EVALUATION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES PROVIDED BY WETLANDS OF THE APODI-MOSSORÓ FLOODPLAIN (NORTHEAST COAST OF BRAZIL)
Wetlands; Ecosystem Services; Estuary; Apodi-Mossoró River.
Wetlands (AUs) are ecosystems found in all parts of the globe, where their occurrences are mainly dependent on local physical conditions (climate, hydrology, geomorphology). In this way, the wetlands are found as differentiated ecosystems, due to the morphometry, vegetation and even the type of water contained therein, which can be artificial or natural, permanent or temporary. For coastal zone ecosystems, habitat is limited in floodable environments with a maximum depth of 6m at low tide. These areas provide ecosystem services (SE) of essential character to riverside populations, such as the availability of food, purification of drinking water, flood control in coastal regions, in addition to recreational and religious cultural services. This research will be carried out in the fluvial-marine plain of the hydrographic basin of the Apodi-Mossoró river, located in the Brazilian semi-arid region (northern / semi-arid coast in the state of Rio Grande do Norte). In this area, there is a rich diversity of coastal AU, natural and artificial, classified according to the degree of salinity in terms of predictability, amplitude and frequency of the tidal flood pulse. Where the general objective of the referred research is to evaluate the provision of ecosystem services between the different wetland macrohabitats in the Apodi-Mossoró / RN river plain, which will be carried out in four distinct stages: mapping of the macrohabitats distributed in the plain- marine, followed by the classification of the Wetlands, then the statistical analysis of the mangrove fragments will be made and finally the classification of the Ecosystem Services of the environments characterized in the study area.