Climate Change and “Campos De Altitude”: Forecasts, Knowledge and Action Gaps in Brazil

Abstract

The recently published report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) acknowledges high altitude ecosystems in Latin America and elsewhere as some of the most vulnerable to climate change. The Brazilian Panel on Climate Change (PBMC, from the acronym in Portuguese) also recognizes the vulnerability of Brazilian high mountain ecosystems, but points out to a significant gap in data and knowledge. This paper briefly reviews the contents in these reports that refer to high altitude ecosystems and cross-compare with biological data available for such formations in Brazil. Emphasis is given to non-forest ecosystems, namely the so-called campos de altitude, and specific data and knowledge gaps are highlighted. The implementation of the existing policy called National Program for Research and Conservation of Mountain Ecosystems would be an important step to fill this gap.

Functional assembly of tropical montane tree islands in the Atlantic Forest is shaped by stress tolerance, bamboo presence, and facilitation

“…While there is a scarcity of climate change projections for Brazilian high elevation ecosystems (Scarano et al, 2016), regional climate change models of southeast Brazil project strong warming during the summer with maximum temperature increasing by 9°C and annual rainfall reductions of 40%-50% by the end of the century (Lyra et al, 2018). Moreover, tropical mountain systems are expected to warm disproportionately at higher elevations, such as shown for the Andes (Diaz et al, 2014).…”

“…Contrary to the hypothetical forest expansion, the current trend of increased anthropogenic fire frequency (Aximoff & de Carvalho Rodrigues, 2011;Medina et al, 2016) might suppress forest and tree island expansion, and instead promote grass and shrub species with rapid vegetative regeneration, such as the bamboo C. pinifolia (Safford, 2001). Predicted intensification of droughts (Lyra et al, 2018) and reduction of fog occurrence in mountainous regions (Scarano et al, 2016) could particularly affect CS-species because of water depletion and their high dependence upon water storage and uptake, as well as causing loss of S-species and community originality if future droughts patterns exceed the tolerance limits of S-species (Matos et al, 2020). Most species found in the tree islands fall in the first category with limited foliar water uptake (M. gardneriana, M. umbellata, and B. stylosa) and S-selected species in the grasslands (e.g., B. uncinella and P. trinervia) could be lost, causing compositional and functional changes in the woody communities.…”

Rediscovering Cycloramphus bandeirensis (Anura: Cycloramphidae): natural history and breeding biology of a vulnerable species with a variant reproductive mode

“…[See Scarano et al (2016) for summary of the plight of Brazilian high grasslands.] Additionally, fires are also plausible potential threats in high grasslands (Garey and Provete 2016).…”

The genus Lepechinia Willd. (Lamiaceae - Salviinae) in Brazil

“…Conservation Status: Although all the specimens collected are located inside the protected area of Parque Nacional do Caparaó, the AOO and EOO are both small, just 36 km². The principal threats to this species are from tourism and global warming (Scarano et al 2016). Lepechinia annae should be considered endangered according to IUCN criteria B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii) (IUCN 2017).…”

“…It is protected in Parque Nacional do Itatiaia, Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio and Parque Estadual de Campos do Jordão. The main threats to L. speciosa are from tourism and global warming (Scarano et al 2016). According to criteria B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii) (IUCN 2017), the conservation status of L. speciosa is assessed as Vulnerable.…”