THE INFLUENCE OF HIGHWAY BR 262 ON THE LOSS OF CERRADO VEGETATION COVER IN SOUTHWESTERN BRAZIL

Resumo

The effects of a highway extend beyond the axis of the road, within regions with variable dimensions depending on the variables tested, called as “road effect zones”. These limits can vary according to the landscape and in areas where human occupation is more intense, especially where settlements are formed along the roads, there is an accelerated rhythm of environmental degradation through destructive exploitation. Currently, only 35% of the Cerrado biome remains unchanged for the Brazilian remnants, and the southwestern part of the biome most suffers from deforestation. During the decade of the '80s, in State of Mato Grosso do Sul, there was a high rate of colonization, and as a result, vast areas of native vegetation were replaced by agricultural lands such as cash crops and pasture. The objective of this study is to estimate the evolution of deforestation in the cerrado within a road zone effect of 200 km on highway BR 262, between Campo Grande and Miranda (Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil). The effects were evaluated by using temporal and spatial analysis with geotechnologies techniques and remote sensing data. Our hypotheses were that there is a continuous evolution of deforestation since the 1980s, and that deforestation is more intense near the highway. The study area comprises 9 km (divided in three different distances) for each side of the road. This road begins in Brazil's central highlands and extends into the Pantanal, an environmentally important area. Based on satellite images from 1985 and 2001 we could estimate a 32.6% loss of Cerrado along the highway, representing a 2.04% annual loss of Cerrado. In addition, we found that the road impacts the distribution of vegetation cover, with pasture growing near the road, and forest cover growing further away. The roads are considered an accelerating factor to habitat degradation.