Space dynamics of the landscape of the State Park of Jalapão (TO) from 2000 to 2015

Abstract

Landscape modification and habitat fragmentation have become major research topics. They are considered serious threats to biodiversity. The disturbance history of the area of Jalapão State Park (Parque Estadual do Jalapão - PEJ) was analysed given its characteristic as a Conservation Unit (CU) of integral protection inserted into the Cerrado biome. Thus, the objective of this research is to update the map of land use and cover of this CU and analyse the metrics that quantify habitat connectivity and fragmentation in the landscape ecologyfor 2015 based on the land use map for 2000. In order to plot the PEJ's 2015 map of land use, we used the scene 221/67 (orbit/point) of August 8, 2015, from the Landsat 8 satellite, OLI sensor, since it covered the entire study area and did not present cloud cover. In the digital image processing, radiometric correction, pre-classification, and association of classes of soil use were performed. Subsequently, a supervised classification was performed through visual interpretation. To verify map accuracy, the Kappa coefficient was calculated. Its value was 0.92. From the updated map, calculations of landscape ecology indexes were performed considering area, size, shape, border, and proximity of fragments. The procedures were performed using the software GIS ArcGIS 10.4 and the free extension Patch Analyst 5.2. Based on the maps of land use and cover, and indexes of landscape ecology, it is possible to verify that there were changes in the landscape. As for metrics, it can be concluded that the CU is fragmented (564 fragments) and has a high spatial heterogeneity, a complex form, and an irregular shape due to values of MPS, PSCoV and MSI.

Keywords:
Land use; Metrics; Conservation; Landscape Ecology