Current and natural vulnerability to soil erosion in the Ribeirão Floresta hydrographic sub-basin, in the municipality of Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, state of Espírito Santo, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Fiorese, Caio Henrique Ungarato
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Labor & Engenho (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/labore/article/view/8659873
• topic: Environmental impacts; Land Management; Natural resources; Geographic Information Systems; Sistemas de Informações Geográficas; Impactos ambientais; Manejo da terra; Recursos naturais; Impactos ambientales; Gestion de tierras; Recursos naturales; Sistemas de información geográfica

Studies focused on soil erosion in a hydrographic basin are extremely important, especially in areas where there is a lack of research on this theme, as they assist in various environmental decision-making. The objective of this work was to verify the current and potential erosion in the Ribeirão Floresta (ES) hydrographic sub-basin, in order to subsidize improvements in soil conservation associated with economic production. The procedures were performed in the ArcGIS program, considering a geographic database. Initially, the sub-basin was defined. The mathematical model considered was the Universal Soil Loss Equation, estimating the following data: erosivity, erodibility, ramp length, slope and soil use and management factors and conservation practices. Current and potential erosions were estimated, classified and mapped. As for potential erosion, the classes comprised from moderate to very strong add up to 73,98%, being a very expressive value. There is a greater natural tendency to erosion in the northern portion of BHRF, while in the central and southern regions, lower intensities predominate. This can be justified by the irregularities of the relief. When added together, the classes from “moderate to high” to “extremely high” correspond to 48,33%. Therefore, almost half are susceptible to current soil loss considering the use and management of soil and conservation practices, which can be attributed to the forms of land occupation. The naturally less vulnerable areas are occupied by activities that aggravate the occurrence of erosion, while the potentially more susceptible areas have forms of occupation capable of protecting the soil. There is a need for better planning of land occupation through the integration of committees and public managers with the residents of the sub-basin. It is expected that this work will contribute to several improvements regarding soil conservation in the region.