(UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE STEPS OF THE DEFORESTATION AND SECONDARY VEGETATION MODULE:

Suppression of forest and natural non-forest vegetation and secondary vegetation

1. The land cover and land use maps in Collection 10 were filtered to not allow transitions between natural and anthropized vegetation with an area smaller than half a hectare.

2. Considering the 1985 map as the baseline for the start of the algorithm execution (with the years 1985 and 1986 as confirmation), the deforestation and secondary vegetation events are established by analyzing the trajectory of each pixel according to the criteria below:

Supression t =	VN t-2
	VN t-1
	A t
	A t+1
Secondary vegetation t =	A t-2
	A t-1
	VN t
	VN t+1
	VN t+2

Where VN corresponds to any vegetation class (Grassland Formation, Flooded Field and Wetland Area, Other Non-Forest Formation, Forest Formation, Savanna Formation, Mangrove), The corresponds to any Anthropogenic Use class (Agriculture, Planted Forest, Pasture, Mining, Aquaculture, Urban Infrastructure, Other Non-Vegetated Areas) and t = 1987,…, 2022.

3. Based on the analysis of the trajectory over the time series, the algorithm allocates each pixel in one of the classes established for the product (see color palette at the end of the document):

Class.	Description	Value
Anthropic	Indicates permanence in any class of Anthropic Use since the base year or trajectories with Primary Veg Suppression event or Secondary Veg event in previous years.	1
Indicates Deforestation event, in a given year t, in a pixel previously allocated in the Veg class. Primary, after which the pixel is allocated in the Anthropic class (in t + 1).	Indicates absence of deforestation event: permanence since the base year in one or more classes of Natural Vegetation or transition to class of Anthropic Use with permanence in this class for a period shorter than established (item 2.)	2
Secondary Veg.	Indicates trajectory with the presence of a Recovery for Secondary Veg event in previous years.	3
Primary Veg. Suppression	Indicates Deforestation event, in a given year t, in a pixel previously allocated in the Secondary Veg class, after which the pixel is allocated in the Anthropic class (em t+1).	4
Recovery for Secondary Veg.	Indicates a Secondary Vegetation event in a given year t, after which the pixel is allocated to the Secondary Veg class (em t+1).	5
Secondary Veg. Suppression	Indicates Deforestation event, in a given year t, in a pixel previously allocated in the Secondary Veg class, after which the pixel is allocated in the Anthropic class (em t+1).	6
Ruído	Classes não consideradas na dinâmica de vegetação (ex: água)	7

For further details about the deforestation and secondary vegetation module method, access this ATBD appendix. ATBD appendix.

For Collection 10:

• The year of the last deforestation is 2024. For this year, since it is not possible to have the following year for confirmation, a rule was applied using 2021, 2022, and 2023 as natural and a loss greater than values of 1 to 3 hectares. This value varies according to the biome and is documented in the ATBDs for each biome.

• The last year of recovery for Secondary Vegetation is 2022, because it needs to be confirmed in 2023 and 2024. In 2023 and 2024 there is only Suppression of Secondary Vegetation.

Regarding the Age of Secondary Vegetation

The age of secondary vegetation is estimated from the first year in which a regenerating area begins to show a pattern compatible with native vegetation in the MapBiomas classification — that is, when the observed response (for example, in forest formations, the increase in canopy cover) approaches the expected pattern for native vegetation in that biome and region.

The age, therefore, represents how many years the area has remained classified as secondary vegetation (Secondary Vegetation – class 3 and above) since that first year of classification as “natural in regeneration” (Recovery to Secondary Vegetation – class 5 and above), and not necessarily since the beginning of the ecological recovery process.

The role of the land use mosaic class (class 21) in some biomes

In the Caatinga, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, and Pampa biomes, part of the Land Use Mosaic class (class 21) may represent a transition period between an anthropogenic class (frequently pasture) and a regenerating natural class. It is common for an area to remain in this intermediate condition for 2 to 7 years: it no longer exhibits the typical spectral response of pasture, but has not yet reached the expected pattern of native vegetation.

The age is still calculated from the year in which the area reaches the native vegetation pattern (and becomes classified as secondary vegetation). Even so, the number of years previously classified as a Land Use Mosaic can be an indicator of the beginning of the regeneration process, although it does not directly factor into the age calculation.

Direct transition in biomes without the mosaic class.

In the Amazon and Pantanal biomes, where the Land Use Mosaic class is not present, the transition tends to be more direct, changing from an anthropogenic class (commonly pasture) to a natural class from one year to the next.

This implies that:

• The pasture class may include areas in early stages of regeneration (when they still spectrally resemble pasture); and
• The natural class may include areas in the final stages of recovery, still showing possible signs of degradation, but already compatible with the spectral pattern of native vegetation.