Vegetação remanescente nas áreas prioritárias para conservação da biodiversidade em Goiás: padrões de distribuição e características

Abstract

It is estimated that between 40 and 55% of the Cerrado biome, a major agricultural frontier in the country have been already converted. In the case of Goiás, recent sur-veys indicate about 35% of remnant savanna and forest formations, from which, only 12% are somehow protec-ted. With this respect, in 2004, the Goiás Environment Agency (AGMA) finished the project Identification of Priority Areas for Biodiversity Conservation, which selec-ted 40 areas (~ 82,297 km2) of particular environmental relevance and/or vulnerability. In this paper, the distribu-tion patterns and characteristics of the remnant vege-tation within these areas (~ 34,155 km2) were investi-gated. Our results show that approximately 48% of the remnant cover is within a 500m distance from the major drainage network. This fact emphasizes the importance of the permanent protection areas as natural biodiversity corridors. Also important, is the significant correlation (r = 0.6) between the remnant proportion and poverty intensity in the priority areas.