Cerrado wetlands: multiple ecosystems deserving legal protection as a unique and irreplaceable treasure

Durigan, Giselda; Munhoz, Cássia Beatriz Rodrigues; Zakia, Maria José Brito; Oliveira, Rafael S.; Pilon, Natashi A. L.; Valle, Raul Silva Telles do; Walter, Bruno Machado Teles; Honda, Eliane Akiko; Pott, Arnildo

doi:10.1016/j.pecon.2022.06.002

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…The open cerrado is characterized by a grassland physiognomy with a canopy cover of less than 5%; the cerrado sensu stricto by trees and shrubs 3–8 m in height, with the tree species Astronium fraxinifolium , Byrsonima cocolobifolia , Caryocar basiliense and Roupala montana accounting for 30% of the total crown cover (Ribeiro and Walter, 2008); and the woody cerrado by trees 8–12 m or more in height and a crown cover of 50–90% (Oliveira Filho & Ratter, 2002; Durigan et al , 2022). The gallery forest physiognomy of the Cerrado biome is usually related to water bodies, and commonly divided into floodplain and swamp gallery forests, the assemblages varying in response to groundwater level dependance and/or adaptation (Durigan et al , 2022). The physiognomies and floristic compositions overall vary depending on topography, drainage and soil properties (Felfili, 1995; Bueno et al , 2018).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐and short‐term vegetation change and inferred climate dynamics and anthropogenic activity in the central Cerrado during the Holocene

Escobar‐Torrez,

Ledru,

Cassino

et al. 2023

J Quaternary Science

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A paleoecologic analysis of pollen, macrocharcoal and trace elements from a lacustrine sediment core located at Lake Feia, central Cerrado (Goiás State, Brazil), was used to evaluate the relationship between vegetation, fire and climate during the Holocene. The development of cerrado vegetation appears to have begun 6000 years ago, initially with the establishment of an open cerrado, followed from 4800 cal a bp by a change to a woody cerrado driven by an increase in summer insolation. The increases in precipitation levels in the central Cerrado during the last 5000 years are related to the increased influence of the Amazon in central Brazil, which has facilitated biomass burning and anthropogenic activities in the region of Lake Feia. Multi‐centennial‐scale changes in water level‐related and gallery forest pollen assemblages indicate three main dry episodes, at 3440–2760, 2700–1690 and 1330–1150 cal a bp, linked to regional shifts between northern and southern South American summer monsoon boundaries. The presence of low continuous fire activity does not appear to have affected vegetation recovery, whereas two intervals with increased fire activity, at ~3300 and ~1300 cal a bp, indicated a slower recovery.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐and short‐term vegetation change and inferred climate dynamics and anthropogenic activity in the central Cerrado during the Holocene

Escobar‐Torrez,

Ledru,

Cassino

et al. 2023

J Quaternary Science

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“…Despite their great importance in maintaining biodiversity cycles, functions, and processes (Junk et al 2014), the campos com murundus, like other vegetation types that cover Cerrado wetlands, have not been properly protected by law in Brazil (Durigan et al 2022), being not even mentioned in Federal Law # 12651. The state of Goiás has a specific law declaring campos com murundus as Permanently Preservation Areas (State Law # 16153), but that is an isolated solution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cerrado -the Brazilian savanna -is a vast region dominated by savannas forming a landscape mosaic with distinct vegetation types conditioned by complex relationships between environmental and disturbance factors. The campo com murundus are characterised by the occurrence of earth mounds covered by woody plants, sometimes inconspicuous, but often regularly spread over large tracts of the landscape, invariably associated with termites and seasonally waterlogged grasslands, being included among the Brazilian wetlands (Junk et al 2014;Durigan et al 2022). In Brazil, this vegetation type has been recorded so far in several states: Amazonas, Bahia, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Rondônia, Roraima (Eiten 1975, Araujo Neto et al 1986, Barbosa et al 2005, Antunes et al 2012, Marimon et al 2012, Paêlo 2013, Morais et al 2014, Oliveira et al 2014, Maricato et al 2018, Souza et al 2020.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The neglected tropical grasslands: first record of campo com murundus and its plant communities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil

