Connectivity dynamics of Araucaria forest and grassland surrounding Passo Fundo National Forest, southern Brazil

Land Use and Environmental Zoning of Mixed Ombrophilous Forests for Sustainable Use (Irati National Forest, Brazil Southern Region)

“…The anthropic class occupies 22.1% of the zone (1,015 ha) with the predominance of forestry (708.6 ha), followed by agriculture (210.9 ha), and bare soil (95.5 ha). These results are quite different from those reported in other studies, which show a prevalence in terms of anthropic use (Scariot et al 2015). The natural land uses (grass capoeira, native forest, and wetland) make up a perimeter extension with the same use restrictions in place for the Irati National Forest.…”

Dinâmica de habitats na região subtropical da América do Sul: determinantes socioeconômicos e padrões de paisagem em um ecótono floresta-campo

“…At the same time agricultural activity expanded from the west, Mixed and Semideciduous Atlantic Forests also expanded in the Upland and Slope physiographic regions of the studied landscape. This result is an exception to the global trend of subtropical forest loss to forestry (Hansen et al, 2013) but agrees with regional findings (Cordeiro and Hasenack, 2009;Hendges et al, 2012;Scariot et al, 2015). It may seem contradictory with the grassland destruction by agricultural expansion we also registered.…”

“…The fact that the majority of grassland destruction we found took place from 1984 to 1994 corresponds to the expansion of the agricultural frontier in this period (Mantelli, 2006), which suffered a halt in the first years of the 21 th century (Rio Grande do Sul, 2012). It is worth noting that the grassland habitat destruction trend found here may have continued in more recent years, because the agricultural production regained strength after 2005 (Rio Grande do Sul, 2012; but see Scariot et al, 2015).…”

“…In recent decades, the Brazilian agricultural production suffered a marked increase (Mantelli, 2006), mainly due to increased production of annual cultures through both agricultural expansion and increased productivity (Overbeck et al, 2007). Accordingly, this agricultural expansion has been accompanied by native habitat loss (Cordeiro and Hasenack, 2009) and redistribution in southern South American landscapes (Baldi and Paruelo, 2008;Hansen et al, 2013;Hendges et al, 2012;Scariot et al, 2015). Given the complexity of the interaction between human activities and native ecosystem distribution across landscapes, it is of paramount importance to gain detailed knowledge on the spatial patterns of both habitat destruction and remnant vegetation distribution (Fischer and Lindenmayer, 2007).…”

“…The Pampa grasslands biological diversity is differentiated along moisture/microtopographic gradients (Focht and Pillar, 2003), and hence grassland loss should affect distinct sets of species depending on the spatial distribution of land conversion. Forested areas, on the other hand, seem to have expanded (Duarte et al, 2006;Hansen et al, 2013;Hendges et al, 2012;Scariot et al, 2015), possibly for socioeconomic reasons related to rural exodus and ageing smallholder rural populations (Schneider, 1994). Up to now, land use changes in southern Brazil have been poorly documented compared to other regions of Brazil, and the socioeconomic drivers of these changes have scarcely been investigated (see Naumov, 2005 for a general review).In the transitional forestgrassland region of southern Brazil (northern Rio Grande do Sul), small-scale family agriculture concentrates on beans, manioc, pork, and chicken production, and coexists with extensive business agriculture concentrated on soy, corn, tobacco, wheat, and cattle ranching (Rio Grande do Sul, 2012).…”