Changes in Vegetation Cover in Reforested Areas in the State of São Paulo, Brazil and the Implication for Landslide Processes

Abstract: In Brazil, plantations of exotic species such as Eucalyptus have expanded substantially in recent years, due in large part to the great demand for cellulose and wood. The combination of the steep slopes in some of these regions, such as the municipalities located close to the Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira, and the soil exposure that occurs in some stages in the Eucalyptus cultivation cycle, can cause landslides. The use of a geographic information system (GIS) assists with the identification of areas that are susceptible to landslides, and one of the GIS tools used is the spatial inference technique. In this work, the landslide susceptibility of areas occupied by Eucalyptus plantations in different stages of development in municipalities in the state of São Paulo was examined. Eight thematic maps were used, and, the fuzzy gamma technique was used for data integration and the generation of susceptibility maps, in which scenarios were created with different gamma values for the dry and rainy seasons. The results for areas planted with Eucalyptus were compared with those obtained for other land uses and covers. In the moderate and high susceptibility classes, the pasture is the land use type that presented the greatest susceptibility, followed by new Eucalyptus plantations and urban areas.