<b>Spatial dimension landscape metrics of Atlantic Forest remnants in Paraná State, Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Forest fragmentation may negatively impact fauna and flora. An important tool for the development and implementation of research on these effects is the use of a geographic information system (GIS). This paper aims to perform an integrated analysis of the landscape fragments that compose the Alonzo River watershed, Paraná State, by using remote sensing tools and landscape ecology metrics. The analyzed landscape metrics were Patton's index, total area of the patches, edge length, edge density, forest fragment density, and the core area of the patches. The results showed 888 forest patches with area values ranging from 0.15 ha to 2509.82 ha, and it represents 12.5% of the total forest land cover of the studied basin; this means that 85.3% of the forest patches are less than 50 ha and that 75% of those fragments have a Patton's index value of less than 3.9. The fragments that compose the studied area may be subject to edge effects and biodiversity loss as long as they present reduced areas and small core areas. Thus, the use of GIS and landscape ecology metrics is a quick and efficient way to evaluate the effect of fragmentation over large areas.Keywords: conservation; connectivity; GIS. Dimensões espaciais de métricas da paisagem de remanescentes da Mata Atlântica no Estado do Paraná, Brasil RESUMO.A fragmentação florestal pode exercer influências negativas sobre a fauna e da flora. Uma importante ferramenta para o desenvolvimento e aplicação de trabalhos sobre efeito da fragmentação florestal é o uso de Sistema de Informação Geográfica (SIG). Esta pesquisa objetivou analisar fragmentos que compõem a bacia hidrográfica do rio Alonzo no Estado do Paraná, usando ferramentas de geoprocessamento e métricas em ecologia de paisagem. As métricas analisadas foram o índice de Patton, área total dos fragmentos, comprimentos de borda, densidade de borda, densidade dos fragmentos florestais e área de núcleo dos fragmentos. Os resultados mostraram 888 fragmentos florestais com valores de área variando de 0,15 ha até 2.509,82 ha, o que representa 12,5% da cobertura vegetal total da bacia estudada, da qual 85,3% dos fragmentos possuem área inferior a 50 ha, e 75% com o índice de Patton inferior a 3,9. Os fragmentos que compõem a área de estudo estão sujeitos à influência do efeito de borda e perda de biodiversidade, pois apresentam reduzidas áreas e, consequentemente, menor área de núcleo. Dessa forma, o uso de SIG e métricas de ecologia de paisagem é uma forma rápida e eficiente de avaliação do efeito da fragmentação em grandes áreas.

Landscape metrics analysis of land use patterns and changes in suburban local government areas of Ibadan, Nigeria

“…Hence, the spatial arrangement and the underlying forces of settlement growth and development are important topics of analysis in urban studies (Aguilera et al 2011). Moreover, there is a revived attention of scholars on the expansion of cities into the neighbouring settlements (Ferreira et al 2018;Karg et al 2019).…”

“…In landscape analysis, spatial metrics are usually employed to detect landscape pattern and fragmentation (Dezhkam et al 2017). Therefore, they are used to analyse the structure or patches of an area with homogeneous thematic entities (Ferreira et al 2018). Also, they can be employed to quantify the spatial heterogeneity of patches of a common class (Kumar et al 2018).…”

Integrating Environmental, Geographical and Social Data to Assess Sustainability in Hydrographic Basins: The ESI Approach

“…Nevertheless, there is a predominance of agricultural areas in the HBGR, which can be mostly explained by its location within one of the largest centers of agribusiness in Latin America [46,47]. Agribusiness and a recent increase in urban infrastructure are responsible for the fragmentation and deforestation of the Atlantic rainforest in the western-central region of the Paraná state [46][47][48][49][50].…”

Prioriority actions maps of municipal public services with geospace application

“…The forest cover of the Campo Mourão comprises two phytophysiognomies of the Atlantic Forest -the Mixed Ombrophilous Forest and the Semideciduous Seasonal Forest -with enclaves the Brazilian Savanna. The expansion of intensive agriculture, agribusiness and urbanization are the main activities responsible for the reduction of natural areas (Ferreira et al, 2018;Ferreira, Bragion, Ferreira, Benedito, & Couto, 2019;Tomadon, Dettke, Caxambu, Ferreira, & Couto, 2019).…”