Occurrence of earth mound fields in the savanna landscape of the federal District Of Brazil

Abstract

In the context of the Brazilian Savanna diversity, there is a very peculiar phytophysiognomy known as Earth Mound Fields - EMFs. There is controversy on the origin and formation process of the EMFs. The association of EMFs with landscape elements has not been investigated yet, and this work investigated patterns of EMFs occurrence on the Federal District of Brazil’s (FDB) savanna landscape to identify elements that may influence or determine EMFs occurrence. EMFs locations were georeferenced and their normalized frequency ratios were checked for pedology, geomorphology, lithology, slope, and hypsometry. It was georeferenced 187 EMFs that occurred mainly in areas of hydromorphic soils, on flat to gently slopes, in pediplain areas, over quartzite or lateritic lithological formations, and altitudes above 1,200 m. A map on the potential occurrence EMFs in the FDB was drawn by using map algebra method. Results showed that 10% of the FDB territory present high or very high frequency ratio of EMFs occurrence. Furthermore, results indicated that 30% of the landscape with the highest potential for EMF occurrence is occupied by agricultural activities or urbanization.