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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">ISPRS-Archives</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">ISPRS-Archives</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">2194-9034</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIX-B4-2026-597-2026</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Ecuadorian Amazon Deforestation Hotspots Due to Oil Infrastructure Development in the 21&lt;sup&gt;st&lt;/sup&gt; Century</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>García-Romero</surname>
<given-names>José Agustín</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Chuizaca-Espinoza</surname>
<given-names>Isabel Adriana</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Velastegui-Montoya</surname>
<given-names>Andrés</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Carvalho Guimarães</surname>
<given-names>Yasmim</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>de Jesus da Silva</surname>
<given-names>Luciana das Dores</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Yépez-Rincón</surname>
<given-names>Fabiola D.</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5025-9967</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Rodriguez González</surname>
<given-names>Kevin</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Veja Aguilar</surname>
<given-names>Aylet</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1368-6788</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Faculty of Engineering in Earth Sciences, ESPOL Polytechnic University, Guayaquil, Ecuador</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Earth Observation and Geoinformatics Division, National Institute for Space Research (INPE), São José Dos Campos, Brazil</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Laboratory of Geoinformation and Remote Sensing, Faculty of Engineering in Earth Sciences, ESPOL Polytechnic University, Guayaquil, Ecuador</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Graduate Program in Natural Disasters (Unesp /CEMADEN), São José dos Campos, SP, Brazil</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>Departament of Aquatic Systems, Concepción University, Concepción, Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff6">
<label>6</label>
<addr-line>Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Department of Geomatics, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, México</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>04</day>
<month>08</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>XLIX-B4-2026</volume>
<fpage>597</fpage>
<lpage>603</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 José Agustín García-Romero et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLIX-B4-2026/597/2026/isprs-archives-XLIX-B4-2026-597-2026.html">This article is available from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLIX-B4-2026/597/2026/isprs-archives-XLIX-B4-2026-597-2026.html</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLIX-B4-2026/597/2026/isprs-archives-XLIX-B4-2026-597-2026.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://isprs-archives.copernicus.org/articles/XLIX-B4-2026/597/2026/isprs-archives-XLIX-B4-2026-597-2026.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>The Ecuadorian Amazon hosts remarkable biodiversity and cultural richness but faces increasing pressures from the expansion of oil-related activities. This study evaluated the distribution and concentration of deforestation hotspots between 2000 and 2023, analyzing their relationship with existing oil infrastructure and environmentally significant areas Land Use and Land Cover data from MapBiomas Ecuador were combined with Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) analyses based on the spatial distribution of oil blocks, pipelines, wells, and the limits of environmentally sensitive areas. The results indicate a net loss of 391,303 ha (4%) of forest cover, with 80% of the hotspots located within a 10 km radius of hydrocarbon infrastructure. However, intangible zones, protected areas, and water protection zones showed minimal impacts. The findings of this study provide technical evidence to support land-use management and conservation efforts in ecologically vulnerable Amazonian regions.</p>
</abstract>
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