CARBON STOCK IN FRAGMENTS OF THE BRAZILIAN ATLANTIC FOREST THROUGH VEGETATION INDEXES

Abstract

Today, the fragmentation of the Atlantic Forest represents a limiting factor for the survival of several species and for the maintenance of the biodiversity and functionality of this ecosystem. Despite this, the Atlantic Forest has a great capacity for resilience and carbon stock, which justifies its successive self-regeneration and vigor. Understanding this ability to stockpile carbon is extremely important to assist in the conservation actions of forest remnants. In this perspective, the spectral calculation of CO2Flux translates the integration of the photochemical reflectance index (PRI and SPRI) that spectrally reproduces the efficiency of the use of light in photosynthesis and in turn the NDVI that spectrally describes the vigor of the vegetation synthetically active. One circumstance to be considered is that the CO2Flux methodology is not destructive, that is, it is not necessary to cut trees to estimate aspects related to carbon stock. In addition to the bibliographic research, to perform the spectral calculation methodology of CO2Flux, images of the Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 Satellite scans of the years 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 of the Environmental Protection Area of Guadalupe, in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, were acquired, and through these was calculated the Vegetation Indexes: NDVI, PRI and SPRI and finally the CO2Flux thus translating the carbon stock on site. The results of the calculations can be seen through the maps and graphs, generated in the QuantumGis software and Statistical Language R, the potential of the Carbon Stock for the Guadalupe EPA in the years 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2020 corresponding to an area of 30231ha, 30876ha, 29515ha, 29997ha and 28811ha - respectively. Thus showing not only the carbon stock on site and effectiveness of the CO2Flux methodology to estimate the carbon stock, but also showing the increase in deforestation of the Atlantic Forest as a consequence of disordered urban occupation and selective deforestation. It is concluded the indispensability of making use of the methodology of spectral calculation of Carbon Stock and also of technologies such as Remote Sensing with the purpose of quantifying carbon sequestration from vegetation indexes in the Atlantic Forest, not only in the EPA of Guadalupe-PE as in all the native vegetation of the Preserved Atlantic Forest Biome of Brazil and the world.