Full text
| |
| Author(s): |
Luciana Cavalcanti Maia Santos
Total Authors: 1
|
| Document type: | Master's Dissertation |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Eletrotécnica e Energia (IEE/BT) |
| Defense date: | 2010-03-26 |
| Examining board members: |
Yara Schaeffer Novelli;
Sueli Angelo Furlan;
Cláudia Câmara do Vale
|
| Advisor: | Yara Schaeffer Novelli; Marília Cunha Lignon |
| Abstract | |
The estuarine system of the São Francisco River, the coastal zone of Sergipe State, Northeast Brazil is a region with large areas of mangrove despite they are strongly pressured by human activities. This study performed an environmental assessment of mangrove areas of the São Francisco River Estuary, considering the hierarchical levels: setting (landscape), stand (landscape unit) and site (plot or tree), adapted from the framework proposed by Schaeffer-Novelli et al. (2000, 2005). Satellite images and digital colour aerial photographs of the study area were processed in GIS and a land use and cover map was produced for 2008. Ground-truth was performed and characteristics of vegetation composition and structure were recorded. Currently 93% (179 km2) of the coastal zone in question is occupied by natural vegetation: mangrove (30 km2, 16%), apicum (1.4 km2, 0.7%) and sand coast plain (14 Km2 , 77%), while 7% (13.56 km2) is occupied by disturbed areas: aquaculture (4.6 km2, 2.4%) and coconut and rice plantations (9 km2, 4.7%). Mangroves have been pressured by different land uses for at least 40 years. Now the land use for aquaculture (mainly shrimp farms) and coconut and rice plantations occupy 25% of the total area of mangrove, which may indicate that ¼ of mangroves have been changed or converted to man-made uses. These results show that the conservation status of mangroves in the study area is vulnerable, requiring a coastal management plan which considers as priority the preservation of mangroves before the expansion of aquaculture, management of local activities to consider the carrying capacity of the mangrove ecosystem and water bodies and the security of local populations in the face of changes generated by intense erosion in the region of the mouth of the São Francisco River. (AU) | |