A landscape analysis in the coastal region of southern Santa Catarina, Brazil

In Brazil, nearly five thousand kilometers of coastline are made up of restingas and dunes, comprising one of the most dynamic natural environments on the planet. In this coastal strip, environmental degradation caused by vegetation destruction and construction of buildings becomes extremely evident. Through visual analysis of aerial images in a locality (qualified as shrubby-arboreal restinga) in the municipality of Laguna (Santa Catarina State, Brazil), over different years (1930, 1957, 1978, and 2024), an increase in vegetation was observed, which progressively became denser, an initially uncommon evolution given anthropogenic intervention. In searching for the reason for this raise in vegetation in sandy soils, four possible causes emerge: the presence of casuarinas (initially introduced to stabilize dunes), climate change (characterized by increased precipitation), regeneration (from a previously well-established forest), and anthropization (introduction of plant species in urban areas and/or crops that would have dispersed). The examination of the locality in focus, in the current time, shows the presence of herbaceous restinga vegetation and sandy soil strips to the north and south, sea to the east, and a lagoon to the west. The locality thus appears isolated, despite continental continuity, that is, with characteristics of a functional island.