Abstract
Considering the intrinsic relationship between vegetation and conservation of water resources, we evaluated the natural vegetation of an Atlantic Forest fragment through landscape metrics and spectral vegetation indices, indicating ways for its conservation in the Una river basin, Ibiúna, São Paulo, Brazil. We analyzed landscape metrics and the extraction of mean altitude, slope, and distance from the drainage network for each fragment based on the vectors of forest fragments in the river basin, using ArcGis 10.3. Normalized difference vegetation indices, photochemical production, and carbon flux were estimated by combining red, green, blue, and infrared spectral bands near the RapidEye satellite image. The results showed 197 fragments with sizes ranging from 1 to 306 hectares and irregularly shaped. The largest fragments are few in number, but account for 52% of the river basin's vegetation cover area. The vegetation presented high levels of biomass but moderate photosynthetic production, coinciding for a moderate carbon flux. The best scores were related to fragments at higher altitudes, in sloping areas next to drainage sites. Actions to conserve the fragments of larger areas and draw up environmental awareness measures should be encouraged, since high agricultural vocation may incite the reduction of these areas to increase economic production.
Highlights
The growth of productive and urban areas, in addition to temperature fluctuations, water stress periods, and the overexploitation of natural resources have highlighted the severity of the potential decline of vegetation, while attention is drawn to the need to conserve it. (CHOAT et al, 2012)
The present study evaluates the spatial dynamics of the physical and spectral characteristics of Atlantic Forest fragments through landscape metrics, vegetation vigor indices, photosynthetic efficiency, and carbon flux, further indicating ways for the conservation of Atlantic Forest fragments in the Una river river basin, Ibiúna, São Paulo, Brazil
The occurrence of large amounts of small forest fragments has been common in Atlantic Forest landscapes and recorded in river basin areas, indicating that 40 to 50% of the territories are comprised by small fragments of vegetation due to economic growth, livestock expansion, logging, and introduction of exotic species (CALEGARI et al, 2010; BIZAMA et al, 2011; PIROVANI et al, 2014)
Summary
The growth of productive and urban areas, in addition to temperature fluctuations, water stress periods, and the overexploitation of natural resources have highlighted the severity of the potential decline of vegetation, while attention is drawn to the need to conserve it. (CHOAT et al, 2012). As river basins are considered both as basic planning units for environmental conservation and as systems where environmental and social elements are integrated, vegetated areas are highlighted in the study of these sites, especially in landscape behavior. In this context, vegetation has proved to be a fundamental aspect for the conservation of water areas, as it acts in the redistribution of rain, recharge of aquifers, formation of new humid atmospheric masses through interception by the forest canopy, percolation and storage of water in the soil, besides reducing erosion and attenuating flow rates and the effects of river eutrophication (TUNDISI, 2006; ÁVILA et al, 2014)
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