Caracterização da paisagem no entorno de cavidades naturaissubterrâneas em geossistemas ferruginosos do Quadrilátero Ferrífero,Minas Gerais

• Ano de defesa: 2017
• Autor(a) principal: Mauro Gomes
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; UFMG
• Palavras-chave em Português: ecologia da paisagem; Patrimônio espeleológico; geossistemas ferruginosos; cavernas; Ciências ambientais
• Link de acesso: http://hdl.handle.net/1843/IGCM-AN5NRU

The landscape surrounding the ferruginous caves is the most responsible for supplying the trophic chain that sustains the underground biodiversity and changes in the availability, constitution and abundance of the resources present on the surface have a direct influence on the balance of this fragile ecosystem. The Iron Quadrangle in the central region of Minas Gerais has undergone profound changes in the composition and configuration of the landscape in recent years due to the increase of urban and mining areas, intensifying the conflicts between the economic development of the region and the conservation of the speleological heritage present on Ferruginous Geosystems. This research aimed to analyze the composition, configuration and evolution of the landscape in the surroundings of ferruginous caves in the Iron Quadrangle, applying a systematic analysis proposal, integrating geographic information systems, remote sensing and landscape ecology focusing on conservation of speleological heritage. Regarding thestructure of the landscape, the research revealed that the surroundings of the caves are composed mostly (40%) by the herbaceous vegetation. This class, in the last 30 years, suffered a reduction of 12.31% in its total area. In this same period, the total area occupied by mining, experienced an expansion of 12.69% in relation to the area occupied in 1984, being currently the second most present class around the caves. The analysis of the configuration of the landscape allowed to classify the degree of fragmentation of the vegetal cover in which the caves of the study area are inserted. It was also possible to identify the caves more susceptible to the border effect caused by the anthropic actions.