Identifying areas susceptible to desertification in the Brazilian northeast

Identifying areas susceptible to desertification in the Brazilian northeast

Approximately 57% of the Brazilian northeast region is recognized as semi-arid land and has been undergoing intense land use processes in the last decades, which have resulted in severe degradation of its natural assets. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the areas that are suscep...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Solid earth (Göttingen) Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 347 - 360
Main Authors: Vieira, R. M. S. P, Tomasella, J, Alvalá, R. C. S, Sestini, M. F, Affonso, A. G, Rodriguez, D. A, Barbosa, A. A, Cunha, A. P. M. A, Valles, G. F, Crepani, E, de Oliveira, S. B. P, de Souza, M. S. B, Calil, P. M, de Carvalho, M. A, Valeriano, D. M, Campello, F. C. B, Santana, M. O
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Gottingen Copernicus GmbH 18-03-2015
Copernicus Publications
Subjects:
Arid lands
Arid regions
Arid zones
Biodiversity
Climate change
Decision making
Desertification
Earth science
Geology
Geomorphology
Hot spots (geology)
International organizations
Land cover
Land degradation
Land use
Land use planning
Livestock
Population density
Rural populations
Seasons
Semiarid lands
Socioeconomic factors
Soil
Soil erosion
Vegetation
Brazil
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Summary:Approximately 57% of the Brazilian northeast region is recognized as semi-arid land and has been undergoing intense land use processes in the last decades, which have resulted in severe degradation of its natural assets. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify the areas that are susceptible to desertification in this region based on the 11 influencing factors of desertification (pedology, geology, geomorphology, topography data, land use and land cover change, aridity index, livestock density, rural population density, fire hot spot density, human development index, conservation units) which were simulated for two different periods: 2000 and 2010. Each indicator were assigned weights ranging from 1 to 2 (representing the best and the worst conditions), representing classes indicating low, moderate and high susceptibility to desertification. The results indicate that 94% of the Brazilian northeast region is under moderate to high susceptibility to desertification. The areas that were susceptible to soil desertification increased by approximately 4.6% (83.4 km2) from 2000 to 2010. The implementation of the methodology provides the technical basis for decision-making that involves mitigating actions and the first comprehensive national assessment within the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification framework.
ISSN:1869-9529
1869-9510
1869-9529
DOI:10.5194/se-6-347-2015