**1. Introduction**

The high levels of biomass found in Brazil's forest biomes associated with land-cover changes, such as deforestation and fires, make Brazil one of the five biggest carbon dioxide-emitting nations globally [1]. Brazil has a total area of about 8,514,877 km2 , from which 7% occurs in Minas Gerais (MG) state, southeast region (586,528 km2 ). This large area encompasses landscape variations and vegetation types ranging from Savanna and Atlantic Forest to Semi-arid woodland (**Figure 1**) [2]. The current

#### **Figure 1.**

*(a) Geographic location of Brazil; (b) the Savannas and Semi-arid woodland biome in Minas Gerais (MG) state, Brazil; (c) average annual precipitation in MG state; (d) average annual temperature in MG state; and (e) elevation of MG state.*

understanding of land-cover changes in the so called "forgotten ecosystems"—Savanna and Semi-arid woodland biomes—is still limited [3, 4] due to most of the efforts for estimating forest cover changes have been focused on the tropical rain forests, with far less attention dedicated to the less humid seasonal region [5].

The Brazilian Savanna (also known as Cerrado) is a heterogeneous biome [6], dominated by grasslands, shrublands, and woodlands [7, 8]. Savannas are mixed tree-grass systems characterized by a discontinuous tree canopy in a continuous grass layer [9]. Tree cover is highly variable such that they range from sparsely "treed" grasslands to heavily "treed" woodlands, often along a gradient of increasing precipitation, but also modified by edaphic factors and fire regimes [10, 11]. Semi-arid woodland (also known as Caatinga) is an ecosystem occupied by seasonally dry tropical forests, which is characterized by leaf deciduousness during the prolonged dry season. Semi-arid woodland biome is located in areas with high temperatures and low amount of rain, being characterized as the region with the greatest meteorological limitations and water-stress in MG [12].

These biomes exhibit high levels of terrestrial carbon stocks and biomass [13, 14], estimated mainly from remotely sensed data [15, 16]. In general, these data are empirically linked to AGB measurements of field plots, ranging from simple linear regression to complex machine learning algorithms (MLA) [17, 18], and regression Kriging technique [19, 20]. Landsat images are the most mediumresolution data commonly used due the longest data record along with a spatial resolution of 30 m. However, Savannas and Semi-arid woodland biomes are the Brazilian biomes that have most suffered human-induced disturbances [5, 21, 22], and are among the most fragmented and threatened ecosystems in the world [23].

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*Estimating Aboveground Biomass Loss from Deforestation in the Savanna and Semi-arid Biomes…*

The expectations regarding their future are not very optimistic. For instance, based on recent trends in deforestation [24], the Savannas may effectively no longer exist in 25 years' time [25, 26]. Estimates indicate between 39 and 55% of the Brazilian Savannas have already been modified [27]. Tropical dry forests are among the most threatened and overlooked biomes, where conversion to pasture

Hence, the question is: What is the total amount of aboveground biomass (AGB) loss across Savanna and Semi-arid woodland biomes in MG state, during

The Minas Gerais (MG) state is located in the southeast Brazil (**Figure 1a**), encompassing the Savanna (57%) and Semi-arid woodland (2%) biomes (**Figure 1b**). The Brazilian Savannas comprise vegetation types of shrub savanna (shrub type of savanna, encompassing both herbaceous vegetation, and scattered small trees), woodland savanna (savanna formation with twisted trees and shrubs up to 8–10 m high and with a grass understory), and densely wooded savanna (forest formation with trees up to a height of 20 m) [7]. Semi-arid woodland represents the vegetation type of decidu-

The climate variability of MG state indicates a negative precipitation and a positive temperature gradient from south to north (**Figure 1c, d**). This variability helps to explain the predominance of these biomes. The elevation ranges from 30 to 2824 m and the greatest altitude variation is found in the eastern region (**Figure 1e**).

**Spatial distribution Panoramic view Aerial view Landsat TM**

**R3 G2 B1**

**2. Savanna and Semi-arid woodland biomes in MG state**

ous forest. Semideciduous forests are present in both biomes (**Table 1**).

In order to answer this question, we assessed the reduction of AGB due to deforestation. We produced a spatial-explicit AGB map from forest inventory measures linked with remote sensing and spatio-environmental predictor variables and we also used a reliable global map of forest cover change [28] to measure the AGB loss.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85660*

and agriculture are major threats [24].

2007–2017?

**Vegetation types**

Woodland savanna (Ws)

Densely wooded savanna (Dws)

Shrub savanna (Ss)

*Estimating Aboveground Biomass Loss from Deforestation in the Savanna and Semi-arid Biomes… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85660*

The expectations regarding their future are not very optimistic. For instance, based on recent trends in deforestation [24], the Savannas may effectively no longer exist in 25 years' time [25, 26]. Estimates indicate between 39 and 55% of the Brazilian Savannas have already been modified [27]. Tropical dry forests are among the most threatened and overlooked biomes, where conversion to pasture and agriculture are major threats [24].

Hence, the question is: What is the total amount of aboveground biomass (AGB) loss across Savanna and Semi-arid woodland biomes in MG state, during 2007–2017?

In order to answer this question, we assessed the reduction of AGB due to deforestation. We produced a spatial-explicit AGB map from forest inventory measures linked with remote sensing and spatio-environmental predictor variables and we also used a reliable global map of forest cover change [28] to measure the AGB loss.
