Understanding patterns of land-cover change in the Brazilian Cerrado from 2000 to 2015 (original) (raw)
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Understanding patterns of landcover change in the Brazilian Cerrado from 2000 to 2015 Mário
2016
Clearing tropical vegetation impacts biodiversity, the provision of ecosystem services, and thus ultimately human welfare. We quantified changes in land cover from 2000 to 2015 across the Cerrado biome of northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. We assessed the potential biophysical and socio-economic drivers of the loss of Cerrado, natural regeneration and net cover change at the municipality level. Further, we evaluated correlations between these land change variables and indicators of human welfare. We detected extensive landcover changes in the study area, with the conversion of 23 446 km and the natural regeneration of 13 926 km, resulting in a net loss of 9520 km. The annual net loss (21.2% per year) of the cover of Cerrado is higher than that reported for the whole biome in similar periods. We argue that environmental and economic variables interact to underpin rates of conversion of Cerrado, most severely affecting more humid Cerrado lowlands. While rates of Cerrado regeneration...
Land Use Policy, 2008
The Brazilian Cerrado, a biodiverse savanna ecoregion covering $1.8 million km 2 south and east of the Amazon rainforest, is in rapid decline because of the expansion of modern agriculture. Previous studies of Cerrado land-use and land-cover (LULC) change imply spatial homogeneity, report widely varying rates of land conversion, use ambiguous LULC categories, and generally do not attempt to validate results. This study addresses this gap in the literature by analyzing moderate-resolution, multi-spectral satellite remote sensing data from 1986 to 2002 in two regions with identical underlying drivers. Unsupervised classification by the ISODATA algorithm indicates that Cerrado was converted to agro-pastoral land covers in 31% (3646 km 2 ) of the study region in western Bahia and 24% (3011 km 2 ) of the eastern Mato Grosso study region, while nearly 40% (4688 km 2 and 5217 km 2 , respectively) of each study region remained unchanged. Although aggregate land change is similar, large and contiguous fragments persist in western Bahia, while smaller fragments remain in eastern Mato Grosso. These findings are considered in the current context of Cerrado land-use policy, which is dominated by the conservation set-aside and command-control policy models. The spatial characteristics of Cerrado remnants create considerable obstacles to implement the models; an alternative approach, informed by countryside biogeography, may encourage collaboration between state officials and farmer-landowners toward conservation land-use policies. r
Journal of Agricultural Science, 2019
This work investigates the spatial-temporal dynamics of land use and vegetation covers in a conservation area of Cerrado, in the county of Currais, Piauí, in which the economy depends on large agricultural projects. We used maps of a 32-year time series (1985 to 2017) of land use and cover provided by the Brazilian Annual Land Use and Land Cover Mapping Project (MapBiomas). We assessed six classes of land uses and vegetation covers: forest, savanna, grassland, agriculture/pasture, non-vegetated area, and water bodies. There was a fast increase in pressure on natural ecosystems from 1985 and 2017, primarily from 2000. The land use for agriculture and pasture increased from 0.26% (726.93 ha) in 2000 to 16% (50,772.63 ha) in 2017. During this period, the native vegetation decreased 15.90%, with savannas suffering the largest loss in hectares of vegetation (41,663.73 ha), followed by the forests (9,837.35 ha). The grassland cover, non-vegetated area, and water bodies remained unchanged....
