Cunha-Lignon, M.

Meireles, A.J.A.

Reis Filho, A.S.

Reis-Neto, A.S.

Open Marine Archive

155 
 
Analyses of the mangrove's recover process in abandoned salt pounds 
constructed areas, in the Ceará river, Northeast Brazil 
 
A.S. Reis-Neto1, M. Cunha-Lignon2,3, A.S. Reis Filho3 & A.J.A. Meireles5 
 
1PRODEMA, Universidade Federal do Ceará  Fortaleza, 60455-900, Brazil.  E-mail: 
armandoreisneto@live.com 
2National Institute for Space Reseach-INPE, São José dos Campos (SP) 51512246-970, Brazil. E-mail: 
cunha.lignon@gmail.com 
3Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050, Belgium. E-mail : marilia.cunha@ulb.ac.br 
4Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia-IMT, Chemical Engeneering, São Caetano do Sul-SP 09580-900, Brazil. E-mail: 
armando@leroy.com 
5Universidade Federal do Ceará , Departamento de Geografia, Fortaleza, 60455-900, Brasil. E-mail: 
meireles@ufc.br 
 
Abstract 
 
The mangroves are among the most productive and biologically important ecosystems in the 
world supplying unique conditions and services to all tropical coastal system and the 
population living in their vicinities. In the Ceará River, Northeast Brazil, during the last 
century, mangrove ecosystems lost extensive areas, due the exploitation of salt pounds. With 
the decline of this economic activity, the salt pounds have been abandoned, and mangroves 
recovered part of these areas. The current study focus on how did the mangrove recovered the 
area of the Ceará river estuary in this last years by analyses of aerial photographs from 1968 
and 1980, and Landsat satellite image from 2009, using remote sensing techniques and the 
open source software gvSIG®. Thematic maps were elaborated, showing the temporal 
mangrove recover and the expansion of the urban area. The space-temporal analyses revealed 
important anthropogenic changes in the landscape during the last four decades. Semi-
structured interviews were used to understand the relations between human local community 
and mangrove ecosystem. The population that lives near the river suffers the impacts from 
the degradation of the mangrove area. The inadequate garbage dumping in the river´s bank 
causes the accumulation of waste material, trapped in the mangrove´s roots system, 
deteriorating the environment quality in flood areas. These facts expose the continued human 
pressures on the mangrove ecosystem and their consequences, reverberating the deficiencies 
of the urban development process that interfere directly in social welfare of the community 
and the health of the mangrove ecosystem.  
 
Keywords 
urban development, human pressure, remote sensing, semi-structured interviews, tropical 
ecosystem 
 	


Analyses of the mangrove's recover process in abandoned salt pounds constructed areas, in the Ceará river, northeast Brazil

http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/244165.pdf

Analyses of the mangrove's recover process in abandoned salt pounds constructed areas, in the Ceará river, northeast Brazil

Abstract

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