Monitoring Desertification Using a Small Set of Biophysical Indicators in the Brazilian Semiarid Region

Aldrin Martin Perez-Marin (), Jhony Vendruscolo, Jhonatan Rafael Zárate-Salazar, Heithor Alexandre De Araújo Queiroz, Daniel Lima Magalhães, Rômulo S. C. Menezes and Izaias Médice Fernandes
Additional contact information
Aldrin Martin Perez-Marin: Department of Soil and Rural Engineering, Universidad Federal da Paraíba, Areia 58397-000, PB, Brazil
Jhony Vendruscolo: Rolim de Moura University Campus, Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Rolim de Moura 76940-000, RO, Brazil
Jhonatan Rafael Zárate-Salazar: Department of Soil and Rural Engineering, Universidad Federal da Paraíba, Areia 58397-000, PB, Brazil
Heithor Alexandre De Araújo Queiroz: Technology Division, Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia Baiano, Guanambi 46430-000, BA, Brazil
Daniel Lima Magalhães: Department of Desertification and Agroecology, Instituto Nacional do Semiárido, Campina Grande 58434-700, PB, Brazil
Rômulo S. C. Menezes: Department of Nuclear Energy, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife 50670-901, PE, Brazil
Izaias Médice Fernandes: Rolim de Moura University Campus, Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Rolim de Moura 76940-000, RO, Brazil

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 15, 1-24

Abstract: Desertification is defined as land degradation in arid, semiarid, and dry sub-humid regions, and it is caused primarily by human activities and climate change. The semiarid region of Northeast (NE) Brazil is a very large, populous region, and thus, it is hard to monitor the dynamics of its desertified areas; therefore, the present study aimed to develop a minimum set of biophysical indicators to qualify and monitor desertification in this region. This approach included sampling a pair of preserved forested areas and nearby degraded, non-forested areas which had no vegetation growth in the previous years. The study was developed in four stages: (a) pilot site selection; (b) quantification and analysis of soil and vegetation biophysical indicators; (c) biophysical indicator selection; and (d) elaboration of the minimum set of biophysical indicators and desertification levels. Of the analyzed 24 biophysical indicators, 11 were retained and subjected to factor analysis by its principal components. This yielded the minimum set of indicators used to estimate the desertification levels of the pilot sites, which consisted of four soil characteristics: Total Organic Carbon (TOC), cation exchange capacity, clay content, and magnesium content. Regressions were conducted using the SQI, and these indicators showed that the TOC had the highest coefficient of determination. In an exploratory analysis, high SQI (low desertification) showed a positive correlation with the normalized difference vegetation index (R = 0.70) and Aridity Index (R = 0.97). This methodological approach could form the basis of a dynamic monitoring system that is capable of supplying objective, quantitative, and easy to obtain information to decision-makers in NE Brazil and other dry ecosystems around the globe.

Keywords: land degradation; environmental monitoring; soil organic carbon; multiple soil classes; adaptation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/15/9735/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/15/9735/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9735-:d:882696

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().