Impacts of land use and land cover changes on sediment yield in a Brazilian amazon drainage basin

Abstract

Land use and land cover changes have as consequences several social, economic, and environmental impacts. The understanding of these changes allows a better planning of public policies in order to map and monitor areas more susceptible to environmental problems. This research presents an analysis of the land use and land cover changes of a watershed region located in the Brazilian Amazon, and an evaluation of their impacts on sediment yield. Land use/land cover maps for each of the analyzed time periods (1973, 1984, and 2005) were compiled using images obtained by MSS/Landsat-1, TM/Landsat-5, and the MODIS/Terra sensors. The sediment yield modeling was performed by dividing the watershed into homogeneous subregions. Each of the subregions received average attributes that were used as input parameters for the Universal Soil Loss Equation. The results revealed that up to 2005, around 40% of the study area was already deforested, replaced by agricultural activities. In some parts of the watershed these changes were responsible for an increase of up to 7 ton/ha in annual average sediment yield. This study was successful in providing an assessment of the magnitude and spatial distribution of the changes. Copyright © 2008 by Bellwether Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved.