Mapping of environmental fragility to erosive processes in the serra da boa esperanca state park (mg), brazil

The Serra da Boa Esperanca National Park (SBENP) is a Conservation Unit (CU) created to ensure the preservation of the local mountain range ecosystem, but which suffers from anthropic pressures that may lead to environmental problems, such as soil degradation. In this regard, the aim of this paper was to map and analyse Environmental Fragility (EF) to occurrence of erosive processes in that park, located in the city of Boa Esperanca, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The methodology applied in this paper was developed by Garofalo and Ferreira (2015) and employs geospatial analysis techniques in a geographic information system (GIS). The EF map was generated by the conjunction of geoenvironmental variables, of which weights were assigned and estimated based on their association with the occurrence of erosive processes. These weights were calculated using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical teste. The results demonstrated that the areas of highest EF are located in the highest levels of the Serra da Boa Esperanca in the central sector of the SBENP, where the sources of aguas Verdes river basin are also situated. As for the areas with lower EF value, they are placed in the front of the Serra da Boa Esperanca, Southern portion of the SBENP, and in the Verde river basin. The highest values of EF in the SBENP are related to sparse vegetal cover and areas of high concentration of roads, therefore, we recommend that measures be taken to cease conflicting activities in order to avoid the acceleration of erosion processes.