Placing Brazil's grasslands and savannas on the map of science and conservation

Toward diverse seed sourcing to upscale ecological restoration in the Brazilian Cerrado

“…Suggesting that assisted natural regeneration could be a prominent method to recover tree species. Forbs and graminoids, on the other hand, have a lower regeneration potential compared to trees (Cava et al, 2018;Overbeck et al, 2022), and they might be the life forms most reliant on active restoration, such as direct seeding.…”

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

“…The dotted-like landscape of termite savannas is widely distributed, with records in North America (Mima-mounds) and Africa (heuweltjies), with similar appearance and ecological drivers (Hlongwane 2009, Midgley 2010. In Brazil, this vegetation type is represented by the so-called campo com murundus, one of the many phytophysiognomic types of the Cerrado (Furley 1986, Oliveira-Filho 1992, Overbeck et al 2022, also known as parque de cerrado (Ribeiro & Walter 2008), savana parque (IBGE 2012), termite savanna (Ratter et al 1973), or hyperseasonal termite savanna (Eiten 1983). Apparently, campo com murundus is ecologically equivalent to the thicket clumps found in the Kagera savanna landscape, which occupy a large portion of East Africa, as observed by Bloesch (2008).…”

Cerrado Rupestre is not Campo Rupestre: The unknown and threatened savannah on rocky outcrops

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The Cerrado Domain (Cerrado sensu lato) covers about two million km 2 of Brazilian territory and consists of forest, savannah and grassland biomes, having dozens of phytophysiognomies that usually occur in mosaic, varying within this spectrum of different biomes (Ribeiro and Walter 2008;Batalha 2011). Amid so much diversity of species, life forms and geological aspects, some of its phytophysiognomies are not well known, being lost in the wide spectrum of vegetation present in the Cerrado.In general, the Cerrado is physiognomically characterised by typical savannah vegetation, with a lower occurrence of forest and grassland formations (Ribeiro and Walter 2008;Overbeck et al 2022). Amongst the savannah phytophysiognomies, the Cerrado sensu stricto stands out, the savannah with the greatest biodiversity in the world (Fernandes et al 2016), which is subdivided into Cerrado Denso, Cerrado Típico, Cerrado Ralo and Cerrado Rupestre, based on the densities of the shrub-tree and subshrubherbaceous components and substrate properties (Ribeiro and Walter 2008).

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“…In general, the Cerrado is physiognomically characterised by typical savannah vegetation, with a lower occurrence of forest and grassland formations (Ribeiro and Walter 2008;Overbeck et al 2022). Amongst the savannah phytophysiognomies, the Cerrado sensu stricto stands out, the savannah with the greatest biodiversity in the world (Fernandes et al 2016), which is subdivided into Cerrado Denso, Cerrado Típico, Cerrado Ralo and Cerrado Rupestre, based on the densities of the shrub-tree and subshrubherbaceous components and substrate properties (Ribeiro and Walter 2008).…”

“…Furthermore, the recovery of these rupestrian environments after a disturbance is extremely slow (Le Stradic et al 2014). In Cerrado Rupestre, after use for pasture or forestry, there is a successful recovery of the tree component, but the native subshrubherbaceous layer does not recover (Overbeck et al 2022). This characteristic is very alarming because there are practically no seeds of native species on the seed market.…”