scholarly journals Assessing Pasture Degradation in the Brazilian Cerrado Based on the Analysis of MODIS NDVI Time-Series

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1761 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osvaldo Pereira ◽  
Laerte Ferreira ◽  
Flávia Pinto ◽  
Leandro Baumgarten

Around 55% of all Brazilian cattle production is located in the Cerrado biome, which also contains the largest pasture area in Brazil. Previous studies indicated that about 60% of these pastures were degraded by 2010. However, up-to-date and more precise estimates are necessary to access the extent and degree of degradation of the Cerrado pastures, since these areas constitute strategic land reserves for both livestock intensification and soybean expansion. Therefore, in this study, we estimated the area of degraded pastures in the Cerrado by analyzing the trends of cumulative NDVI anomalies over time used as a proxy for pasture degradation. The generated slope surface was segmented into two classes, comprising non-degraded and degraded pastures, which were correlated with socio-economic and biophysical variables. According to our study, around 39% of the Cerrado pastures are currently degraded, encompassing 18.2 million hectares, mostly in areas with a cattle carrying capacity below 1.0 AU ha−1. These areas, distributed in the northwest Cerrado, mostly within the Brazilian states of Maranhão, Piauí, and Bahia (i.e., Matopiba region), tend to be associated with decreasing rainfall patterns and low investments in soil conservation practices. The degraded areas also tend to be concentrated in municipalities with low human development indices (HDI).

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 2491
Author(s):  
Osvaldo Pereira ◽  
Laerte Ferreira ◽  
Flávia Pinto ◽  
Leandro Baumgarten

After the publication of the research paper [...]


Revista CERES ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 754-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Guimarães Andrade ◽  
Antônio Heriberto de Castro Teixeira ◽  
Janice Freitas Leivas ◽  
Sandra Furlan Nogueira

ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to apply the Simple Algorithm For Evapotranspiration Retrieving (SAFER) with MODIS images together with meteorological data to analyze evapotranspiration (ET) and biomass production (BIO) according to indicative classes of pasture degradation in Upper Tocantins River Basin. Indicative classes of degraded pastures were obtained from the NDVI time-series (2002-2012). To estimate ET and BIO in each class, MODIS images and data from meteorological stations of the year 2012 were used. The results show that compared to not-degraded pastures, ET and BIO were different in pastures with moderate to strong degradation, mainly during water stress period. Therefore, changes in energy balance partition may occur according to the degradation levels, considering that those indicatives of degradation processes were identified in 24% of the planted pasture areas. In this context, ET and BIO estimates using remote sensing techniques can be a reliable indicator of forage availability, and large-scale aspects related to the degradation of pastures. It is expected that this knowledge may contribute to initiatives of public policies aimed at controlling the loss of production potential of pasture areas in the Upper Tocantins River Basin in the state of Goiás, Brazil.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 576-583
Author(s):  
Carlos Eduardo P Lima ◽  
Mariana R Fontenelle ◽  
Gabriela R Ligoski ◽  
Nuno R Madeira ◽  
Valter R Oliveira ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The need to adapt agricultural crops to climate change and to develop more sustainable cultivation systems has been a major challenge for agriculture. In this study the effects of soil conservation practices were evaluated on production aspects of melon (Cucumis melo), cultivar BRS Araguaia, cultivated in a greenhouse under soil and climatic conditions of the Brazilian Cerrado. The adopted experimental design was of randomized blocks with three treatments (soil managements) and six replicates. We evaluated the following soil management systems: no-tillage (PD), minimum tillage (CM) and conventional tillage (PC) in two cycles. Increases in commercial productivity and average number of marketable fruits were observed for PD (61.5 and 61.2 t/ha; 56,000 and 44,300 fruits/ha in the first and second cycles, respectively) and CM (59.7 and 57.5 t/ha; 55,700 and 42,400 fruits/ha in the first and second cycles, respectively). No effects of management systems on fruit quality were observed. PD and CM were effective in increasing the melon production under evaluated conditions.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 2036
Author(s):  
Yang Yi ◽  
Bin Wang ◽  
Mingchang Shi ◽  
Zekun Meng ◽  
Chen Zhang

The temporal and spatial characteristics of vegetation in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River (MRYR) were analyzed from 1999 to 2015 by trend analysis, co-integration analysis, partial correlation analysis, and spatial analysis using MODIS-NDVI time series remote sensing data. The average NDVI of the MRYR increased from 0.72 to 0.80, and nearly two-thirds of the vegetation showed a significant trend of improvement. At the inter-annual scale, the relationship between NDVI and meteorological factors was not significant in most areas. At the inter-monthly scale, NDVI was almost significantly correlated with precipitation, relative humidity, and sunshine hours, and the effect of precipitation and sunshine hours on NDVI showed a pronounced lag. When the altitude was less than 2500 m, NDVI increased with elevation. NDVI increased gradually as the slope increased and decreased gradually as the slope aspect changed from north to south. NDVI decreased as the population density and per capita GDP increased and was significantly positively correlated with afforestation policy. These findings provide new insights into the effects of climate change and human activities on vegetation growth.


2021 ◽  
Vol 194 ◽  
pp. 103247
Author(s):  
Maria Paula Cavuto Abrão Calvano ◽  
Ricardo Carneiro Brumatti ◽  
Jacqueline Cavalcante Barros ◽  
Marcos Valério Garcia ◽  
Kauê Rodriguez Martins ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renato Ribeiro Passos ◽  
Liovando Marciano da Costa ◽  
Igor Rodrigues de Assis ◽  
Danilo Andrade Santos ◽  
Hugo Alberto Ruiz ◽  
...  

AbstractThe efficient use of water is increasingly important and proper soil management, within the specificities of each region of the country, allows achieving greater efficiency. The South and Caparaó regions of Espírito Santo, Brazil are characterized by relief of ‘hill seas’ with differences in the degree of pasture degradation due to sun exposure. The objective of this study was to evaluate the least limiting water range in Udox soil under degraded pastures with two faces of exposure to the sun and three pedoenvironments. In each pedoenvironment, namely Alegre, Celina, and Café, two areas were selected, one with exposure on the North/West face and the other on the South/East face. In each of these areas, undisturbed soil samples were collected at 0-10 cm depth to determine the least limiting water range. The exposed face of the pasture that received the highest solar incidence (North/West) presented the lowest values in least limiting water range. The least limiting water range proved to be a physical quality indicator for Udox soil under degraded pastures.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhihai Yang ◽  
Ning Yin ◽  
Amin William Mugera ◽  
Yumeng Wang

PurposeThis paper analysed survey data of 715 rice-producing households in China to assess the determinants of adoption of five mutually exclusive soil conservation practices (SCPs) and their impact on rice yield and chemical fertiliser use.Design/methodology/approachThe multinomial endogenous treatment effects model was used to account for selection bias and endogeneity arising from both observed and unobserved heterogeneity.FindingsFarms that adopted SCPs as a package experienced an increase in rice yield and decrease in chemical fertiliser use. Adoption of SCPs as a package led to a 12.0% increase in yield and 15.2% decrease in chemical fertiliser use; these results have policy implications for the non-point source pollution control in the agricultural sector. In contrast, adoption of straw retention only significantly reduced yield by 4.9% and increased chemical fertiliser use by 18.1%.Originality/valueThe authors evaluate and compare multi-type of SCPs, such as straw retention, deep tillage and use of organic fertiliser, separately or in combination, and their impacts on smallholder farmers’ rice yield and chemical fertiliser usage.


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