et al. 2023

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Tropical grasslands have been systematically neglected worldwide in maps, conservation policies, and ecological studies. After eradicating invasive pine trees from a Cerrado reserve in southeastern Brazil, an unprecedented grassy ecosystem arose in recent satellite images. In the field, we confirmed the first record of wet grasslands with termite mounds – locally named campo com murundus ˗ beyond 21°S in the São Paulo state. Besides reporting this occurrence, we sampled the two plant communities forming this peculiar vegetation type (the mounds and the waterlogged matrix around them) to investigate if they are floristically and functionally distinct. We also explored how these two communities relate to those of the surrounding open vegetation types (savanna, dry and wet grassland). Woody plants were recorded on the mounds but not in the matrix, although the two communities share some ground layer species. Compared to the adjacent vegetation types, the mounds were floristically distinct and functionally more balanced in growth forms, dispersal syndrome, and tolerance to waterlogging. We hope this borderline record of campo com murundus can stimulate the search for other unnoticed remnants out of their known occurrence region, triggering efforts for their conservation and studies to improve comprehension of these iconic ecosystems.

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“…As the availability of water decreases, dry forest and woody cerrado (cerradão), which are common in fertile and well-drained soils, develop (Ribeiro and Walter 2008). Then, in more nutrient-poor and drier soils, a range from sparse woody cerrado (cerrado sensu stricto) to open cerrado (with herbaceous species dominating) assemblages is present, characterized by plants adapted to dryness and fire events (Byrsonima, Curatella, Caryocar) and susceptible to waterlogging (Ribeiro and Walter 2008;Durigan et al 2022); these types of cerrado vegetation physiognomies constitute the so-called cerrado sensu lato. Two other physiognomies are strongly influenced by groundwater levels: the wetlands, composed of the tree palm Mauritia, forming palm swamps (also called vereda), and common hygrophilous plants of the Cyperaceae, Eriocaulaceae and Alismataceae families; and the wet grasslands (campo umido), dominated by herbs of the Gramineae and other herbs dependent on or adapted to moist soils (Drosera, Eryngium, Polygalaceae, Xyris) (Ribeiro and Walter 2008;Durigan et al 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between pollination syndromes, pollen morphology and plant ecology in Quaternary deposits of the Cerrado

Escobar-Torrez,

Franco Cassino,

Ledru

2023

Palynology

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This study presents morphological descriptions and ecological information for 58 terrestrial pollen taxa and seven water-related pollen taxa from the Brazilian Cerrado, obtained from two sediment cores, Lake Feia (LFB1) and Getulio Swamp (VGE-17), encompassing the last 5000 and 15,000 cal yr BP, respectively. The relationships between the ecological and morphological traits (pollination syndrome, vegetation stratum and grain size) within each of the two depositional environments were investigated. In the LFB1 core, the pollen assemblages were dominated by arboreal pollen from closed physiognomies and lower storey trees (<10 m in height), while a combination of closed and open physiognomies was observed in the pollen assemblages from the VGE-17 core. The vast majority of the pollen taxa exhibited the entomophilous pollination syndrome, and a higher influx of entomophilous pollen was observed in both cores. Anemophilous and anemophilous/entomophilous syndromes were less well represented. Small and medium pollen grain classes were the most abundant, while the large pollen grain class was rare. The influx of small pollen grains was slightly more abundant in the lake record, while in the swamp record medium pollen grains were more abundant. Our results show that swamps and lakes differ in their representation of local versus regional pollen and in their sensitivity and responses to water-level changes. Landscape physiognomy also influences pollen dispersion: a closed physiognomy increases the local pollen signal, while a more open physiognomy results in better representation of local and regional signals.

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Cerrado wetlands: multiple ecosystems deserving legal protection as a unique and irreplaceable treasure

Cited by 13 publications

References 50 publications

Long‐and short‐term vegetation change and inferred climate dynamics and anthropogenic activity in the central Cerrado during the Holocene

Long‐and short‐term vegetation change and inferred climate dynamics and anthropogenic activity in the central Cerrado during the Holocene

The neglected tropical grasslands: first record of campo com murundus and its plant communities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil

Relationship between pollination syndromes, pollen morphology and plant ecology in Quaternary deposits of the Cerrado

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