Batistella, Mateus
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF LANDSCAPE FRAGMENTATION IN RONDÖNIA, BRAZILIAN
AMAZON
Mateus Batistella, Eduardo S. Brondizio, and Emilio F. Moran
Indiana University / ACT, USA
mbatiste @indiana.edu, ebrondiz @indiana.edu, moran@indiana.edu
KEY WORDS: Landscape Fragmentation, Deforestation, Brazilian Amazon, Rondönia, Landscape Indices.
ABSTRACT
Deforestation processes in the Brazilian Amazon have attracted a great amount of attention. Colonization incentive
policies induced the implementation of rural settlements, without considering the constraints of each region and
consequent environmental impacts. This paper analyzes the influence of different architectures of colonization upon
landscape fragmentation. Two settlements were selected in Rondónia: Vale do Anari, where the orthogonal road
network is often referred to as a 'fishbone' pattern, and Machadinho d'Oeste, a settlement designed to conform to local
topography. Landscape structure indices were calculated, using a LANDSAT TM image from July 1998. The results
show distinct fragmentation patterns in Machadinho and Anari. The method, based on landscape ecology and remote
sensing techniques, may be useful to evaluate potential environmental impacts resulted from the establishment of
colonization projects in the Amazon.
1. INTRODUCTION
Landscape fragmentation and its potential impact upon problems such as global change, biogeochemical cycles, land-
use dynamics, and biodiversity have become central issues in Earth System Science (National Research Council, 1998).
As a consequence, new ecological theories (Wilson, 1988), modern methods to study spatial dynamics (Turner ef al.,
1995) and new applications to natural resources planning and monitoring have taken place (Goodland ef al., 1993).
Perhaps the most important ongoing process of natural landscape fragmentation is the deforestation of the Amazon
Basin. Different approaches have been used to study land-use/land cover (LULC) change in that region. Research has
focused on the amount and rate of deforestation (INPE, 1996; Skole and Tucker, 1993), and related social, economic,
and ecological processes involved (Brondizio et al., 1994).
Recent studies have addressed quantitatively the role of deforestation on the fragmentation of Amazonian landscapes
(Laurance et al., 1997; Dale and Pearson, 1997; Frohn et al., 1996; Dale et al, 1993, 1994; Skole and Tucker, 1993).
Most of this research has been carried out in colonized areas following an orthogonal road network (‘fishbone’). This
pattern is common in some parts of the Amazon but not all over the region. Rare efforts have been made to compare the
effect of the architecture of colonization on landscape fragmentation (Oliveira-Filho and Metzger, 1999; Soares Filho,
1998).
This paper adresses differences between two types of settlement in the State of Rondônia, Brazilian Amazon,
suggesting that colonization design affects patterns of landscape fragmentation. The research combines LULC analysis
through the processing of georeferenced data, particularly satellite imagery, with landscape ecology theory and
methods. Our overall perspective is to contribute to a better understanding of patterns of landscape fragmentation in
recent colonized areas.
2. RESEARCH CONTEXT
Understanding landscape fragmentation to achieve a sustainable strategy of colonization is a matter of growing interest
to communities in the Amazon, to regional and national policy makers, and to all those concerned with the
consequences of deforestation (Laurance et al., 1997). Skole and Tucker (1993) measured deforestation and habitat
fragmentation for the entire Amazon Basin using 1:500,000 LANDSAT TM photographic imagery for the period
between 1978 and 1988. They quantified deforestation, fragmented forest, defined as areas less than 100 km’
surrounded by deforestation, and edge effects of 1 km into forest from adjacent areas of deforestation. Results showed
that deforestation increased from 78,000 km? in 1978 to 230,000 km? in 1988, while fragmented habitats, severely
affected with respect to biological diversity, increased from 208,000 to 588,000 km”.
148 International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B7. Amsterdam 2000.
