The relation established between society and nature modify the landscapes, producing a configuration marked by the fragmentation or connection between its elements. The human activities influence natural landscapes and the resulting mosaic is a mixture of natural and anthropic elements that vary in size, shape and arrangement. These measures describe the patterns of their spatial and temporal structure. The present study aimed to analyze the effects of use and land cover on the spatial and temporal patterns of natural landscape in São Carlos-SP, Brazil for 2003 and 2013 through the application of the Environmental Quality of Water Resources Index (IQA-HYDRO), Vegetation Environmental Quality Index (IQA-BIO) and Landscape Environmental Vulnerability Index (IVA-P). The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyzed the information in software ArcGis 10.3 and Idrisi-Andes and the Universal Transverse System of Mercator, 23 Sul, datum SIRGAS 2000 was adopted to the elaboration of the geo-referenced database of the city. The concept of Fuzzy Logic was essential to understanding the application of landscape indices, being an extension of Boolean logic that supports logical values intermediate between the false (0) and the true (1). The IQA-BIO was obtained based on the analysis of area (IQA-Area), shape (IQA-Form) and distance (IQA-Distance) metrics of the native vegetation fragments. The IQA-HYDRO was determined based on the overlapping of the thematic maps of agricultural and non-agricultural anthropic activities obtained by reclassifying the use and land cover and drainage network. The Environmental Vulnerability Index was obtained by the correlation of the IQA-HYDRO and IQA-BIO. It was identified a reduction in native vegetation areas over time with expansion of agricultural areas, mainly related to the cultivation of sugarcane, culminating in the reduction of the quality environmental and consequently the increase of the environmental vulnerability in the landscape. There was a loss of 3,067.09 hectares of native vegetation between 2003 and 2013, which correlates directly with the decrease in the environmental quality of the environmental compartments. The degree of vulnerability remained high for the two studied periods, especially near the water bodies, which proved the most vulnerable areas in the municipality due to their close proximity to anthropic activities, especially those related to agriculture. The indices used are important tools for the diagnosis aimed at the conservation of ecosystems, enabling an accurate analysis of each fragment by observing the interconnections between the environmental qualities of the different compartments in a landscape. The growth of anthropic activities and the reduction of natural areas can lead to the loss of the biodiversity of a region and consequently the loss of environmental functions and the benefits they provide.
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