ResumoO Centro-Oeste brasileiro era extensivamente coberto por fitofisionomias de Savanas até o final da década de 1970, quando se iniciaram amplas transformações, devido à expansão da fronteira agrícola e modernização da agricultura, que promoveram desmatamento intensivo e rápido. A vegetação que resta hoje se encontra na forma de fragmentos, os quais podem sofrer vários efeitos que podem levar à diminuição ou desaparecimento de espécies. As mudanças ocorridas em uma paisagem podem ser estudadas pelos métodos da Ecologia da Paisagem, por meio da avaliação de índices ou métricas para caracterização quantitativa, permitindo também comparar paisagens, identificar diferenças e determinar relações entre os processos funcionais e os padrões dessas paisagens. O objetivo deste trabalho foi analisar a estrutura da paisagem na alta bacia do rio Araguaia, em cinco épocas (1977, 1989, 1997, 2002 e 2006) para avaliar o seu padrão de fragmentação ao longo do tempo após desmatamento intenso. Os resultados mostram que a metodologia utilizada foi satisfatória, a fragmentação revela notável taxa de conversão das fitofisionomias originais em favor de pastagem e agricultura e as métricas de área, área central, forma e isolamento, mostram que os fragmentos encontram-se sob forte ameaça em relação à sua integridade. Palavras-chave: Métricas da paisagem; Fragstats; fragmentação; integridade dos fragmentos. AbstractLandscape structure analysis of the upper Araguaia river basin in the brazilian savanna. The CentralWest region of Brazil was extensively covered by Savanna physiognomies at the end of 1970`s, when large transformations, due to expansion of agriculture frontier and agriculture modernization, promoted an intensive and fast deforestation. The vegetation that remains today is in the fragments form, which can suffer several effects that can lead to the decrease or disappearance of species. The changes that occurred in a landscape can be studied through the methods of Landscape Ecology, by evaluating the indices or metrics for quantitative characterization, allowing to compare landscapes, identify differences and determine relationships between the functional processes and the patterns of those landscapes. The objective of this paper was to analyze the structure of the landscape in the upper Araguaia river basin, in five years (1977, 1989, 1997, 2002 and 2006), to evaluate its pattern of fragmentation along the time, after the intensive deforestation. The results showed that the methodology used was satisfactory. The fragmentation revealed notable rate of conversion of the original physiognomies in pasture and agricultural lands and the metrics of the area, core area, shape and isolation of the natural classes showed that the fragments, in relation to its integrity, are under strong threat. Keywords: Landscape metrics; Fragstats; fragmentation; fragments integrity. INTRODUÇÃOO Centro-Oeste brasileiro se apresentava extensamente coberto por fitofisionomias de savanas até a década de 1970. Amplas transformações nas suas paisagen...

The increasing figures of natural disasters and related human and material losses represent a major challenge to be faced by the Brazilian government, the scientific community and civil society all together. Landslides and floods resulting from climatic extremes have been associated not only to global climatic changes, but mostly due to the increase of population vulnerability and the lack of effective mitigation actions. Core governmental responses to mitigate such losses include the creation of operational centers for disaster monitoring and management -Cemaden (National Early Warning and Monitoring Centre of Natural Disasters) and CENAD (Centro Nacional de Gerenciamento de Riscos e Desastres). The establishment of these institutions associated with investments to map risky areas are key to implement landslides and floods monitoring systems. Despite significant investments, the implementation of such natural disaster monitoring systems depend much on cooperative actions among organizations and entities from different sectors of the society. The main objective of this work is to present the challenges and perspectives of innovative digital ecosystems designed to effectively monitor, warn and respond to natural disasters related to landslides and floods in Brazil. The several methodologies adopted make use of technical, scientific and empirical knowledge to establish a rain gauge network of 1400 automatic pluviometers and 1100 semiautomatic pluviometers, distributed in more than 800 municipalities defined as priority ones by the Brazilian National Plan of Risk Management and Response to Natural Disasters. Pilot projects of landslides monitoring systems are also included in the methodology in key municipalities where the number of human losses has been significant in recent disasters. In order to develop such challenging methodologies, Cemaden has worked together with the Center for Information Technology Renato Archer (CTI), CENAD, a number of research institutions, the private sector, local and regional governments and non-governmental organizations as well as the civil society. The combination of different types of knowledge, technological approaches and levels of interaction to population under risk of such a variety of organizations shall configure a collective intelligence able to improve the efficiency and confidence of early warnings of landslides and floods, as well as to promote further commitment of local governments and communities to respond to warnings. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.3.4 [Information storage and retrieval]:Systems and software -current awareness systems (selective dissemination of information--SDI), information networks, performance evaluation (efficiency and effectiveness), question-answering (fact retrieval), user profiles and alerts systems.

