Deforestation Dynamics on an Amazonian Peri-Urban Frontier: Simulating the Influence of the Rio Negro Bridge in Manaus, Brazil

Peri-urban expansion is an increasingly important source of tropical deforestation, and a bridge over the Rio Negro in Brazil’s state of Amazonas provides an unusual opportunity to quantify these impacts with clear “before” and “after” periods. Inaugurated in 2011, the bridge connects Manaus to forest areas on the right bank of the river, thus opening a new frontier for peri-urban expansion. We used the AGROECO model in the Dinamica-EGO software to simulate “Bridge” and “No-bridge” scenarios to evaluate the spatial dynamics of deforestation in the municipalities (counties) of Iranduba, Manacapuru and Novo Airão. Simulated deforestation between 2011 and 2030 for the study area as a whole was 106% higher with the bridge. The portion of the study area with expansion of roads had four times more deforestation in the Bridge scenario than in the No-bridge scenario. A change in the spatial distribution of the deforested area was detected, with an advance of deforestation in the municipality closest to the bridge. Deforestation also expanded in more distant regions. Peri-urbanization in the Bridge scenario demonstrates the possible increase in the spatial distribution of deforestation activity beyond the already-consolidated frontier, making the deforestation pattern more diffuse and leaving the remaining forest even more vulnerable. Impact of the bridge could further increase due to additional factors, such as the planned opening of a highway (BR-319) connecting Manaus to Brazil’s “arc of deforestation.”