LAND USE AND LAND COVER MAPPING AND ANALYSIS OF THE LANDSCAPE STRUCTURE IN THE URAIM RIVER BASIN

Abstract

The research aims to map and analyze land use and land cover and forest landscape structure from forest fragments (patches) and landscape metrics in the Uraim river basin, Paragominas-PA. The classification of use and coverage was performed using ENVI v. 5.3 with application of the Maximum Likelihood algorithm (MAXVER). Forest fragments were analyzed using landscape metrics with ArcMap v. 10.5 software. The classification indicated that the most predominant classes in the Uraim basin area were primary forest (27.50%), secondary vegetation (21.46%) and agriculture (17.68%). Mapping of forested areas accounted for 29,504 fragments in the basin. Mapping of forest fragments has shown that most of the remnants of the Uraim basin are composed of very small fragments. Most of the forest remnants of the Uraim basin are composed of very small fragments. Larger fragments had lower edge effect than smaller fragments, however, the shape metrics indicated more irregularity for the larger fragments. In this context, it is noteworthy that the development profile of agricultural activities in the Uraim basin is the key factor for forest fragmentation and the analysis of these fragments contributes as an aid in decision making for better management of the basin, considering the need for ecological corridors.