Spatial heterogeneity, land use and conservation in the cerrado region of Brazil
Aim This paper presents a spatial classification of the environmental and ecological diversity of the cerrado region of Brazil, as well as an appraisal of the levels of conversion to agriculture and of the extent of land protection. Location The cerrado region of Brazil, located in the centre of Brazil, occupies c. 2.5 million square kilometres. Our study area represents roughly 85% of the total. This ecologically heterogeneous region is dominated by savannas, but also contains several types of forests and xerophytic communities that often form mosaics with the savannas. Its high biodiversity is seriously threatened by the accelerated process of conversion to agriculture and a deficiency in the extent and the representativeness of protected areas. Methods We selected 124 land systems from a previous study of the lowlands of South America. The maps were digitized and 41 parameters, where environmental information was available, were used to build a matrix. A cluster analysis was then performed and the results used to classify the land systems into units at two scales. The larger units, characterized by the dominant landform and vegetation, were considered as landscape units. Within each of these, smaller units called ecological units were defined by the physiognomy and phenology of the dominant vegetation, topography and drainage. Using GIS, we mapped the resulting ecological units and incorporated the information on land use from the municipal agricultural census of 1996. In addition, data on the extent of protected land units was used to assess the status of land protection in each ecological unit. Results Five landscape units and 15 ecological units were identified, mapped and explained. These units were not continuous but were represented by disjunct patches located in different parts of the study region. Brief descriptions are given including the geographical locations and dominant ecological features. They also include the extent of land conversion to agriculture (1996 census figures) in each of the various patches as well as the number and area of units of conservation. Main conclusions The high level of land conversion to agriculture is a major threat to the conservation of the remarkable biodiversity of the cerrado region. This, together with the poor status of land protection, represents the major environmental problem facing this region. However, the fact that areas with similar general ecological conditions have a disjunct distribution is important for conservation purposes, even though the details of floristic similarities and biogeographic influences have still to be worked out. Our detailed spatial classification has made this disjunction clearly apparent and has allowed us to map ecologically similar areas accurately. This allows the evaluation of the status of these areas in terms of land use and land protection and may be used in the design of conservation strategies.
Land Use and Cover Changes in Brazilian Biomes between 1985 and 2018
Revista Brasileira de Geografia Física, 2024
In the last decades, there have been changes in land use and cover in the Brazilian territory, many resulting from anthropic activities. However, these changes impact the environmental system, compromising biodiversity and ecological services. In this context, integrative geographic information about environmental changes in the Biomes allows the identification of the main Spatio-temporal changes in land use and cover and can contribute to efficient environment planning. Thus, this paper proposes to describe and synthesize the Spatio-temporal changes in Brazilian Biomes between 1985-2018 using spatial statistics techniques and Principal Component Analysis with data from the MapBiomas project. It has employed the Google Earth Engine and QGIS for the analysis, with emphasis on spatial statistics and Principal Components Analysis which enabled the identification of the main changes in land use and cover. From the Principal Components Analysis, it was possible to reduce the data set with 34 images to two Principal Components that represent significant percentages of the variance of the original database. The results showed that the Brazilian Biomes had undergone significant changes over 34 years. The main vectors that drove these transformations were anthropic activities, such as urban growth, the advancement of agriculture, and cattle ranching in the countryside. Amazon and Cerrado present the largest area altered in square kilometers. And the fastest changes occurred on Amazon, Cerrado, and Pantanal. This work presents a synthesis of the main patterns and spatial-temporal changes in the use and cover of Brazilian Biomes, which can assist in the national environmental planning.
Applied Geography, 2014
Expansion of agricultural lands have shaped Brazilian Cerrado landscapes in recent decades; however, the environmental consequences of these transformations are still poorly assessed. This paper presents a multidisciplinary approach used to assess historical land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes and their impacts on the environment in southeast Mato Grosso State, a region where the Cerrado has been intensively converted into agricultural lands. The methodology encompassed three main stages: (1) quantifying LULC changes using remote sensing data, (2) assessing LULC change impacts on vulnerable lands (e.g. erosion prone areas and wetlands), and (3) summarizing preceding information into key environmental indicators, assessed within the Pressure-State-Response framework (PSR) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The results indicated a drastic landscape transformation in the selected area, which evolved from predominantly vegetated to a consolidated agricultural region. Crops expanded at high rates from 1985 to 1995, occupying the majority of the lands suited for agriculture. In the following decade, crops continued to expand and encroached into fragile environments (e.g. wetlands and more erodible soils). As a result, from 1985 to 2005, the area lost approximately 42% of its natural vegetation and erosion risks increased significantly. Our integration of land-use change information with intrinsic environmental vulnerabilities allowed a deeper understanding of LULC changes consequences and provided environmental indicators. This offered a synoptic view of how LULC changes occurred and how they affected the environment at a landscape scale. Furthermore, the assessment of the indicators using the PSR framework, helped to clarify causeeeffect relationships thus furnishing key information of value to decision-makers and future comparisons with other areas.
