Time Changes in Land use and Effect in the Vegetation of the Sobral National Forest, Ceará

Abstract

Knowing the soil cover, natural or not, makes society's interest in conserving the natural resources that a given territory can provide. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of time changes in land use on the vegetation of the Sobral National Forest, Ceará, due to the lack of an old Conservation Unit, little known and has no management plan. For this study, a bibliographic survey and analysis of soil use were carried out by means of remote sensing from 1990 to 2020. The analysis showed seven categories of land occupation: Riparian Forest, Caatinga of Crystalline, Degraded Field, Pasture, Mosaic of Agriculture and Pasture, Rocky Outcrops and Other Non-Vegetated Areas. The representation of the results in each category showed, mainly, that the Conservation Unit has been losing natural vegetation, where the lowest percentage of soil composed of Caatinga  of Crystalline corresponds to the most current period of the analysis, and riparian vegetation is mostly composed of the invasive species Cryptostegia madagascariensis, this, combined with other impacts, have been causing great damage to the local landscape. Therefore, it is observed that the study area requires better and more effective conservation.