Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:54:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 JosePGB_DISSERT.pdf: 1710204 bytes, checksum: 5ee486fb6a3193951f164bedc0f67abc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-09 / Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte / The semi-arid Northeast region are coming through changes since its formation causing changes in the landscape and increased degradation. The economic dynamics which was established at the Potiguar semiarid had for a long time settled in livestock, subsistence agriculture and cotton, however, these economies decline from the year 1970. Thus, the Potiguar spaces are undergoing by a process of space reordering marked by the growth of agricultural activities and the process of urbanization. In the Potiguar western region these changes weaken significantly transform the landscape. In these areas, the process of urbanization and agricultural activities have caused changes in the hinterland landscape changing the natural dynamics of the caatinga biome that has been subject to negative interference with the indiscriminate removal of vegetation. In this case, the specific study area of the watershed of Cajazeiras Creek located in the cities of Pau dos Ferros, ?gua Nova, Encanto and Rafael Fernandes, changes in the landscape has led to degradation and environmental fragility. From this perspective, the research objective is to assess the dynamics of the landscape of the watershed of Cajazeiras Creek, semiarid region of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, identifying the degrading factors, the most degraded areas and/or susceptible to degradation and environmental fragility. The research investigated the phenomena of light geosystems theory that emphasizes the integration of elements in shaping the landscape. During this reporting period, it was carried out exploratory and bibliographical research, and geoprocessing techniques to assess the social and environmental conditions of the researched area and its environmental fragility. To do so, first, it was made an multitemporal analisis on the basis of the years 1984, 1996 and 2009 demonstrating that the dynamics of use and land cover in the watershed of Cajazeiras Creek showed a significant change in the landscape, especially in the caatinga vegetation. This has been recovering in various areas of the watershed, especially in its upper course in the mountains of Bom Sera, in Encanto city. The analysis showed the need to develop policies and programs for the maintenance, restoration and preservation of the caatinga vegetation of the river network and of water bodies. In addition, it was identified the most degraded areas of the watershed, environmental fragility and potential emerging that take into account the landscape components such as climate, topography, geology, pedology, geomorphology and the use and occupation of the soil in an integrated manner. The results show that the landscape of the watershed has medium and high environmental fragility throughout its area, especially on the banks of the river network provided by the use and occupation of the soil in an inadequate way with the environmental conditions of the watershed / O semi?rido nordestino vem passando por mudan?as desde sua forma??o acarretando transforma??es na paisagem e aumento da degrada??o. A din?mica econ?mica que se estabeleceu no semi?rido potiguar durante muito tempo esteve assentada na pecu?ria, agricultura de subsist?ncia e algod?o, entretanto, essas economias declinam a partir dos anos de 1970. Desse modo, os espa?os potiguares est?o passando por um processo de reordenamento espacial marcado pelo crescimento das atividades agropecu?rias e pelo processo de urbaniza??o. Na regi?o do oeste potiguar tais mudan?as fragilizam e transformam significativamente a paisagem. Nessas ?reas, o processo de urbaniza??o e a atividade agropecu?ria t?m provocado mudan?as na paisagem sertaneja alterando a din?mica natural do Bioma Caatinga que passou a sofrer interfer?ncias negativas com a retirada indiscriminada da vegeta??o. No caso, espec?fico da ?rea em estudo a microbacia do Riacho Cajazeiras localizada nos munic?pios de Pau dos Ferros, ?gua Nova, Encanto e Rafael Fernandes as altera??es na paisagem tem provocado a degrada??o e a fragilidade ambiental. Nessa perspectiva, o objetivo da pesquisa consiste em avaliar a din?mica da paisagem da microbacia do Riacho Cajazeiras, semi?rido potiguar, identificando os fatores degradantes, ?s ?reas mais degradadas e/ou suscept?veis a degrada??o e as fragilidades ambientais. A pesquisa investigou os fen?menos a luz da teoria geossist?mica que enfatiza a integra??o dos elementos na forma??o da paisagem. Para a realiza??o do trabalho foram realizadas as pesquisa explorat?ria, bibliogr?fica, o trabalho de campo e t?cnicas de geoprocessamento para avaliar as condi??es socioambientais da ?rea de pesquisa e sua fragilidade ambiental. Para tanto, primeiramente, foi feito uma analise multitemporal com base nos anos de 1984, 1996 e 2009 demonstrando que a din?micade do uso e da ocupa??o do solo na microbacia do Riacho Cajazeiras mostrou uma mudan?a significativa na paisagem, especialmente, na vegeta??o de caatinga. Esta vem se recuperando em varias areas da microbacia, principalmente, em seu alto curso nas Serras do Bom Sera, do Encanto. A an?lise mostrou a necessidade de desenvolver pol?ticas e programas voltados para a manuten??o, recupera??o e preserva??o da vegeta??o de caatinga da rede fluvial e dos corpos d ?gua. Al?m disso, foram identificadas as ?reas mais degradadas da microbacia e a fragilidade ambiental potencial e emergente que levam em considera??o os componentes da paisagem tais como: clima, relevo, geologia, pedologia, geomorfologia e uso e ocupa??o do solo de forma integrada. Os resultados mostram que a paisagem da microbacia apresenta fragilidade ambiental m?dia e alta em toda sua ?rea, destacando-se, nas margens da rede fluvial proporcionada pelo o uso e ocupa??o do solo de forma inadequada com as condi??es ambientais da microbacia