Human development and biodiversity conservation in Brazilian Cerrado
Applied Geography, 2007
We evaluated how different variables reflecting human occupation in Brazilian Cerrado are correlated with diversity patterns and which one could be the best indicator of conflicts between biodiversity conservation and socio-economic development across the region. A spatially corrected multiple regression of anuran species richness against axes derived from a principal component analysis summarizing 23 socioeconomic variables was performed. Species richness was positively correlated with the first two principal components, expressing patterns of modern agriculture and cattle ranching, respectively, but not with the third component, expressing human population size. Thus, human population density is not the best indicator of conflicts and, consequently, other socioeconomic variables should be considered to minimize costs when establishing regional programs for conservation planning in Brazilian Cerrado. r
Analysis of Land Cover Changes of a Cerrado (Tropical Savanna) Area in the Centre-West of Brazil
Anuário do Instituto de Geociências - UFRJ, 2016
Resumo O objetivo do presente trabalho foi produzir uma análise multitemporal da cobertura do solo em uma área no centro-oeste do Brasil, em duas diferentes épocas, em 1966 e 2001, utilizando uma imagem de satélite e uma carta topográfica em ambiente SIG (Sistema de Informações Geográficas). A carta de cobertura do solo de 1966 foi obtida pela vetorialização da carta topográfica SE-22-Y-A-V (IBGE), enquanto que a carta de cobertura do solo de 2001 foi obtida através de uma classificação automática supervisionada da imagem do satélite Landsat 7 ETM+ órbita/ponto 224/073 de agosto de 2001. A análise mostrou as alterações da cobertura natural para antrópica. Em 1966, a cobertura natural representava 90% ou mais da área estudada (principalmente por cerrado sentido restrito e formações florestais), enquanto que em 2001, a cobertura natural havia diminuído para 24%, sendo substituída principalmente por áreas de agricultura e pasto.
Analysis of land-use and land-cover changes in the Primavera do Leste Region, Mato Grosso, Brazil
The State of Mato Grosso (MT) in Brazil has experienced a rapid process of land cover conversion in recent decades, which is still poorly documented. Accurate information on land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes have crucial importance as they can greatly contribute to the understanding of impacts on the environment and the pursuing of a sustainable management of natural resources. The aim of this paper is to map historical LULC changes in the southeast part of the MT State (Primavera do Leste region), where the Cerrado (Brazilian savannas) has been intensively converted into agricultural land uses (crops/pasture). The methodology employed consists of a supervised classification approach for LULC mapping and a post-classification change detection technique for quantifying the changes. The results indicated an important loss of natural vegetation in the period from 1985 to 2005, with 45 % (7075 km 2) of the Cerrado vegetation converted to agricultural land-uses.
Science of The Total Environment
Land use and cover change (LUCC) in Brazil encompass a complex interplay of diverse factors across different biomes. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for informed decision-making and sustainable land management. In this study, we comprehensively analyzed LUCC patterns and drivers using 30 m resolution MapBiomas Collection 6.0 data (1985-2020). By mapping deforestation of primary and secondary natural vegetation, natural vegetation regeneration, and transitions between pasture, soybean, agriculture, and irrigation, we shed light on the intricate nature of LUCC in Brazil. Our findings highlight significant and increasing trends of deforestation in primary vegetation in the country. Simultaneously, the Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, Pampa, and other regions of the Cerrado have experienced intensification processes. Notably, the pasture area in Brazil reached its peak in 2006 and has since witnessed a gradual replacement by soybean and other crops. While pasture-driven deforestation persists in most biomes, the net pasture area has only increased in the Amazon and Pantanal, decreasing in other biomes due to the conversion of pasturelands to intensive cropping in other regions. Our analysis further reveals that primary and secondary vegetation deforestation accounts for a substantial portion of overall forest loss, with