Impacts of agrarian reform on land use in the biomes of the Midwest region of Brazil between 2004 and 2014

Abstract Brazil’s Midwest is composed of four biomes: the Cerrado, predominant in the region; the Pantanal, the largest wetland in the world; the Amazon, which occupies part of Mato Grosso; and the Atlantic Forest. The objective of this study was to identify the evolution of occupation and use of land in the rural settlements of the Brazilian Midwest depending on the biome of location. A total of 54 settlements distributed in the four biomes of the region were analyzed using direct observation and Landsat images from the years 2004 and 2014. Using the software QGIS 2.8 Wien, the vegetation indices NDVI and NDWI were used to classify agricultural, pasture and forest areas by biome. Native vegetation is declining in most of the analyzed settlements and pastures, for milk production, occupied the largest area. Between 2004 and 2014, pasture areas expanded to the detriment of forests. Although they have the highest percentage of environmental preservation areas, the settlements we analyzed in the Amazon biome do not comply with legislation. Part of the forest in these settlements was transformed into areas of bushy cerrado. However, there was an increase in forests in the settlements of the Atlantic Forest biome.

摘要 巴西中西部地区涵盖四大生物群落：占区域主导地位的塞拉多（Cerrado）、全球最大湿地潘塔纳尔（Pantanal）、占据马托格罗索州部分区域的亚马逊（Amazon），以及大西洋森林（Atlantic Forest）。本研究旨在明确巴西中西部乡村定居点的土地开发与利用演化规律，并分析其与所在生物群落的关联性。研究共选取分布于该区域四大生物群落的54个定居点，结合实地直接观测与2004、2014年的陆地卫星（Landsat）影像开展分析。借助QGIS 2.8 Wien软件，通过归一化差异植被指数（Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI）与归一化差异水体指数（Normalized Difference Water Index, NDWI），按生物群落对农业用地、牧草地与林区进行分类。在多数被分析的定居点中，原生植被呈退化趋势；用于乳制品生产的牧草地占据了最大面积。2004至2014年间，牧草地面积扩张，以牺牲林区为代价。尽管亚马逊生物群落内的定居点拥有最高比例的生态保护区域，但本研究所分析的该类定居点并未遵守相关法规。部分定居点内的林区被改造为灌丛状塞拉多植被区。不过，大西洋森林生物群落内的定居点林区面积有所增加。