Amazon is a region identified as critical to the maintenance of continental scale atmospheric moisture flows. Traditionally, most of the environmental research and policy have focused on Amazon deforestation, but yet little is known about how forest degradation affects hydrological variables in this region. Here, we used remote sensing and machine learning techniques to map forest disturbances (i.e., forest degradation and deforestation) across the SWA between 2000 and 2020. We then compared evapotranspiration (ET) statistics and trends between disturbed and undisturbed areas at watershed level, and also estimated ET as if there had been not forest disturbances. We demonstrate how disturbances that occurred in the last two decades have modified the spatiotemporal patterns of the amount of water recycled to the atmosphere through ET. As forest disturbances continue to spread in this region, the impacts on the water cycle should be quantified and plans for mitigation should be considered since local and regional indigenous and non-indigenous groups rely on the provisioning and regulating services provided by this humid, tropical forest.