.
HistoryofCartography. Vegetation. Territory Management. Rio Grande do Norte.
The terrestrialvegetation cover haslongarousedtheinterestofhumanity, which in thecourseof time hasturnedto it in differentways for theknowledgeof its biological, ecologicalandgeographicalcharacteristics, in additiontodiscoveringthepotential for its exploration. In themidstofthisconstellationofinterests, Cartographyarrives in the 20th centuryconsolidated as animportanttechnical tool for reading, interpretingandplanningland cover, serving in theidentificationoffloristicgroupsandtheirexplanation in conjunctionwiththeotherspatialelements, startingfromthisservingthecurrentchallengeofaddressingtheneeds for use andpreservation. Markingseveraloccasions in thecourseofthatcentury, thevegetationmapsof Rio Grande do Norte preparedbyinstitutionssuch as the IOCS(worksagainstdroughts), the SUDENE (regional planning), RADAMBRASIL, mapping of natural resources;amongothers, they are a reflectionandprocessofthissearch for knowledge for plannedaction. In viewofthis, thisdissertationwasbasedontheobjectiveofanalyzingthehistoricalcartographyelaboratedbytheseofficialinstitutions, discussingtheirinfluences in theterritory. Tothisend, a multi-referentialmethodologicalbasiswasestablished, composedofthepreceptsoftheHistoryofCartography, in theanalysisofthecontextofancientmaps, andofGeospatialAnalysis, appliedto Landsat productsobtained in thelast 16 yearsofthecentury. The examinationofthecartographic set presentedthevegetationmaps as partofthetechnicalenvironment, whichsheds light ontheelementsofinteresttosociety, whethereconomicorecological, whilethecontoursoftheanthropizationprocess are alsorecorded. In viewofthis, theempiryalsoreaffirmedtheepistemologicalandtheoreticaldimensionsofcartography - respectivelyrelatedtoknowledgeandinterpretationandanalysis -, sinceboththeoldpiecesandthoseelaborated for thestudysupportedthegeographicreflectionofthe socio-environmental processes, allowingtheunderstandingthetransformationsandrestructuringthathaveoccurred in certainplaces in theterritoryof Rio Grande do Norte, whosereflections are observed in thelandscapeand in theregion, butwhich in territorial management allowthemtobethoughtof as a resourceand tool.