Aderbal Gomes da Silva

Applying GIS to develop a model for forest fire risk: A case study in Espírito Santo, Brazil

A forest fire risk map is a basic element for planning and protecting forested areas. The main goal of this study was to develop a statistical model for preparing a forest fire risk map using GIS. Such model is based on assigning weights to nine variables divided into two classes: physical factors of the site (terrain slope, land-use/occupation, proximity to roads, terrain orientation, and altitude) and climatic factors (precipitation, temperature, water deficit, and evapotranspiration). In regions where the climate is different from the conditions of this study, the model will require an adjustment of the variables weights according to the local climate. The study area, Espírito Santo State, exhibited approximately 3.81% low risk, 21.18% moderate risk, 30.10% high risk, 41.50% very high risk, and 3.40% extreme risk of forest fire. The areas classified as high risk, very high and extreme, contemplated a total of 78.92% of heat spots.

Análise espacial de fragmentos florestais na Bacia do Rio Itapemirim, ES

The objectives of this study were to map and analyze the structure of forest landscape in a representative area of Itapemirim river basin, ES, through indexes of landscape ecology. The mapping of forest fragments was obtained using image interpretation techniques on a scale of 1:1500 of the ortho-image-mosaic of the year 2007. For the ecology metrics calculation, the extension Patch Analyst was used within the computational application ArcGIS 9.3. In general, 3285 forest fragments were found in all the area, representing 17% of the forest covering. The mapped fragments were divided into size classes, considering as small those fragments smaller than 5 ha, average fragments have size between 5 and 50 ha, and large fragments are larger than 50 ha. The small fragments were found in greater number (2,236), followed by average fragments (749), and finally the large fragments, comprising only 100 spots. The number of fragments of each size class has an inverse relationship with the contribution in area of the same class within the forest fragmentation. Quantitative characterizations through landscape metrics were made with groups of area index, density and size, shape, proximity and central area, which was obtained from different simulations of edge effect (20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 140 and 200 m). For all the indexes there were differences on size classes of forest fragments. Most of the basin forest fragments are small, less than 5 h, and the distance of edge 100 meters completely eliminates the central area of these fragments. Although large fragments present the most irregular shapes, they have a higher index central area even under the effect of the greater distance of the edge effect.

Lodo de esgoto e vermiculita na produção de mudas de eucalipto

The success concerning forest plantations is not only dependent on the species used, but is also directly related to the kind of container, seeds quality and substrate used. Thus, this study aimed at evaluating the use of sewage sludge, together with vermiculite, in the composition of substrates used for producing Eucalyptus grandis seedlings from seeds. A completely randomized design, with six treatments and six replications of four plants, was used. The treatments consisted of the following sewage sludge and vermiculite proportions (v:v): 100:0 (T1), 80:20 (T2), 60:40 (T3), 40:60 (T4), 20:80 (T5) and a commercial substrate (T6). The collar diameter, height, ratio between shoot height and collar diameter, shoot dry matter, root dry matter, total dry matter, ratio between shoot and root dry matter, ratio between height and shoot dry matter and Dickson Quality Index were evaluated. At 90 days after germination, it was observed that the use of different proportions of sewage sludge and vermiculite influenced positively the growth of Eucalyptus seedlings, with better results for higher proportions of vermiculite. The best substrate was the one with 20% of sewage sludge and 80% of vermiculite.

Análise da paisagem e mudanças no uso da terra no entorno da RPPN Cafundó, ES

The objective of this study was to map the land use and occupancy classes and to analyze and quantify the structural changes of scenery, between the years 1970 and 2007, surrounding the Conservation Unit (UC) Private reservation of natural patrimony (PRNP) Cafundo, through the use of landscape ecology indexes. With the land use and occupation map itwas possible to characterize quantitatively, in terms of area, the present classes in the surroundings of the reservation. On the 37 evaluated years there were a few changes in the land use and occupancy surrounding the unit, with the areas mostly dominated by grazing. Landscape ecology metrics or indexes were obtained through the Patch Analyst extension by landscape and class level, and values were obtained for the 10 classes of land use and occupancy. The results of quantitative analysis by the use of metrics pointed to an increase in the fragmentation of the landscape surrounding the Units of Preservation PRNP Cafundo.

