Influence of relief on permanent preservation areas Alexandre Rosa dos Santos a, ⁎, Tessa Chimalli b , João Batista Esteves Peluzio c , Aderbal Gomes da Silva d , Gleissy Mary Amaral Dino Alves dos Santos e , Alexandre Simões Lorenzon f , Thaisa Ribeiro Teixeira f , Nero Lemos Martins de Castro f , Carlos Antonio Alvares Soares Ribeiro f a Federal University of Espírito Santo/UFES, Department of Rural Engineering, Alto Universitário, s/n, 29500-000, Alegre, ES, Brazil b Federal Institute of Espírito Santo, Campus Itapina, BR 259, km 70, CEP 29709-910 Colatina/Itapina, ES, Brazil c Federal Institute of Espírito Santo, Campus Alegre, BR 482, km 7, CEP 29500-000 Alegre/Rive, ES, Brazil d Federal University of Espírito Santo/UFES, Department of Forest Engineering, Av. Carlos Lidemberg, s/n, 29550-000 Jerônimo Monteiro, ES, Brazil e Federal University of Viçosa/UFV, Department of Chemistry, Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, s/n, 36570-000, Viçosa, MG, Brazil f Federal University of Viçosa/UFV, Department of Forest Engineering, Av. Peter Henry Rolfs, s/n, 36570-000 Viçosa, MG, Brazil HIGHLIGHTS • We evaluated the influence of relief on areas of permanent preservation (APP). • We used GIS to delimitation of APP by the Forestry Code and relief variables. • APP classes in better conservation sta- tus are slopes and hilltops and moun- tains. • The most deforested areas are located at altitudes below 1100.00 m. • The methodology can be adjusted to environmental legislation to other countries. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT abstract article info Article history: Received 3 September 2015 Received in revised form 3 October 2015 Accepted 6 October 2015 Available online 11 November 2015 Editor: Simon Pollard Keywords: Environmental legislation Relief Geotechnology Many countries have environmental legislation to protecting natural resources on private property. In Brazil, the Brazilian Forestry Code determines specific areas to maintain with natural vegetation cover, known as areas of permanent preservation (APP). Currently, there are few studies that relate topographic variables on APP. In this context, we sought to evaluate the influence of relief on the conservation of areas of permanent preservation (APP) in the areas surrounding Caparaó National Park, Brazil. By using the chi-squared statistical test, we verified that the presence of forest cover is closely associated with altitude. The classes of APP in better conservation sta- tus are slopes in addition to hilltops and mountains, whereas APP streams and springs are among the areas most affected by human activities. The most deforested areas are located at altitudes below 1100.00 m and on slopes less than 45°. All orientations of the sides were significant for APP conservation status, with the southern, south- eastern, and southwestern sides showing the lower degrees of impact. The methodology can be adjusted to en- vironmental legislation to other countries. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Science of the Total Environment 541 (2016) 1296–1302 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: alexandre.santos@pq.cnpq.br (A.R. dos Santos), tchimalli@yahoo.com.br (T. Chimalli), jbpeluzio@ifes.edu.br (J.B.E. Peluzio), aderlasilva@yahoo.com.br (A.G. da Silva), gleissym@yahoo.com.br (G.M.A.D.A. dos Santos), alelorenzon@yahoo.com.br (A.S. Lorenzon), thaisarib@gmail.com (T.R. Teixeira), nerolemos@yahoo.com.br (N.L.M. de Castro), cribeiro@ufv.br (C.A.A. Soares Ribeiro). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.10.026 0048-9697/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Science of the Total Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv