Proposal for a Geobiodiversity Index Applied to the Morphoclimatic Domain of Cerrado—Brazil

Abstract

The Morphoclimatic Domain of Cerrado is located in the Brazilian territory, and it is a central area of great importance for the ecological scenario of Brazil. This area has undergone strong anthropic pressure in the last 60 years, especially due to the expansion of agribusiness—a warning sign for the conservation of its natural resources. Studies on geodiversity and biodiversity have sought to contribute with data for maintaining the landscapes of this region. The objective of this proposal is the generation of a geobiodiversity index capable of indicating the most relevant areas of geological, geomorphological, and vegetation aspects to be preserved and conserved within existing legal instruments. The methodological procedures were centered on segmenting the area in 2.472 hexagonal cells, which were subjected to a spatial matrix analysis in GIS and geostatistical environments capable of articulating the various elements and generating an agglutinating index for each cell. The result indicates 276 areas with the highest index value, presenting, therefore, possible classified areas. This index is an attempt to draw attention to Cerrado and the importance of its conservation.