Forest coverage dynamics in the Serra da Mantiqueira between 1999 and 2017

Abstract

Despite its extensive native forest cover, land uses such as extensive pasture and forest cultivation are present in the Environmental Protection Area of the Serra da Mantiqueira (EPA-SM). Also noteworthy is the absence of a management plan, with a lack of environmental studies on its dynamics of land use and land cover. This paper aimed to evaluate the temporal variation of the forest cover for the EPA-SM, through Landsat-5/TM and Landsat-8/OLI orbital images classification and interpretation, between the years of 1999 and 2017. 1999 image was classified with a posterior manual actualization until 2017. Subsequently, landscape metrics were adopted to evaluate the fragmentation of native forests. As a result, an increase in forest cover (native and forest cultivation) was diagnosed by the expansion and emergence of new fragments, while the conversion of forests to other uses was low. In spite of this, native forests showed a reduction of their coverage percentage in relation to the total forest cover, and the landscape metrics showed fragmentation of the native forest. The significative number of new fragments of small extension may indicate, in certain cases, a positive prognosis for the class of native forest cover in growth, despite habitat fragmentation.