Distribuição e avaliação da acuidade espacial dos mapeamentos da área de pastagem para o Brasil

Agriculture and pastures are an important sector of the Brazilian economy, especially in relation to the production of commodities that aims to serve the world market. Livestock production in Brazil is characterized by extensive management, at the landscape level, which confers low animal production per unit area. Due to the diversity of genera of grasses (Andropogon, Brachiaria, and others), different management, spatial location, relief, soil and climate, produce a mapping of pasture areas in Brazil through satellite images is a complex process. Thus, this analysis aims to present the synthesis and evolution of the pasture area in Brazil based on the different mapping initiatives, as well as to evaluate the spatial accuracy of these current mappings. The increase of pasture area in Brazil between 2002 and 2014, according to the most recent mappings, was 14,542,120 ha, evolving from 151,519,048 ha (PROBIO) to 166,061,167 ha. The Brazilian states that presented the greatest expansion of the pasture area were Mato Grosso (11 Mha), Maranhão (5,2 Mha), Pará (3,3 Mha), Tocantins (2,8 Mha) and Rondônia (2,7 Mha). The states of Goiás, Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso do Sul, important producers of livestock in Brazil, there was a considerable retraction of the pasture area, on average of 2 Mha. The average accuracy of the mappings that compose the mapping of the pasture area to the Brazilian territory is medium- high, approximately 73%.