Modelagem de corredores ecológicos no estado do paraná e análise comparativa com as áreas estratégicas para a conservação e restauração da biodiversidade

Abstract

Negative anthropogenic activities have a significant impact on environmental structure, resulting in biodiversity and ecosystem service’s loss. An example of these actions is habitat degradation, leading to its loss or fragmentation, affecting fauna by restricting their movement between fragments and the surrounding matrix, resulting in damages to the maintenance of populations in these areas. One approach to mitigate these effects is the establishment of ecological corridors, aiming to connect habitat fragments. In this study, we modeled ecological corridors using the Least-Cost-Path approach, considering diverse land use and cover classes, and their possible impacts on terrestrial vertebrates, in three modeling scenarios with different compositions of vegetation cover. Then, we compared these corridors with those proposed by environmental agencies' studies in the state of Paraná to evaluate the rates of overlap between them. We observed that the overlap rates were low, regardless of the scenario compared. Additionally, we identified areas in Paraná that currently present better vegetation conditions to harbor ecological corridors, intending to minimize the costs of movement for fauna and the financial costs associated with the restoration of degraded areas.