Análise espaço-temporal do risco à desertificação no auto curso do Rio Paraíba/PB a partir das modificações na caatinga

Abstract

The desertification process is a kind of environmental degradation likely to happen in dry climates around the world, as a result ofthe existence of certain soil uses and the intensities with which they occur. This work aimed to accomplish the temporal especial analysis the risk to desertification in the Upper Paraíba River Course, taking as a parameter the changes made in the Caatinga. Analyses were made through satellite imagesof the LandSat series from the years 1989, 2005 and 2013, as well as phytosociological surveys in a preserved and a degraded areas, for the purpose of comparing diversity and dominant strata in the two current situations in the Cariri APA. The results showed a progressive increase in the area of very serious risk of desertification due to the decrease of vegetation cover, while the phytosociological analysis showed a markeddifference between the vegetation considered preserved and the degraded area.