Após um século de intensas produções agropecuárias, baseadas na monocultura do café, pecuária bovina extensiva e intenso ciclo madeireiro, as florestas do município de São Roque do Canaã se restringiram a pequenos fragmentos isolados, rodeados por ambientes não florestados. Mediante tal constatação, objetivou-se realizar o levantamento da cobertura florestal e caracterizar os fragmentos florestais localizados em São Roque do Canaã/ES utilizando métricas de ecologia de paisagem com uso de Sistema de Informação Geográfica (SIG), atrelado a uma análise ambiental desses fragmentos. Tais objetivos foram alcançados através da quantidade e frequência de classe de tamanhos dos fragmentos, Índice de Diversidade de Patton (DI), Índice de circularidade (C) e o Índice Perimetral (IP). Com base nos resultados, concluímos que o município possui 17,6% de sua área coberta por florestas, sendo que deste total, 67,7% possui área inferior a 3 ha e 91,8% possuem área inferior a 15 ha. Por meio do mapeamento dos fragmentos florestais, verificamos que os fragmentos tendem para formatos irregulares com bordas dentadas, correspondendo a 49% do total. Cerca de 76% dos fragmentos tendem para formatos alongados e isolados, o que contribui para a perda de biodiversidade. Conclui-se que a vegetação florestal remanescente encontra-se fragmentada e a maioria dos fragmentos florestais observados apresentam tamanho considerado insatisfatório para manter a estabilidade e a autossustentabilidade ambiental. Evaluation of the Size and Shape of Forest Fragments Using Landscape Metrics for the Municipality of São Roque do Canaã, Northwest of Espírito Santo State A B S T R A C TAfter a century of intense coffee monoculture-based agricultural production, extensive cattle ranching and intense timber cycle, the forest cover of São Roque do Canaã (ES) were reduced to small, isolated fragments surrounded by non-forested environments. From this observation, this paper aims carrying out a survey of the forest cover and characterize the forest fragments located in São Roque do Canaã by metrics of landscape ecology approach, using the Geographic Information System (GIS) linked to the environmental analysis of the fragments. Main data was obtained by calculating the quantity and frequency of the size class of the fragments, Patton's Diversity Index (DI), Circularity Index (C) and the Perimeter Index (IP). We concluded that the municipality has 17.6% of its area covered by forests, of which 91.8% is 15 ha or smaller, and 67.7% is lesser than 3 ha. The fragments tend to irregular shapes with jagged edges, with a tendency to elongated shapes, characteristics that foster the deleterious consequences of the edge effect. In conclusion, the remaining forest vegetation is highly fragmented, mainly composed by very small and isolated fragments, which is considered unsatisfactory to maintain stability and environmental self-sustainability. Actions to recover vegetation, such as the implementation of ecological corridors, the creation of conservation units and agroforestry production systems are recommended ways to increase the percentage of forests in São Roque do Canaã.Keywords: Fragmentation, landscape ecology, edge effect, biodiversity, deforestation.
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