Assessment of potential surface degradation resulting from erosion processes in environmentally protected area

Abstract

Although erosion processes are considered natural phenomena, they are now a problem for environmental resources when soil loss rates exceed the natural levels of soil generation (Jorge & Guerra, 2013). In urban areas, one of the main problems related to the increased erosion processes is the possible destruction of community assets, resulting from geohazard events leading to necessary land use planning to prevent such problems (Camapum de Carvalho et al., 2006). The problem is even more severe since erosion processes are not restricted only to where erosion scars exist, but also to where materials are deposited, in some cases, for example, water bodies, possibly causing local siltation and pollution concentration. Guerra & Hoffmann (2006) discuss studies in several Brazilian locations degraded by several surface erosion types (gullies), mainly caused by deforestation, lack of urban planning, absence of storm water drains and no drainage elements, or by poor design. According to Camapum de Carvalho et al. (2006), some places in Maranhão state evidence severe erosion phenomena, especially ravines in the Bacanga river basin (Coeduc, Batatã, Gapara, Itaqui, Maracanã, Posto, Sacavém, Torre and Vila Maranhão), aggravated by high urbanization rate and the physical, chemical and environmental characteristics of the basin. In the satellite towns of Ceilândia (DF) and Jardim Ingá (GO), by the end of the 1980s, erosion had destroyed towns and damaged roads. Soil erosion depends on the active forces of rainfall and slope characteristics, and or by intrinsic factors linked to the soil and vegetation density (Bertoni & Lombardi Neto, 1999). Disordered growth and inappropriate land use are the prime aggravating factors of erosion, major capitals and several other locations in Northeast Brazil, as has been observed in Ceará’s hinterland, where erosion processes occur in urban areas, roadsides and legally protected areas (Lafayette, 2006; Meira, 2008; Macedo, 2019). The purpose of this paper is to present a study of the potential soil erodibility of the Timbaúbas Municipal Nature Reserve in Juazeiro do Norte (CE), in support of the area’s rehabilitation project.