Português Multitemporal dynamics of land cover and use in the State of Sergipe

Abstract

The multitemporal observation of changes in the landscape, which affect the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services, can support decision-making related to the conservation and management of natural resources. The present study carried out a temporal analysis of land use and cover in the state of Sergipe, evaluating the different factors driving this process between 1985-2020. The information related to land cover, classes of use and fire scars were obtained from the MapBiomas Project and consolidated in a database with agricultural information extracted from the IBGE Automatic Recovery System. The multiple linear regression analysis, carried out to evaluate the interrelationships between the different classes of use in MapBiomas, indicated that the “agricultural” class as the main driving force in the process of converting natural areas to anthropized areas (r2 = 0.99; p < 0.05), with a loss of about 40% of the forest class area in the state. The correlation analyses highlighted a significant relationship between the reduction of forest class and the increase of areas destined to the plantation of corn (r = -0.62) in Caatinga, and orange (r = -0.52) and coconut (r = -0.51) in Atlantic Forest. The intense advance of agricultural activities in what causes the loss of natural forest environments inflict serious threats to biological diversity. In addition to protecting forest natural environments, it is necessary to advance in initiatives for the recovery of degraded areas and forest regeneration, with the objective of mitigating impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services in the state of Sergipe.