A Intensidade da Exploração Agropecuária como Indicador da Degradação Ambiental na Região dos Cerrados, Brasil

Being constituted as the largest risk factor and effective degra- dation to the Savannah, the man’s intervention in the nature and, espe- cially, the agricultural exploration require analysis and better monito- ring. This work aims to analyze the relationship between the agricul- tural exploration and the environmental degradation in the area of the Savannahs, in 1995-1996. In particular, it is intended, to use multivariate statistical analysis, to verify the factors associated with the intensity of farming predominant in the determination of the degradation pattern, and to obtain indexes of exploration intensity to make possible to cate- gorize and to group the microrregions in terms of degradation potential. The results showed that the intensity of the agricultural exploration was characterized by the intensive use of the soil (agricultural exploration) and by mechanical and biochemistry technologies; by the intensity of cattle exploration; and other dimensions of the agriculture. The micror- regions with larger degradation levels concentrated on the northwest of Minas Gerais, part of south of Goiás, and part of the southeast of Mato Grosso. The smallest mean values of the degradation index were due to Tocantins, Piauí and Maranhão. The largest index was from the micror- region of Primavera do Leste (MT) and the smallest, Jalapão (TO).