Migliavacca et al. (2026) Monitoring Europe’s forests in a changing climate

Identification

• Journal: Nature Geoscience
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-08-05
• Authors: Mirco Migliavacca, Alessandro Cescatti
• DOI: 10.1038/s41561-026-02037-7

Research Groups

• European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ispra, Italy

Short Summary

This article discusses the application of remote sensing to monitor accelerating biomass loss in European forests, emphasizing the ability to distinguish between harvesting and natural disturbances to inform climate policy.

Objective

• To evaluate the role of remote sensing in monitoring forest biomass loss and its importance for maintaining Europe's carbon sinks in the context of EU climate goals.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Europe
• Temporal Scale: Contemporary/Recent (context of a changing climate)

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Not specified (the text is a "News & Views" commentary on an analysis by Kowalski et al.)
• Data sources: Remote sensing data

Main Results

• Remote sensing data indicate an acceleration in biomass loss across European forests.
• These data allow for the differentiation between biomass loss resulting from anthropogenic harvesting and loss caused by natural disturbances.

Contributions

• Highlights the critical need for high-resolution monitoring of forest disturbances to refine forest management policies and ensure the efficacy of carbon sink strategies within the European Union.

Funding

• Not specified

Citation

@article{Migliavacca2026Monitoring,
  author = {Migliavacca, Mirco and Cescatti, Alessandro},
  title = {Monitoring Europe’s forests in a changing climate},
  journal = {Nature Geoscience},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1038/s41561-026-02037-7},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-026-02037-7}
}