ANALYSIS OF MORPHODYNAMIC PROCESSES IN THE DESERTIFICATION CENTER OF SERIDÓ POTIGUAR
Morphodynamic Processes, Land Use and Land Cover, Seridó Desertification Nucleus
The Seridó Potiguar region is of great importance for the state of Rio Grande do Norte and for the entire Brazilian Northeast. With a highly diversified economy, this region has faced serious problems related to water scarcity and desertification, mainly due to the way in which the land is used. Currently, desertification is a phenomenon that worries many countries, including Brazil. In Brazilian territory, the Northeast region inspires care, as the climate and the current speed and extent of deforestation favor this process. Taking this context into account, the present research aims to investigate the morphodynamic processes in the Seridó Potiguar Desertification Nucleus, from the rescue of the history of land use and cover and its relationship with geomorphological dynamics, in addition to analyzing the process historical-economic and its influence on socio-spatial dynamics. For the analysis of land use and cover, the process of vectorization of satellite images by visual interpretation was applied, which were compared with the mapping of information from the past, in order to identify changes that occurred in this period. In addition to carrying out the mapping of potential fragility and ecodynamic units in which it identified levels of fragility of the environment. For these mappings, the methodology of Tricart (1997) was adopted, based on the concept of ecodynamic units, with adaptations by Ross (1990) in which new criteria for defining these units were inserted. The results obtained made it possible to identify changes in land use and cover over a period of 32 years and to identify levels of fragility from integration studies to understand the natural dynamics of the environment and the influence of human interventions. Therefore, the methodologies used made it possible to carry out an analysis of the Seridó Potiguar Desertification Nucleus and identify the main morphodynamic processes based on the relationship between the geoenvironmental characteristics and the social actions carried out in this territory.