A large increase in visitation has recently been observed in Brazilian protected areas. The presence of visitors can cause changes in the environment, generating certain unwanted impacts. Therefore, the objective of this study is to assess the visitation at Caparaó National Park, map the main trails open to the public, and determine their degree of degradation. To define the most relevant trails for this study, the following criteria were used: visitation demand, impact intensity, and zoning. The elevation profile and other physical attributes of the selected trails were obtained by GPS. Erosion was established as the predominant impact, and the length of eroded stretches on each trail was evaluated. The trail to Pico da Bandeira through Casa Queimada has a greater declivity, and, although it sees fewer visitors than the trail to Pico da Bandeira through Tronqueira, it shows a higher erosion rate. This result indicates that, in certain cases, the declivity can contribute more significantly to the increase in erosion than the number of visitors.
Forest fires, regardless of their causes, represent one of the greatest threats to biodiversity in Brazilian protected areas. Collecting data on the causes, periods, and sites with the highest occurrence of fires allows for the adoption of more effective prevention strategies. The aim of this study was to characterize forest fires in Brazilian federal protected areas from 2006 to 2012, thus contributing to improving the knowledge of the dynamics of fires in these areas. Data were obtained from Fire Occurrence Records (ROIs, in Portuguese) available in the National Fire Information System (SISFOGO, in Portuguese) database. The total number of records found was 2,259, of which 88.2% had reported causes. Among the records with a reported cause, 42.2% correspond to unknown causes, 26.7% to debris burning, and 18.5% to arson events, which shows that the majority of fires with a known cause are the result of accidental or intentional human action. Forest fires were more frequent from July to October, with a mean of 50.6 occurrences per year, influenced by the annual precipitation distribution. Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Ceará were the states with the highest number of records, with 19.8%, 15.5%, and 12.0%, respectively. Forest fires reported without any cause information or reported as unknown cause indicate, respectively, a poor use of the tool (ROI) or an unsatisfactory expertise in identifying the cause of the fire, resulting in an obstacle for planning actions to prevent and fight forest fires in protected areas.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.