NATURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL VULNERABILITY OF THE LANDSCAPE SEPOTUBA RIVER BASIN, MATO GROSSO - BRAZIL

Abstract

Natural vulnerability identifies the greater or lesser stage of stability or instability of the abiotic and biotic elements of the landscape, and environmental vulnerability refers to the greater or lesser susceptibility of an environment to a potential impact of an impact by use. The aim of this work is to assess the natural and environmental vulnerability of the drainage basin of the Sepotuba River, specifically the generation of subsidies for environmental planning. Through the geotechnologies, thematic maps were prepared and the attributes of the landscape were quantified. Inorder to obtain the natural vulnerability of the study basin, maps of geology, geomorphology, pedology and slope were combined in a geographic information system. For the environmental vulnerability, the map of vegetation covers and land use was added to the combination. In the basin, the middle class predominates in natural vulnerability (42.69%), so the magnitude of human pressures influences the degree of vulnerability, making environments more or less susceptible to environmental degradation. For environmental vulnerability, the upper class predominates (47.87%), due to changes in the landscape, such as the suppression of vegetation for the development of agriculture. It was concluded that human activities have made environments vulnerable in the basin of the Sepotuba River, many of which are a priority for conservation.