Abstract
The Atlantic Forest is highly anthropized, this reduce the areas of native vegetation and impacts the biodiversity of the biome. The objective of this study is to analyze forest remnants with native vegetation characteristics using a free GIS. This analysis takes place using landscape metrics and was based on the supervised vectorization of land use in the municipality of California, PR. The area of the vectored polygons was obtained and a classified, and then the calculation was made with the nearest neighbor index, mean distance observed, Patton diversity index and the perimeter/area ratio of forest fragments. The results show that most of the fragments have an area smaller than 1 ha, the fragments with more significant area (<50 ha) represent more than 16% of the native vegetation area. The small fragments are important to maintain the connectivity, since the withdrawal of these increases the mean distance observed and nearest neighbor index. Most of the fragments are elongated and amorphous in accordance with the perimeter/area ratio and the Patton diversity index respectively, this may demonstrate the fragments may be subject to edge effects. Even with these characteristics, these fragments may be part of what is planned in public policy for preservation in the Atlantic Forest in the state of Paraná. Therefore, even small fragments with little core area are important for maintaining biodiversity, especially in a highly anthropogenic landscape
Highlights
The change of land used for human exploitation implies the reduction of natural areas, making these areas restricted to small stretches of land (Tomadon, Dettke, Caxambu, Ferreira, & Couto, 2019; Ferreira, Bragion, Ferreira, Benedito, & Couto, 2019)
The present study aims to investigate the context of the size and distance of Atlantic Forest fragments in a city (California – Paraná State) in Southern Brazil and the relevance of small forest fragments for connectivity of forest remnants, for this were analyzed the shape of these fragments and how they can be part of what is planned in the actions of public policies of preservation
In order to analyze the variations of the Observed Mean Distance (OMD) and Nearest Neighborhood Index (NNI) when the minimum area of the fragments is altered, the first thing to be done was to determine the values with all the polygons, after this, calculations were made with the removal of polygons that represent forest fragments with an area of less than 1 ha
Summary
The change of land used for human exploitation implies the reduction of natural areas, making these areas restricted to small stretches of land (Tomadon, Dettke, Caxambu, Ferreira, & Couto, 2019; Ferreira, Bragion, Ferreira, Benedito, & Couto, 2019). E. Cerrado) and the Atlantic Forest and they are classified as a biodiversity hotspot, since they have a high degree of endemism and are widely anthropized. Cerrado) and the Atlantic Forest and they are classified as a biodiversity hotspot, since they have a high degree of endemism and are widely anthropized This means that any fragment, even if very small and isolated, may be the only one suitable for certain species (Myers, Mittermeier, Mittermeier, Fonseca, & Kent, 2000; Campanili & Schaffer, 2010)
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