Meio físico e impactos ambientais na mata ciliar do baixo curso do rio Groaíras, Ceará

Physical environment and environmental impacts on the riparian forest of the lower course of the Groaíras river, Ceará

Abstract

Studies related to watersheds should consider not only the physical environment, but all the structural physiographic elements of the landscape. Based on this premise, this work aimed to characterize the physiography of a stretch of the low course of the Groaíras River, Northwestern Ceará, relating the physical environment with the riparian forest ecosystem and the main environmental impacts observed in the area. The research was carried out from bibliographic surveys and field observations, during the period from august 2020 to september 2021. The results indicate that some of the environmental components of the study area are still preserved, especially the geomorphological features of the river channel, which have been protected by the remnants of the riparian forest. It is believed that the maintenance of the riparian forest occurred due to the extraction of carnauba wax (Copernicia prunifera (Mill.) H.E.Moore), a socioeconomic activity that is currently threatened, not only by the demand for agricultural areas and inputs for the potteries, but also by the bio-invasion of the witch's claw (Cryptostegia madagascariensis Bojer), an invasive exotic plant.