Land Changes Fostering Atlantic Forest Transition in Brazil: Evidence from the Paraíba Valley

Abstract

The Atlantic Forest biome has only 13 percent of its pristine vegetation cover left. This article analyzes the consequences of land changes on forest cover in the Paraíba Valley, São Paulo state, Brazil, from 1985 to 2011. Multitemporal satellite image classifications were carried out to map eight land use and land cover classes. The forest cover increased from 2,696 km² in 1985 to 4,704 km² in 2011, mostly over areas of degraded pastures. The highest rates of afforestation were observed within protected areas around eucalyptus plantations. On the other hand, deforestation processes were concentrated on areas covered by secondary forests. Socioeconomic changes taking place in particular Brazilian settings, such as industrialization and agricultural modernization, allied to the Paraíba Valley's natural biophysical constraints for agricultural production, have led the region to experience a remarkable case of forest transition.

大西洋森林生物群落，仅存有原始植被覆盖的百分之十三。本文分析巴西圣保罗的帕拉伊巴河谷自 1985 年至 2011 年间，森林植被的土地变迁之后果。本文进行多时相卫星影像分类，以绘製八种土地使用和土地植被的类别。森林植被自 1985 年的两千六百九十六平方公里，增加至 2011 年的四千七百零四平方公里，且多半是在退化的放牧地区中。最高比例的造林，是在尤加利树植栽附近的保育地区中被发现。另一方面而言，森林砍伐过程则集中于由原始次生林所覆盖的区域中。在特定的巴西脉络中发生的社会经济变迁，例如工业化和农业现代化，结合帕拉伊巴河谷之于农业生产的自然生物物理限制，导致了该区域经历了可观的森林变迁案例。

Solamente queda en pie el 13 por ciento de la cubierta de vegetación prístina en el bioma del Bosque Atlántico. Este artículo analiza las consecuencias de los cambios de la tierra sobre la cubierta boscosa del Valle de Paraíba, en el estado de São Paulo, Brasil, de 1985 a 2011. Se efectuaron clasificaciones de imágenes satelitales multitemporales para cartografiar ocho clases de uso del suelo y cobertura de la tierra. La cobertura boscosa se incrementó de 2.696 km² en 1985 a 4.704 km² en 2011, principalmente sobre áreas de pasturas deterioradas. Las tasas más altas de reforestación se observaron dentro de áreas protegidas alrededor de plantaciones de eucaliptos. Por otra parte, los procesos de deforestación se concentraron en áreas cubiertas con bosques secundarios. Los cambios socioeconómicos que están dándose en ciertos escenarios brasileños, tales como industrialización y modernización agrícola, sumados a los limitantes biofísicos naturales para la producción agrícola en el Valle de Paraíba, han llevado la región a experimentar un notable caso de transición forestal.

Key Words:

• land abandonment
• Landsat
• regional environmental change
• secondary succession
• socioeconomic changes

关键词:

• 土地退耕，土地使用卫星影像，区域环境变迁，次生演替，社会经济变迁。

Palabras clave:

• abandono de la tierra
• Landsat
• cambio ambiental regional
• sucesión secundaria
• cambios socioeconómicos

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Dr. Samuel W. Murphy (University of Campinas) and Dr. Michael Keller (U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service) for help with final revisions. The opinions expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the authors.

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge the funding support by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) process number 2011/13568-0 and 2013/09243-3. We also acknowledge the help and support provided by the Center for Environmental Studies (NEPAM/UNICAMP), EMBRAPA (Brazilian Corporation for Agricultural Research), and the Center for Global Change and Earth Observations (Michigan State University).

Notes

¹ Municipal Agricultural Production: Systematic rural census addressed to rural properties in the Brazilian countryside every year since 1990. See http://www.sidra.ibge.gov.br/bda/pesquisas/pam/default.asp?o=28&i=P (last accessed 8    July 2015).

² Municipal Cattle Survey: Systematic rural census addressed to rural properties in the Brazilian countryside every year since 1974. See http://www.sidra.ibge.gov.br/bda/pesquisas/ppm/default.asp?o=27&i=P (last accessed 8 July 2015).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ramon Felipe Bicudo da Silva

RAMON FELIPE BICUDO DA SILVA is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Environmental Studies and Research, University of Campinas, Brazil, Campinas, SP 13083–867, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include land use/cover change, remote sensing, human interaction with the environment, and environmental science.

Mateus Batistella

MATEUS BATISTELLA is a reearcher at EMBRAPA, Brazilian Corporation for Agricultural Research, Campinas, SP 13070–115, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]. He works with geotechnologies, landscape ecology, and land change, coordinating projects in distinct Brazilian sites.

Emilio Federico Moran

EMILIO FEDERICO MORAN is John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823. E-mail: [email protected]. His research addressed broader issues of human interaction with the environment under conditions of environmental change.

Dengsheng Lu

DENGSHENG LU is a Professor at the Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include land-use/cover change, biomass/carbon estimation, land degradation evaluation, human–environment interaction, and urban impervious surface mapping.