Burak Güneralp

TL;DR: S spatially explicit probabilistic forecasts of global urban land-cover change are developed and the direct impacts on biodiversity hotspots and tropical carbon biomass are explored to minimize global biodiversity and vegetation carbon losses.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors develop spatially explicit probabilistic forecasts of global urban land-cover change and explore the direct impacts on biodiversity hotspots and tropical carbon biomass, showing that urban land cover change threatens biodiversity and affects ecosystem productivity through loss of habitat, biomass, and carbon storage.

TL;DR: A meta-analysis of 326 studies that have used remotely sensed images to map urban land conversion suggests that contemporary urban expansion is related to a variety of factors difficult to observe comprehensively at the global level, including international capital flows, the informal economy, land use policy, and generalized transport costs.

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that projected urban area expansion will take place on some of the world’s most productive croplands, in particular in megaurban regions in Asia and Africa, which adds pressure to potentially strained future food systems and threatens livelihoods in vulnerable regions.