Mapping of suceptible areas to environmental fragility in the upper Sao Francisco river basin, National Park of Serra da Canastra

Author(s)

Cassiano Gustavo Messias

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Geociências
• Defense date: 2014-12-08

Examining board members

Marcos César Ferreira; Ailton Luchiari; Andréia Medinilha Pancher

• Advisor: Marcos César Ferreira

Abstract

Rural landscapes have been continually transformed by human occupation, mainly due to technical adjustments required for the development of agriculture. In general, these anthropogenic changes are directly linked to the use of natural resources as inputs into agricultural production. The resources most impacted by this mode of production are the vegetation and soil. Among the manners of assessing the degree of landscape vulnerability is the environmental fragility mapping. This research aimed to assess the degree of environmental vulnerability of different areas located within the Serra da Canastra National Park, located in southwestern Minas Gerais. Created in 1972, the park has as main goal to preserve remaining natural ecosystems of the Brazilian Cerrado biome. The methodology for environmental fragility mapping, used in this work, is based on five geographic variables: vegetation index, probability of intense rainfall, slope terrain, roads and structural lineaments densities. These variables, mapped according to the Boolean logic, were processed in a geographic information system through spatial analysis techniques and transformed in fuzzy probabilistic variables. The fuzzy maps were combined by means of algorithm based on a weighted sum, generating the environmental fragility map of the National Park. The estimative of weights values of the five environmental variables was carried out comparing erosion-mass movement maps and the fragility map, using the D-value of Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Considering the evidence of erosion and mass movements, we concluded that the methodology is efficient for the identification and mapping of areas with the high degree of fragility in the park (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 12/07795-6 - Mapping of Susceptible Areas to Environmental Fragility in the Upper São Francisco River Basin, National Park of Serra da Canastra - MG
• Grantee: Cassiano Gustavo Messias
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master