Ilhas de matas úmidas em meio ao semiárido: mapeamento dos brejos de altitude e avaliação do desmatamento e do uso e ocupação do solo

Abstract

The Caatinga Domain has a remarkable richness of species that are adapted to the water deficit regime. Despite the deciduous nature of the Caatinga vegetation, humid enclaves occur at its boundaries, which are biogeographically linked to the Atlantic Forest. These enclaves, called 'Brejos de Altitude' (Highland Wetlands), are exceptional areas within the semi-arid context of the Caatinga, present in the states of Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, and Pernambuco. These areas are intensely impacted by agriculture, hunting, urban expansion, extractivism, and the potential impacts of climate change, posing threats to soil biodiversity and ecosystem services. Therefore, these environments require more attention regarding research, aiming to understand their distribution as well as land occupation and use dynamics. Thus, the present study aimed to map the humid forests through NDVI, extracted from Landsat 8 satellite images, from 2013 to 2023, for the months of July to December, within the Caatinga biome. The partial results of the vegetation mapping showed an area of approximately 24,798.12 km² of humid forests, with intense fragmentation observed in many regions of the ecosystem. This highlights the importance of mapping the humid forests, given the need for greater recognition of these areas of incomparable beauty and richness. The evaluation of conservation in these areas revealed that only 4,379.39 km² are protected by Conservation Units, but only 616.42 km² are of the Integral Protection type. Regarding land use and occupation, it was observed that there has been rapid growth in crops such as coffee. Finally, the present research provided an initial approach to mapping the Brejos de Altitude for the Caatinga. However, these areas remain unrecognized and poorly protected by conservation units. Thus, it is crucial to increase the number of protection units and conduct more research on these vegetation islands.