Brazilian Journal of Enviromnent
Open Access Journal
CiteScore
0.5
Indexada na
SCOPUS
QUALIS
B2
2021-2024
quadriênio
Open Access Journal
0.5
Indexada na
SCOPUS
B2
2021-2024
quadriênio
Planejamento e Meio Ambiente | Vol. 14 Issue 3 (2024)
Published in July 04, 2026
● 
https://10.66205/rvbma.v14i3.2112
The Amazon Forest holds global importance due to its biodiversity, its role in maintaining the hydrological cycle, and its influence on climate. However, it has been subjected to intense pressures, particularly in the so-called arc of deforestation. In this context, this study aimed to conduct a temporal analysis of land cover changes in the municipality of Santana do Araguaia, discussing the main environmental impacts associated with these transformations. The data used were obtained from the MapBiomas platform and refer to the extent of native vegetation, anthropogenic land uses, deforested areas, and burned areas, covering a 38-year time series (1985–2023). The results reveal a progressive loss of natural vegetation, such that between 2005 and 2010 approximately half of the native vegetation cover was converted into human-associated land uses. The main classes of anthropogenic land use identified correspond to agriculture and livestock activities, especially pasture areas and the expansion of soybean cultivation, which became established as the predominant crop from 2015 onward, possibly contributing to the advancement of deforestation and the occurrence of wildfires in the region. Mining areas constituted another relevant land use class, with a significant increase observed from 2018 onward. In this context, urbanized areas were found to have a relatively low influence on recent land use transformations in the municipality, whereas the expansion of the agropastoral frontier over remaining native vegetation, associated with the occurrence of fires, represents the most evident aspect in the discussion of environmental impacts in Santana do Araguaia.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2026 Douglas Silva dos Santos, Camila de Cássia do Socorro da Silva , Luana Costa da Silva , André Felipe de Moraes Marques , Manoel Tavares de Paula , Altem Nascimento Pontes
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8548-1947
