CONNECTIVITY EVALUATION BETWEEN FRAGMENTED LANDSCAPES IN THE BRAZILIAN LEGAL AMAZONIA USING REMOTE SENSING

Accelerated and disordered conversion of forests on Brazilian Legal Amazon agricultural frontier in the last four decades resulted in a fragmented landscape. Here, we evaluated landscape connectivity over two municipalities in northern Mato Grosso, with predominantly developed agricultural sector (Sorriso) and with well-developed livestock farming (Alta Floresta). By using OLI/Landsat-8 imagery, six forest distances were stipulated in five size classes, as calculated the connectivity metrics of the forest fragments and landscape structure. The study area comprised 8,964 forest fragments, which 6,149 fragments of livestock and 2,815 of agriculture areas. Results indicate that connectivity is based on long distances, which are unfavorable to organisms’ mobility. The best connectivity values were 10,000 m over agriculture areas and 5,000 m for the livestock. This research evidences the need to include environmental planning, that considers the forest remnants connectivity, in light of future legalized deforestation and as a way of maintaining biodiversity.