Characterization of Soil Attributes in Trails for Public Use on the Coast of Serra da Bocaina National Park (RJ)

Abstract

Water erosion promotes soil loss, especially in humid tropical areas. Its attributes allow inferring areas that are degraded. The use of trails, especially in Conservation Units, can maintain environmental conservation or cause degradation. Therefore, its intensive and disorderly use, without planning and management, compromises the ecosystem balance and triggers erosive processes. Therefore, this research analyzed the effects of trampling public use trails on the coast of Serra da Bocaina National Park (PNSB), in the municipality of Paraty (RJ), through the collection and analysis of physical-chemical attributes of the soil. It was found that the attributes were directly related to trampling caused by tourist visits, such as porosity, soil density, texture and organic matter contents. Finally, the need for interventions in these attributes to reduce or control soil degradation, such as compaction and erosion processes, was highlighted.