Natural and environmental vulnerability along the touristic “Estradas parque pantanal” by GIS algebraic mapping

Abstract

The state roads MS-184 and MS-228 constitute the Estradas Parque Pantanal. Located in the northwestern portion of Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil), in the hydrographic basin of the Paraguai River, and in the subbasins of the Negro, Miranda, and Taquari rivers, the roads cross an important area of the Pantanal in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, in the subregions of Paraguai, Paiaguás, Nhecolândia, Abobral, Nabileque, and Miranda. Besides the strategic transportation aspect, there is ecological, cultural, scenic, and recreational potentials leading to tourism. It is an area with special interests, and the lack of data regarding environmental features motivated the study by GIS algebra mapping to consider jointly geology, geomorphology, soil and vegetation maps, information on climate, flooding areas, and land use and occupation. The obtained results are synthesized in natural and environmental vulnerability maps that indicate moderately stable/vulnerable areas tending to moderately vulnerable. The Estradas Parque Pantanal is undergoing ecological pressure, which means that further changes applied to the landscape can alter its “status” to vulnerable, increasing the risk of soil losses by erosion.