Features and conservation of the Brazilian Pantanal wetland

Abstract

The Pantanal is a 140,000 km 2 sedimentary floodplain in western Brazil and one of the largest wetlands in the world. The main landscapes and phytophysiognomies, according to flood origin, are briefly described and some of the characteristic plant species are mentioned: (a) river flood (1-5 m) on clayey eutrophic soils with gallery forests, pioneer forests and scrub, Tabebuia and Copernicia parks, seasonal swamps, grasslands and oxbow lakes; and (b) rain flood (10-80 cm) mainly on dystrophic sandy soils (72% of the total area) with savanna (''cerrado'') grasslands and woodlands, with or without ponds. Regulating factors of the vegetation such as wet-and-dry cycle and management are considered. Dynamics of the vegetation, in particular the aquatic types, are shortly depicted. The role of grazing for conservation is discussed, and we suggest that 200 years of cattle ranching apparently did not cause major changes in the vegetation, except turning tall grass into short swards, as the domestic herd found a nearly empty niche. However, severe threats to the flora and fauna of the Pantanal originate outside the floodplain. Siltation of the Taquari river is pointed out as the worst environmental problem, changing the hydrology (wet-and-dry to wet), fauna and flora, e.g. eliminating riparian forest.

Pollen Analysis Reveals Plants Foraged by Africanized Honeybees in the Southern Pantanal, Brazil

“…The physiognomy of pantanal wetlands composed of open grasslands with forested areas restricted to the natural forested patchs, ancient levee and gallery forests (Pott & Pott 2004) favors the expansion of populations of Africanized honeybees (Gonçalves 1994). A fundamental aspect to be focused in future research regarding conservation in pantanal is the relation between the fauna of native bees and plants they pollinate, analyzing the effects of the presence of A. mellifera on this process.…”

Habenaria Repens: Distribuição Espacial e Correlação com Fatores Abióticos de uma Orquídea Emergente Invasora em Fragmento Mesófilo Brasileiro

“…No Brasil, a espécie pode ser encontrada em diversas fitofisionomias, com condições climáticas variadas, como a Mata Atlântica (PABST, 1955;BOVE et al, 2003), Amazônia brasileira (BATISTA et al, 2008), Pantanal Matogrossense (POTT; POTT, 2004); Campos (ROCHA; WEACHETER, 2006), Banhados (KAFER et al, 2011);Cerrado (SCHUSTER et al, 2010) e na Caatinga (FRANÇA et al, 2003;LEITE et al, 2012), ocorrendo na maioria das vezes em matas ribeirinhas destes biomas. Para a Floresta Estacional Semidecidual, a espécie foi reportada apenas para a região central do Estado de São Paulo .…”

Changes in vegetation cover of the Pantanal wetland detected by Vegetation Index: a strategy for conservation

“…Due to its phytogeographic location, the vegetation has elements of four different domains: the Amazon forest (northwest), the Cerrado tropical savanna (east), the Chaco stepic savanna (southwest) and the Atlantic Forest (Pott & Pott, 2004). It is a complex of floodplains inserted in a large Quaternary sedimentary lowland filled by deposition of alluvial fans of various affluents (Hamilton 2012, Assine 2015.…”