Environmental Vulnerability Index in the micro-watershed of Talhado, Santa Luzia, Paraíba

• Main Authors: Fellipe Ragner Vicente Assis, Joedla Rodrigues de Lima, José Evanaldo Rangel Silva, Izaque Francisco Candeia Mendonça
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Universidade Federal de Campina Grande 2017-09-01
• Series: Acta Brasiliensis
• Online Access: http://revistas.ufcg.edu.br/ActaBra/index.php/actabra/article/view/47

The environmental vulnerability index is a vital tool in the investigation and identification of factors which may generate environmental degradation in ecosystems, such as the watersheds. In view of what has been exposed here, the objective of this study was to determine the environmental vulnerability index in the micro-watershed of Talhado, in the municipality of Santa Luzia, Paraíba. For the application of the methodology, the environmental vulnerability index was generated by the addition of the following information plans:  normalized difference vegetation index, topographical factor, current land use, permanent preservation areas and restricted use; which were created using a geographical information system, which encompassed Idrisi Andes, version 16.0. The results showed that 581.2 hectares (49.9%) of the micro-watershed were identified with moderate vulnerability, followed by areas of 541.4 hectares (46.5%) with low and very low vulnerabilities, while 41.1 hectares (3.5%) varied from serious to very serious. These results indicate that special attention must be given to the conservationist management of its natural resources on Talhado’s micro-watershed.