Distribuição espacial e qualificação da cobertura vegetal do município de Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil

Abstract

The vegetal cover offers several benefits to society, but historically it has been suppressed by anthropic occupation in urban areas. The analysis of its distribution, quantification and qualification offers subsidies for the evaluation of environmental quality. The studies about the vegetal cover of the municipality of Natal are scarce, but research about this theme is important, because they make it possible to diagnose the current situation of this coverage so that intervention plans are applied in a more sustainable way. The objective of the research was to analyze the vegetal cover of the municipality of Natal from its quantification, qualification and spatial distribution. The methodological procedures consisted in the quantification and mapping of the distribution of the vegetal cover for the municipality of Natal and mapping the diversity of vegetal cover by visual interpretation in four neighborhoods, always from the classification of images of Google Earth PRO. It was verified that Natal has 4,626 hectares of vegetal cover, distributed in 153.891 fragments. More than 60% of the vegetal cover area is located in the Environmental Protection Areas (ZPAs) of the city and 83% of the fragments have areas smaller than 100 m². It was verified that Natal presents a Vegetal Cover Index of 27.5% and 54.2 m² of vegetal cover for each inhabitant. In relation to the four neighborhoods selected for analysis of the vegetal cover diversity, it was verified that the neighborhoods with continuous urban fabric, Cidade Alta and Petropolis, have a predominantly anthropic vegetal cover and a lower diversity of vegetal cover classes, 17 classes, while the neighborhoods with discontinuous urban fabric, Pitimbu and Pajuçara, presented a higher percentage of natural vegetal cover and a greater diversity of vegetal cover types, 40 classes. It is concluded that Natal still presents a significant vegetal cover, but poorly distributed over the territory, more concentrated and diverse in the peripheral areas, especially in neighborhoods with the presence of ZPAs, and more fragmented and anthropized in the central areas.