Publicação on-line; 27 ref.; 2 tables; 8 illus.; Summary (En)

ABSTRACT

The Atlantic Forest degradation and fragmentation imposes the need for soil and vegetation
assessments in order to estimate the environmental vulnerability of the remnants. The objective
of this study was to evaluate the georadar applications in areas of Atlantic Forest under different
forms of use in Pinheiral, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, through penetrometer impact and ground
penetrating radar (GPR). Forest fragments at different stages of regeneration, and pasture and
agriculture (perennial and annual) areas were selected for study. Soil characterization was performed
through measurements of soil resistance to penetration (SRP) with an impact penetrometer, and
the soil properties with a ground penetrating radar (georadar). SRP increased in the forest areas
at initial, medium and advanced stages from 2.0 to 2.5, 2.0 to 3.0 and 2.5 to 6.0 MPa, respectively.
In the perennial and annual agriculture areas, the increase in SRP was due to differences in their
mineral composition, and the lowest values found in the annual agriculture area were due to
fauna activity. The employment of GPR generated information in a more rapid manner than
with the use of impact penetrometer.

Keywords: Atlantic Forest, fragmentation, radar.