Caracterização da dinâmica e biomassa de hotspots mundiais para conservação

Abstract

The natural forests provide habitat to a great diversity of animal and plant species, and for that, are of importance in social, environmental, and economic aspects. Over the last decades, ecosystems fragmentation has increased due to urbanization, industrialization, human pressures, deforestation, and unsustainable use of natural resources. The environments' fragmentation into small forest patches has led to a loss of biodiversity and extinction of rare and endemic species. In addition to anthropic pressures, extreme climate events have also been identified as potential risk in forest growth and structure. Overall, global hotspots such as the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado play vital roles in providing ecosystem services and conserving the environment. Therefore, our study aims to evaluate tree dynamics, biomass, and their respective drivers in areas of the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado in southeastern Brazil. First, we carried out a characterization of an Atlantic Forest remnant over a 30-year measurement interval. We calculated the aboveground biomass, basal area, and analyzed the forest structure and composition. Then, we used optical and radar sensors' products, including texture parameters, to predict the aboveground biomass in an Atlantic Forest remnant. Finally, we used terrain, soil and climate variables to model the pattern of vegetation dynamics rates in Cerrado areas. Our results showed remote sensing data as good predictors of aboveground biomass in the Atlantic Forest area. Furthermore, texture parameters derived from optical and radar data, while considering the region climatic seasonality, allow inferring as the vegetation status. Also, our findings indicate that tree community dynamics in Cerrado areas are mainly driven by terrain variables. These areas tend to show a greater gain in number of individuals and basal area depending on water availability. The world's hotspots have great relevance in the conservation of biodiversity and providing ecosystem services. Thus, understanding the pattern, structures and biomass of these areas provides insights to the elaboration of conservation and maintenance strategies for these environments.