Pantanal and its Region

Cerrado

The cerrado is a region of savannah that we find in Brazil. The term Cerrado means closed or dense, difficult to traverse, hence the name of this type of vegetation. The distribution of the Cerrado is mainly determined by 4 elements: Seasonal precipitation, drainage, soil fertility and fires.


Geographic location :

Cerrado is about 204 million of hectares (around 504 million of acres), the equivalent of 22% of Brazilian territory. It goes from southern boundaries of the Rainforest until Southwestern São Paulo and Paraná states.


Climate

The Cerrado climate is defined by two clear seasons. The dry season (May to September) and the rainy season (October to April). Annual precipitation is around 1500 mm, and varies according to the biotope area.
The average temperature doesn’t vary much during the year, and ranges from 21°C to 27°C (69,8°F to 80,6°F). On the other hand, the daily thermal variation could be of 15°C (59°F) !


The different kinds of Cerrado soils:

Most of the soils of this biotope are dystrophic, with a low pH, low calcium and magnesium availability and high aluminum availability.
To be more specific, the soils are ancient, usually deep and well drained, with a low natural fertility and an important acidity. Cerrado soils have a high iron content and aluminum oxide, thick humus, and really acidic pHs. deep within the layers of soil and form a variety of colors such as ochre, red and purple. The layers of soil sometimes contain quartz.


Vegetation

The vegetation is a kind of savannah but the landscape physiognomy can change considerably.

Fire is also a structuring part of the Cerrado biotope; most of the plant species are adapted via tolerance to, and also to some degree, dependence on, fire. Therefore, plants which stored nutrients within the soil, birds and insects which live in termite mounds (really resistant to extreme climate conditions), and trees which developed a bark resistant to extreme heat, survive the burning events. The ecosystem then recovers after the fires and regains a fertile appearance.


Biodiversity

In terms of species, Cerrado is the richest neotropical savanna with about 430 species of trees, 300 species of herb and more than 100 species of grass (Sarmiento 1196). In the Cerrado, we can find more than 160.000 plant and animal specieS. Big mammals like the ant-eater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), six-banded armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus, jaguar (Panthera Onca), are found in this biotope.
Cerrado trees usually have a thick bark and thick cuticle leaves in order to resist fires. The main families are : Leguminosae, Malpighiaceae, Melastomataceae and Rubiaceae.


Biodiversity threats

Cerrado is the most threatened biotope in South America because of agricultural expansion. Nowadays around 50% of the land is used by human-beings and 40% of original surface has been converted in grazing lands or crops. This is true particularly since Brasília has been built and became the capital of Brazil.






The Pantanal and its Region

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