Indicators of water quality in a payments for environmental services system. Case Study: Extrema - MG

Author(s)

César Piccirelli Santos

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Piracicaba.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC)
• Defense date: 2014-05-26

Examining board members

Plinio Barbosa de Camargo; Marcos Vinicius Folegatti; Raimundo Cosme de Oliveira Junior

• Advisor: Plinio Barbosa de Camargo

Abstract

This study aimed to find indicators through analysis of water quality parameters , which serve as a reference for evaluation of areas with conservation practices, derived from a system of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). The study area was implemented by the Municipality of Extrema , MG , in Ribeirão das Posses micro-basin during the structuring of the management plan of the municipality. This study was developed in partnership with non-governmental organization (NGO) The Nature Conservancy (TNC) of Brazil and the prefecture of Extrema, MG , and aimed to comparing reforested areas with different ages of plantation, forest fragments and agricultural areas improvements in analyzing the issues involving water quality. The water quality evaluations demonstrated that responses varied according to the time of implantation of the PES and vegetation indices in the drainage areas of each point and in relation to seasonality over the 22 collection campaigns . The results showed that among the evaluated parameters, the EC and the DIC presented themselves as potential water quality parameters that can be framed as indicators of change in terms of areas of PES. The results showed that the data analyzed during the development of the project indicates a significant influence of the presence of forest vegetation and the insulation surrounding the springs, to reduce the accumulation of sediments and nutrients caused by human actions and land use as well as seasonal effects presented in this study. The isolation the presence of the surrounding vegetation and its state of development reduces the effects caused by the entrainment of these nutrient sediments and organic loads and contribute to the conservation of water resources in the region. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/14887-1 - Water quality indicators in a system of payments for environment services: case study Extrema, MG
• Grantee: César Piccirelli Santos
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master