José Salatiel Rodrigues Pires

Environmental education praxis toward a natural conservation area.

A non-formal Environmental Education (EE) Program has been implemented in the natural conservation area (Ecological Station of Jataí, Luiz Ant nio, São Paulo State), through (EE) paradigms, which consider the objectives of education about, in and for the environment within cultural and natural perspectives. The aim of this Program is to support information and scientific knowledge to provide opportunities to the local population to be aware of environmental impacts and risks resulting from the soil use that threaten the environmental quality and the bio diversity of the Ecological Station of Jataí. The Program understands that the promotion of community empowerment could bring the sense of participation and the directives to management for decision-making for local sustainable. The model was projected on local reality, but considering the global issues of environmental paradigms. The environmental characterization (biophysical components) through a Geographical Information Systems was related to the hydrographic basin analysis. The environmental perception was utilized as a main tool to analyse population understanding of local environment, and (EE) pedagogical tools were produced to promote environmental awareness. Since the ecological dimension of (EE) was the main approach, the programme intends to assemble the cultural perspective, achieving the global view of (EE).

The value of the Ecological Station of Jataí's ecosystem services and natural capital

The capacity of a given natural ecosystem to provide certain goods and services that satisfy human needs depends on its environmental characteristics (natural processes and components). It was described the availability of these goods and services (environmental functions) controlled and sustained by ecological processes operating in Ecological Station of Jataí (Luiz Antônio, SP). The environmental functions identified were grouped in four main categories. To make environmental values an integrated factor in planning and decision making it was assessed their socio-economic importance in qualitative terms and, if possible their monetary value. The combined potential annual return from identified functions of Ecological Station of Jataí is at least US

Environmental diagnosis of risk areas related to gas stations

708.83/ha/year. In comparison to calculations made for other natural ecosystems this is a rather moderate estimate. The Ecological Station of Jataí is poorly protected and managed, it too is still threatened by human activity (agriculture) and many development plans. Although present day market economics do not recognize the monetary value of most environmental functions, such calculations do provide a revealing insight into the great socio-economic importance of Ecological Station of Jataí. More awareness of these values may provide an important incentive for their preservation and sustainable use.

Occupation pattern of a harbor inlet by the estuarine dolphin, Sotalia guianensis (P. J. Van Bénéden, 1864) (Cetacea, Delphinidae)

Foram realizados a localizacao e o mapeamento dos postos de combustiveis da area urbana do municipio de Sao Carlos, SP, para um diagnostico ambiental relacionado aos riscos de contaminacao do solo e das aguas superficial e subterrânea em decorrencia de provaveis vazamentos dos tanques de armazenamento subterrâneo de combustivel. A area urbana da cidade de Sao Carlos apresenta um total de 64 postos de combustiveis, 58 dos quais com fins exclusivamente comerciais; um volume potencial de combustivel armazenado de 4.595.000 l associado a um total de 291 tanques de armazenamento subterrâneo, 40 % dos quais associados a postos que funcionam a mais de 15 anos; localizados em terrenos com caracteristicas geologicas de risco potencial para a contaminacao das aguas subterrâneas, e concentradas em areas urbanas com alta e media densidade populacional. Considerando que um dispostivo de restricao legal possibilita que a maioria das areas de uso publico (escolas, creches, postos de saude e hospitais) esteja localizada externa as areas criticas de riscos potenciais aos usuarios das mesmas, estas informacoes sao extremamente uteis para o desenvolvimento de programas voltados a reducao dos riscos a seguranca e a saude publica e a contaminacao do solo e da agua subterrânea.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of environmental damages through instauration and registers of lawful documents

The occupation pattern of Sotalia guianensis in Sao Francisco do Sul harbor inlet, in Babitonga bay, southern Brazil, was studied between September 1996 and June 1998. A total of 200 h of naturalistic observation s and 141.2 h of estuarine dolphin systematic observations were made using binoculars 7 x 50. At each three minute s interval, data about number of individuals and behavior were registered. The population used the harbor inlet in tensively, mainly for fishing activities. Ebb tide was respons ible for a higher occupation index. Considering the months analyzed, the higher occupation index occurred in M ay, and in January the lower occurrence was observe d. The mean group size was four individuals.

