Theory 44/Millennia/Land use
Forest Loss Is Clearance Against Regrowth
The claim
Long-run forest cover is set by the ratio of clearance rate to regrowth rate, so a landscape cleared slowly can retain forest while one cleared quickly cannot.
01Mechanism
Cover is an equilibrium between removal and recovery; the ratio determines the steady state.
02Prediction
Cover should track the ratio.
03Refutation
Cover tracking total cleared area would remove regrowth.