The Role of Physical and Political Factors on the Conservation of Native Vegetation in the Brazilian Forest-Savanna Ecotone

Abstract

The Araguaia River Basin covers a considerable extent of Brazilian Savanna (locally called Cerrado) and part of Amazon Tropical Rainforest, embracing high biodiversity and a vast flooding area. This region has been converted to agricultural lands since 1970s, for the past four decades, leading to a fragmented landscape that holds one of the few large remaining blocks of Cerrado primary vegetation. Therefore, to assess the degree of preservation of this area a 2007 primary vegetation map was derived through Boolean operations using land use and land cover maps from 1975, 1985, 1996 and 2007, from digital classification of Landsat MSS and TM images. To evaluate the role of driving factors on the presence of pristine vegetation, a logistic regression analyses was performed. Tested factors were: distance from roads and cities, terrain slope, land tenure, soil fertility and flooding. We found statistical significant values (p < .05) showing that distance from roads and cities, the increase in slope, the presence of protected areas, indigenous lands, wetlands and areas with low fertility have positive influence on the presence and maintenance of these pristine areas. The occurrence of original vegetation in many cases is associated with environmental constraints that difficult or do not allow agricultural use. Analysis of physical and political factors, which may have direct or indirect influence on the conservation and degradation of native vegetation are very important for the comprehension of the dynamics of regional land use, and provide supporting information for a more efficient and sustainable regional landscape planning.

A snapshot of the limnological features in tropical floodplain lakes: the relative influence of climate and land use

“…Mostly the lakes in Tocantins state are best preserved. These lakes are close by indigenous areas and Bananal Island conservation unity, enabling greater protection of natural resources in the region (Sawakuchi et al, 2013). In addition, Tocantins has until this moment less deforestation rate, being one of the most preserved area in this study (Sano et al, 2010).…”

“…The Araguaia River is inserted in the large Tocantins-Araguaia basin, one of the largest watershed in Brazil. This basin presents the highest diversity of plants in the continent, with significant ecotone area between Brazilian Cerrado (savanna) and the Amazon forest biomes (Latrubesse & Steveaux, 2006;Morais et al, 2005;Sawakuchi et al, 2013). Tocantins -Araguaia basin drains rivers of several Brazilian States, with an area of 377,000 km 2 (Morais et al, 2005).…”

Avaliação Do Estado Trófico Do Rio Piracicaba E Sua Relação Com a Uhe – Sá Carvalho, Mg, Brasil

“…Ressalta-se a preponderância no uso de fertilizantes a base de nitrogênio que são aplicados incorretamente ao nível da realidade mundial. Como resultado, aproximadamente 60% do nitrogênio presente na constituição dos fertilizantes, não chega a ser incorporados pelas plantas, permanecendo biodisponível e circular nas zonas de raízes e então poluir rios, lagos, aquíferos e áreas costeiras através da eutrofização (Sawakuchi et al, 2013). AVALIAÇÃO DO ESTADO TRÓFICO DO RIO PIRACICABA E SUA RELAÇÃO COM A UHE -SÁ CARVALHO, MG, BRASIL aporte externo do nitrogênio, há algas com capacidade de fixar o nitrogênio atmosférico, que não teriam a sua concentração reduzida com a diminuição da carga afluente do nutriente.…”

Ecological Compensation: A Key to Sustainable Development in the Guizhou Province Karst Region, Southwest China

“…The population living in poverty totals 9.1 million, which is nearly a quarter of the population of the province and is oneseventh of the total poverty population of China (Huang et al, 2008). One of the reasons behind this high incidence of poverty is the over-exploitation of natural resources (Zhang et al, 2001), a problem also significant in other parts of the world, e.g., Bangladesh (Jashimuddin & Inoue, 2012), Brazil (Sawakuchi et al, 2013), and Burkina Faso (Thiombiano et al, 2013). Therefore, much research on ecological degradation and restoration of this region has been done in the last 30 years.…”