FRONTIER AGRICULTURAL EXPANSION AND LAND USE CHANGES IN REGION SOUTH OF GOIÁS: ANTHROPIC ACTION AND NATURAL FEATURES OF THE SPACE

Abstract

This paper aims to a better understanding about the relationship between the natural and anthropic conditionof the landscapes, showing in particular how it has conditioned the expansion of agricultural frontiers in thestate of Goiás. Thus, we present a theoretical model that correlates the variables topography, soil types andlocation with the converted areas. Our tests were conducted at the municipalities of Mineiros and Catalão,placed in the southwest and southeast regions of this state, respectively. With historical Landsat – MSSimagery, we have applied a supervised classification method in order to create maps for the land use andland cover in the years 1975 (Mineiros) and 1979 (Catalão). Subsequently, these maps were compared withthe cartographic data obtained by PROBIO dataset (Ministry of Environment, Brazil) for the year 2002. Theresults show agricultural areas are concentrated in regions of smoother topography, suitable soils, andproximity to the major highways that cross these municipalities.