Analysis of the design of federal biological reserves as an indicator for buffer zones

Protected Areas are the most effective nature conservation strategy ever employed. In the planning stage of the conservation system, factors such as proximity to fragments and shape are extremely important, as they express external pressure that the fragment receives and what can be done to shrink it. One of the principles of Conservation Biology is that more regular fragment forms tend to receive less with external pressures. In this sense, landscape metrics are relevant to determine the complexity of the shape, edge effect and, consequently, the quality of the fragment. Thus, on the design of reserves, the work had the purpose of evaluating the federal Biological Reserves regarding the format, using landscape metrics programs to achieve results. The tools Patch Analyst and Fragstats were used for the shape calculations. The results showed that some federals Biological Reserves have worrying formats, which indicates unpleasant consequences for the conservation of species and great dependence on the quality of the surroundings. Using landscape metrics to assess the format of Conservation Units should be improved, in order to unfold discussions of the implications of the shape on the species present there.