Multivariate analyses usual to ecology can be easily applied in other environmental sciences, making available new analytical tools for the quantitative exploration of complex patterns. We exemplify this through a study of the relations among demographic variables and environmental quality in the Piracicaba and Capivari River Basins. Demographic vectors were found by a principal coordinates analysis, and then were correlated with variables of sanitation and of vegetation cover. This analysis revealed the structure of correlations among the variables, suggesting causative hypotheses, as well as practical guidelines in environmental management. Multivariate analyses are very effective in exploring structural links among many variables, which makes them an important tool in interdisciplinary studies on environment.
multivariate analyses; ecology; environmental sciences