This article addresses regional inequalities about critical healthcare infrastructure for coping with the COVID-19, based on geospatial analysis and compartmental modeling (SEIR). The study sites were the São Paulo Macro Metropolis (MMP) and the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba/Litoral Norte (RMVPLN). The results indicated the absence of ICU beds in more than 2/3 of the municipalities, in addition to the concentration in regional hubs, for which the migration of COVID-19 cases from neighboring municipalities should be considered. The analysis with the SEIR model, performed for scenarios with and without social isolation, showed that the isolation adopted in the regions was able to postpone the collapse of the health infrastructure, reducing the reproduction rate of the disease. The simulations indicated a reproduction rate of 0.95 in order to avoid collapse in the health infrastructure for RMVPLN in the analyzed period. In addition, for future resilience, it is essential to address inequalities in terms of health infrastructure available for public and private access.

Resumo A partir do conhecimento das áreas de risco de inundação urbana e do banco de dados do cadastro ambiental rural, que permite conhecer a localização das nascentes de cursos d’água, o artigo associa e avalia as áreas de risco e nascentes, propondo ações no âmbito das informações geradas. O estudo abrangeu 10 municípios da região do Vale do Paraíba, mapeados pelo Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas (IPT), com risco de inundação e a situação das nascentes (áreas preservadas, consolidadas e a serem recompostas). Os resultados revelaram, para os municípios avaliados, que 10.324 nascentes foram cadastradas e, para todos os municípios, a quantidade de áreas preservadas é superior em relação às consolidadas. Além disso, há carência de projeto de recomposição da vegetação em nascentes de cursos d’água causadores de inundação nos municípios estudados, mesmo após alterações no Código Florestal. Tais informações podem ser utilizadas para subsidiar instituições locais, que atuam na revegetação de áreas desmatadas, e iniciativas que visem à mitigação de risco de inundação das áreas avaliadas.

The São Paulo Macro Metropolis (SPMM) is one of the richest and most inequitable regions of the Global South and is already experiencing the impacts of severe climate events. This study analyzes climate risk assessments and policy responses for this territory as well as its vulnerabilities. The Index of Vulnerability to Natural Disasters related to Droughts in the Context of Climate Change (IVDNS—acronym in Portuguese) was used to identify and select the most vulnerable municipalities in the SPMM. Following vulnerability analysis, the municipalities were subjected to risk analysis in the context of existing Brazilian legislation. The results indicate that, despite having positive capacities to respond to climate change, the analyzed municipalities are far from advancing from the status quo or taking the actions that are necessary to face future challenges in a climate emergency scenario. The results indicate that, despite being the most vulnerable to droughts and natural disasters, the cities analyzed are not the most vulnerable in the São Paulo Macro Metropolis from a socio-economic point of view. On the contrary, these are regions that could have a strong institutional capacity to respond to present and future challenges.

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Abstract One of the benefits of forest and reforestation is linked to the erosion control and reduction of the amount of sediments suspended in water. This study proposes a methodology for Payments for Ecosystem Services associated to these benefits in 24 water supply watersheds, under influence of the Paraíba do Sul River Basin Environmental Protected Area, in Brazil. In order to estimate the water resources protection through the reforestation, the current scenario was compared to a hypothetical scenario, in which degraded pasture are replaced by forest. The avoided soil erosion could reach around 40t.ha-1.yr-1. Reforestation can avoid expenditures in water treatment, sludge disposal and dredging around USD 7.8 million per year. Annual values for PES range from USD 6 to 3,014 per hectare of reforested area. The results highlight the importance of valuing the benefits of the ecosystem services rescued.

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