LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF TROPICAL RAINFORESTS

Abstract

The landscape ecology is a systemic approach, spatial explicitly and with a territorial dimension that analyzes the interaction among spatial patterns, ecology process and anthropic activities in gradients of spatial and time scales. Concerning the planning and conservation aspects, the landscape ecology guides the conceptual discussions and provides technical notions to the forest conservation, even as clarify methods that can provides a framework to the planning and the territorial management. The model of analysis brought by landscape ecology includes the forest fragmentation as a result of growth population, infrastructure works, official deforestation rates and the role established by timber industry. This process results in a landscape mosaics mainly originated by the agriculture and the cattle farming activities, causing greater environmental impacts and redefining the local flora and fauna. The present paper aims produce a literature review about the recent applications of methods and techniques of Landscape Ecology applied in Conservation Studies of Tropical Brazilian Forests. This studies are summarizes in cases applied to the Amazon and Mata Atlântica rainforests and included in the papers of UDEL; ROPPER (1997), WASSENAAR et al. (2007), GODAR et al. (2011), PACHECO (2012), PARDINI et al. (2005) and VERDADE (2012).