Introducing the R package frontiermetrics: how does deforestation progress in space and time?

Deforestation frontiers drive major biodiversity loss, carbon emissions, and ecosystem degradation, yet how they unfold in space and time remains poorly understood despite better remote sensing data.

frontiermetrics is a new R package that derives a consistent, robust set of metrics to characterize the deforestation process for ecological and conservation research.

It calculates eight frontier metrics, measuring speed, severity, and spatio-temporal patterns, through a flexible, standardized, repeatable workflow.

Two case studies demonstrate its potential: comparing frontier impacts across tropical regions with Global Forest Watch data, and providing insights into protected-area effectiveness with user-derived time series of forest loss.

By standardizing frontier monitoring, frontiermetrics supports evidence-based conservation planning and robust comparisons of deforestation trends across regions.

See the full paper here: Huais, P. Y., Buchadas, A., Lacerda, E., Nori, J., Baumann, M. and Kuemmerle, T. (2026), frontiermetrics: An R Package for Characterizing Deforestation Frontiers. Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation, 2026; 0:1–9.