Geospatial assessment of eco-environmental changes in desertification area of the Brazilian semi-arid region

Earth sciences research journal

Santos, Celso A. G.¹  Marques da Silva, Richarde²  de Araújo Maranhão, Karinna Ugulino³ 

[1] Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Paraíba, Brazil;Federal University of Paraíba, Brazil;Paraíba State University, Brazil

关键词: Zoning;    soil management;    erosion;    semi-arid zone.;   

DOI  :  10.15446/esrj.v22n3.69904

学科分类：天文学(综合)

来源: Universidad Nacional de Colombia * Departamento de Geociencias

【 摘 要 】

Eco-environmental change prediction models are important decision tools for policy makers, as they help to quantify environmental sensitivity and to understand the relationship between human activities and environmental quality. Thus, this paper aims to analyze eco-environmental changes in Monteiro County, a semi-arid zone within northeastern Brazil between 1987 and 2010, by means of satellite images, geographic information system and global positioning system techniques, topographic map, climatic data and soil maps, as well as field survey. The resulting outputs were evaluated for their ability to accurately predict the most sensitive and least sensitive areas. The results showed that land cover changes have modified the environment in general and the land degradation and low soil loss processes were identified. The mean soil loss decreased from 9.67 t ha-1 yr-1 in 1987 to 2.67 t ha-1 yr-1 in 2010, as an effect of vegetation gain and particularly the conversion of thousands of square kilometers of Tropophile caatinga middle slope and barren land into Tropophile caatinga plain and Tropophile caatinga high strand. Thus, this study provides insight on territorial ordering and management of environmental services with a regional perspective.

【 授权许可】

CC BY