Spatiotemporal dynamics of burned areas in the caatinga Biome, Brazil: a GIS-based assessment

Abstract

Spatial analyses of geographic data and information provide valuable insights for decision-making and enable understanding of the distribution of geographically localized phenomena. This research aims to explore the spatiotemporal dynamics of burned areas in the Caatinga Biome and their relationship with land use and land cover from 1985 to 2023. The analysis is based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), integrating burn scar data with land use and land cover classifications. The main results revealed that fires occurred annually in natural vegetation formations, Savanna Formation, Forest Formation, and Grassland Formation (in this order), followed by land use classes such as Mosaic of Uses and Pasture Areas. However, it is not possible to conclude that the fires originated in natural vegetation. Burned areas within natural regions may have originated from anthropized areas, such as pastures in their immediate surroundings. The recurrent occurrence of fires in natural vegetation areas, potentially triggered by adjacent anthropized zones, highlights the need for preventive actions in transition areas between human-modified landscapes and native ecosystems. The annual variation patterns of burned areas remained consistent and persistent, although fluctuations were observed in pasture areas across all analyzed periods.