Restoration and Conservation of Priority Areas of Caatinga’s Semi-Arid Forest Remnants Can Support Connectivity within an Agricultural Landscape

Abstract

Land-use and land-cover (LULC) changes are major drivers of biodiversity loss in semi-arid regions, such as the Caatinga biome located in the Northeast of Brazil. We investigated landscape dynamics and fragmentation in an area of the São Francisco Valley in the Brazilian Caatinga biome and measured the effect of these dynamics on ecological, functional and structural connectivity over a 33-year period (1985–2018). We calculated landscape connectivity indices based on graph theory to quantify the effect of further agricultural expansion on ecological connectivity at the landscape scale. We used a multicriteria decision analysis that integrates graph-based connectivity indices at the habitat patch scale, combined with an index of human disturbance to identify patches that, if conserved and restored, preserve the connectivity of the landscape most effectively. In the period studied, agriculture increased at a rate of 2104 ha/year, while native Caatinga vegetation decreased at a rate of 5203 ha/year. Both dense and open Caatinga became more fragmented, with the number of fragments increasing by 85.2% and 28.6%, respectively, whilst the average fragment size decreased by 84.8% and 6.1% for dense and open Caatinga, respectively. If agriculture patches were to expand by a 300 m buffer around each patch, the overall ecological connectivity could be reduced by 6–15%, depending on the species’ (small- to mid-size terrestrial vertebrates) mobility characteristics for which the connectivity indices were calculated. We provided explicit spatial connectivity and fragmentation information for the conservation and restoration of the Caatinga vegetation in the studied area. This information helps with conservation planning in this rapidly changing ecosystem.

Investigation of pre and post environmental impact of the lockdown (COVID-19) on the water quality of the Capibaribe and Tejipió rivers, Recife metropolitan region, Brazil

“…Changes in LULC are important aspects in the process of global environmental change due to their impacts on biodiversity, climate, food security, soil, and water quality, as well as human well-being ( Patel et al, 2013 ; Newbold et al, 2015 ; Song et al, 2018 ; Santos et al, 2020b ; Salazar et al, 2021 ; Silva et al, 2022 ). These changes reflected a long history of human resource utilization in the region under study.…”

“…It is important to note that this scarcity of forest fragments means the precariousness of environmental services in these areas ( Tran et al, 2015 ; Salazar et al, 2021 ). On the other hand, the preservation of forest fragments in riparian areas provides ecosystem services, such as protection against storms, serving as a physical barrier to reduce surface runoff and soil erosion ( Fang et al, 2012 ; Francisco et al, 2012 ; Santos et al, 2012; Jardim et al, 2017 ; Santos et al, 2020a , b , c ), and to improve water quality, since riparian vegetation acts as a biotic filter, preventing contaminant loads from agro-industrial effluents, due to economic activities at the direct vicinity of springs and water bodies ( Donato et al, 2012 ; Patel et al, 2013 ; Padonou et al, 2021 ).…”

Dynamic Modeling of Land Use and Coverage Changes in the Dryland Pernambuco, Brazil

“…Finally, while the approaches presented here help to draw relevant links between cause and effect of changing spatial points and ecological processes in tropical, dry forest landscapes, inferring complex and dynamic land-use processes is still tricky [39] because multiple processes may account for the same pattern and may change substantially because they are geographically structured [40]. To better understand the processes that drive the observed land-cover dynamics and use [36] recommended applying dynamic models based on site-specific factors.…”

Understanding Farmers’ Intention towards the Management and Conservation of Wetlands

“…Wetlands, with Land 2021, 10, 860 2 of 17 their numerous plants, animals, and microorganisms, play a crucial role in conserving global biodiversity. Their sustainable conservation and management can also play a key role in achieving 17 goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda of the United Nations and directly or indirectly contribute to the sustainability of 75 SDG indicators (out of 230) [6][7][8]. This means that the importance of wetlands has been emphasized in 75 indicators of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.…”

“…Wetlands are of great importance from ecological, economic, and socio-cultural perspectives. In the ecological dimension, with the conservation of aquatic wildlife, mammals, native and migratory bird species, resident amphibians, reptiles, and various species of insects [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9], wetlands are safe habitats for plants and animals [10,11] and thus help to preserve and develop biodiversity. Wetlands are natural filtration systems for runoffs and can improve water quality in an area [3].…”