Spatial and temporal distribution of urban heat islands

The formation of an urban heat island (UHI) is one of the most common impacts of the urbanization process. To mitigate the effects of UHI, the planning of urban forests (e.g., creation of parks, forests and afforestation streets) has been the major tool applied in this context. Thus, the aim of this study is to evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution of heat islands in Vila Velha, ES, Brazil using the mono-window algorithm. The study followed these methodological steps: 1) mapping of urban green areas through a photointerpretation screen; 2) application of the mono-window algorithm to obtain the spatial and temporal patterns of land surface temperature (LST); 3) correlation between LST and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and normalized difference build-up index (NDBI); 4) application of ecological evaluation index. The results showed that the mean values of LST in urban areas were at least 2.34 to 7.19°C higher than undeveloped areas. Moreover, the positive correlation between LST and NDBI showed an amplifying effect of the developed areas for UHI, while areas with a predominance of vegetation attenuated the effect of UHI. Urban centers, clustered in some parts of the city, received the worst ecological assessment index. Finally, the adoption of measures to guide the urban forest planning within urban centers is necessary to mitigate the effect of heat islands and provide thermal comfort in urban areas.

Influence of relief on permanent preservation areas.

Many countries have environmental legislation to protecting natural resources on private property. In Brazil, the Brazilian Forestry Code determines specific areas to maintain with natural vegetation cover, known as areas of permanent preservation (APP). Currently, there are few studies that relate topographic variables on APP. In this context, we sought to evaluate the influence of relief on the conservation of areas of permanent preservation (APP) in the areas surrounding Caparaó National Park, Brazil. By using the chi-squared statistical test, we verified that the presence of forest cover is closely associated with altitude. The classes of APP in better conservation status are slopes in addition to hilltops and mountains, whereas APP streams and springs are among the areas most affected by human activities. The most deforested areas are located at altitudes below 1100.00 m and on slopes less than 45°. All orientations of the sides were significant for APP conservation status, with the southern, southeastern, and southwestern sides showing the lower degrees of impact. The methodology can be adjusted to environmental legislation to other countries.

GIS applied to location of fires detection towers in domain area of tropical forest

In most countries, the loss of biodiversity caused by the fires is worrying. In this sense, the fires detection towers are crucial for rapid identification of fire outbreaks and can also be used in environmental inspection, biodiversity monitoring, telecommunications mechanisms, telemetry and others. Currently the methodologies for allocating fire detection towers over large areas are numerous, complex and non-standardized by government supervisory agencies. Therefore, this study proposes and evaluates different methodologies to best location of points to install fire detection towers considering the topography, risk areas, conservation units and heat spots. Were used Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques and unaligned stratified systematic sampling for implementing and evaluating 9 methods for allocating fire detection towers. Among the methods evaluated, the C3 method was chosen, represented by 140 fire detection towers, with coverage of: a) 67% of the study area, b) 73.97% of the areas with high risk, c) 70.41% of the areas with very high risk, d) 70.42% of the conservation units and e) 84.95% of the heat spots in 2014. The proposed methodology can be adapted to areas of other countries.

ANÁLISE DA DINÂMICA ESPAÇO-TEMPORAL DOS FRAGMENTOS FLORESTAIS DA SUB-BACIA HIDROGRÁFICA DO RIO ALEGRE, ES

Knowing the history of forest fragmentation in watersheds helps plan and implement practices based on restoration of degraded forest areas. Structural analysis of forest fragments in the Alegre River subwatershed, State of Espirito Santo, was based on landscape metrics using ArcGIS 10 software with Patch Analyst extension, regarding changes during 1975, 2002, and 2007. Analysis showed an increase of about 7% in the total area of forest cover and emergence of 645 new forest fragments. Numerous patches and a small drainage area resulted in a high perimeter-to-area ratio. Simple geometric shapes predominated in smaller patches ( 20 ha) were close to each other, with a tendency to decrease proximity metric values. The results show that despite increase in vegetated area, the environmental quality of forest remnants is highly jeopardized.

New records of angiosperms from Espírito Santo, Brazil

This study aims to report six new occurrences of angiosperm species from the state of Espirito Santo, widening their geographic distribution. These floristic novelties evidence the presence of knowledge gaps regarding the flora and little collecting effort in Espirito Santo, in addition to demonstrating the floristic importance of Serra do Valentim, with restricted distribution species.

Parâmetros quantitativos da anatomia da madeira de eucalípto que cresceu em diferentes locais

It is known the influence of the growth place in the properties of the woods and that they are affected mainly by the anatomical structures. The objective of this work was to evaluate the quantitative parameters of the anatomical structure of the eucalypt wood of one clone of the natural hybrid of Eucalyptus grandis at 64 months of age occuring in Rio Claro, state of Sao Paulo. The 138 trees were grown in Aracruz, Domingos Martins, Alto Rio Novo, Sao Mateus in the state of Espirito Santo and in Mutum and Aimores in the state of Minas Gerais. The anatomical parameters measured were diameter and vessel frequency, length, fiber and diameter of the fiber, fiber wall thickness and width, height and frequency of the rays. According to the results, it can be concluded that, in relation to the vessels, there were significant differences among all regions. It was also observed significant differences in the parameters related to the rays in all regions. The wood produced in the Aracruz region had fibers with length and wall thickness with a much lower quality than the wood in the other studied regions.