The extent of forest in dryland biomes

Mapping the world's dry forests The extent of forest area in dryland habitats, which occupy more than 40% of Earth's land surface, is uncertain compared with that in other biomes. Bastin et al. provide a global estimate of forest extent in drylands, calculated from high-resolution satellite images covering more than 200,000 plots. Forests in drylands are much more extensive than previously reported and cover a total area similar to that of tropical rainforests or boreal forests. This increases estimates of global forest cover by at least 9%, a finding that will be important in estimating the terrestrial carbon sink. Science , this issue p. 635