Degradação ambiental no alto curso do rio Piancó, estado da Paraíba

Abstract

Society-nature interactions and their development over historical time transform the theoreticalconceptual and methodological paths of Science. Currently, it is vital for society to propose environmental diagnoses that consider the environment as a whole. In this context, this investigation aims to evaluate the historical process of deforestation and its environmental consequences in the upper reaches of the Piancó River. From the correlation between the history of land use and occupation and the application of the SAVI Vegetation Index in understanding the vegetation suppression process in the study area, it was verified the occurrence of deforestation, above all, for agriculture and livestock purposes, production of charcoal and firewood, opening of roads and extraction of sand. These social practices caused transformations in the landscape that, therefore, indicate changes in natural dynamics. Thus, based on the selection of 9 representative stretches in the Alto Piancó basin, the occurrence of erosion processes resulting from deforestation was identified as indicators of environmental degradation, such as: accelerated superficial linear erosion with the formation of furrows and ravines, erosion laminar, and subsurface linear erosion by gully rocking with formation of erosive tunnels.