Análise do Processo de Fragmentação da Floresta nos Municípios de Corumbiara e Buritis - RO

A qualitative and quantitative analysis of the environmental damages occurrences was conducted through the lawful documents established for charging at the State Prosecution Service of Sao Carlos city, State of Sao Paulo, during 1991 - 2000, to understand the relationship between environmental problems and the current development actions. The environmental damage identified were grouped into nine classes, where deforestation was prevailing in each year along the period of study. Of the total number of deforestation occurrences, 180 was related to areas smaller than 5 ha. It corresponded to 110.35 ha of the total deforested area. The other 37 were associated with areas higher than 5 ha, equivalent to 1,013.27 ha. The registers of environmental damages in the period in a rough estimate, corresponded to a mediam loss of 5.91 ± 4.14 ha/occurrence and of 112.36 ± 91.73 ha/year of deforested area.

Análise do Processo de Fragmentação da Floresta nos Municípios de Corumbiara e Buritis - RO / Forest Fragmentation Analysis in the Municipalities of Corumbiara and Buritis, Rondônia State, Brazil

The expansion of agriculture and pasture in Rondonia state was accelerated in the past decade due to fiscal incentives and higher external market demand. Consequently, serious forest degradation processes were initiated. The present study aims to analyze forest fragmentation in the municipalities of Corumbiara and Buritis. To this end, Landsat 5 TM images were used for forest and non-forest classification. The accuracy assessment for Maximum Likelihood supervised classification indicated an overall accuracy of 91% and Kappa of 78%. Results indicated an increase in the number of patches in the area of study in the past decade, with an increase in edge effects, significant reduction of forest class area, and a decrease in the connectivity of forest patches. Therefore, based on this study, a continuous increase in the fragmentation of native vegetation in these municipalities can be observed.

Hydrologic pulses and remaining natural vegetation in Jaú and Jacaré-Pepira watersheds

The expansion of agriculture and pasture in Rondonia state was accelerated in the past decade due to fiscal incentives and higher external market demand. Consequently, serious forest degradation processes were initiated. The present study aims to analyze forest fragmentation in the municipalities of Corumbiara and Buritis. To this end, Landsat 5 TM images were used for forest and non-forest classification. The accuracy assessment for Maximum Likelihood supervised classification indicated an overall accuracy of 91% and Kappa of 78%. Results indicated an increase in the number of patches in the area of study in the past decade, with an increase in edge effects, significant reduction of forest class area, and a decrease in the connectivity of forest patches. Therefore, based on this study, a continuous increase in the fragmentation of native vegetation in these municipalities can be observed.

Producao de serapilheira e decomposicao do material foliar em um cerradao na Estacao Ecologica de Jatai, municipio de Luiz Antonio, SP, Brasil

Este trabalho discute a influencia da cobertura vegetal natural remanescente de duas sub-bacias hidrograficas, localizadas na Unidade de Gerenciamento de Recursos Hidricos Tiete - Jacare, estado de Sao Paulo, no pulso dos rios de cada uma delas. A sub-bacia hidrografica do rio Jacare-Pepira, com maior indice de cobertura remanescente, apresentou pulsos mais previsiveis e de menor amplitude no periodo estudado, indicando menor perturbacao do corpo hidrico e maior resiliencia do ecossistema aquatico. Constatou-se que a vazao media especifica do rio Jacare-Pepira no periodo foi maior que a Q5% calculada pelo metodo de Regionalizacao Hidrologica do Estado de Sao Paulo, enquanto que para o rio Jau a vazao media foi menor que a respectiva Q5%. A vazao minima registrada no periodo para o rio Jacare-Pepira foi maior que a Q7,10 e igual a Q95%. e para o rio Jau a vazao minima registrada no periodo foi praticamente igual a Q7,10 e menor que Q95%.