Protecting forests at the expense of native grasslands: Land-use policy encourages open-habitat loss in the Brazilian cerrado biome

The agricultural conversion of natural habitats is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss worldwide. In the ∼2 million km2 Brazilian cerrado biome, a global biodiversity hotspot, vast areas have been converted into croplands and cattle pastures. Because the cerrado biome is overwhelmingly contained within private lands, Brazil's environmental legislation should serve as a decisive instrument in protecting these natural ecosystems. We assessed the role of Legal Reserves (LRs), legally defined as the minimum proportion of private landholdings set aside to protect natural vegetation, in the conservation of the cerrado biome. We assume that the property-scale allocation of LRs is primarily based on economic decision-making, creating a bias against cerrado protection. We therefore assessed the area ratio between forest vegetation (FV) and grassland vegetation (GV) areas across LRs within 48,762 landholdings, 9 formal protected areas (PAs) and 34 Indigenous Lands (ILs) within the cerrado (sensu lato) of the 903,357-km2 state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. We show that there are 7.26 ha of forest lands for each hectare of native grasslands within private RLs of the cerrado biome within Mato Grosso, a ratio almost three-fold larger than that found in formal PAs and ILs. ILs protect in absolute values (hectares) six-fold more native grassland vegetation than PAs. We discuss the policy relevance of this severe land-use bias in maintaining the heterogeneity of cerrado habitats for biodiversity conservation within private properties, which account for 90% of the entire cerrado biome

Monitoramento e detecção de desmatamento no bioma Cerrado matogrossense utilizando imagens de multisensores.

In the last decades, Brazil has become a global agricultural power and the Cerrado biome (Brazilian savanna) has been playing an important role in the Brazilian agriculture growth. To better analyze the biome human disturbance dynamics, it is necessary to develop and adopt effective methods of assessment and monitoring of land use and land cover changes. The goal is to provide adequate land cover classifications and implement an operational monitoring system in the Cerrado biome, since there is only a few attempts to control the degradation of this biome. This monitoring system can be accomplished using MODIS images, as this sensor has great potential for studies about the seasonal dynamics of Cerrado vegetation phytophysiognomies. Due to this new dynamics, the main objective of this work was to apply the PRODES and DETER like methodologies to detect and map deforestation in the Cerrado biome of Mato Grosso State, Brazil, using Landsat and MODIS data. The proposed methodology was able to detect correctly 65% of all MODIS detected polygons; this represented 74% of estimated area of deforestation. Also, it showed suitability to identify new deforested areas in both shrubland and forestland areas with a tendency to misclassify smaller polygons (< 50 ha) of deforestation

A Geo-historical Analysis of Expanding Soybean Frontiers in the Brazilian Cerrado

Until the 1970s, the Brazilian Cerrado was considered an unsuitable agricultural territory. Logistic and infrastructural issues, combined with soil acidity, made the Cerrado a marginal biome for crop production. However, since the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) was created in 1973, the Cerrado has become a national and international hotspot for the food industry. Such a transformation turned this savannah biome into a landmark for the tropical expansion of commodity frontiers, especially in soy production. This research seeks to analyze data on the historical development of soy production volumes and productivity in the Cerrado, considering the complex interrelations between commodity frontier dynamics and its interface within different Brazilian biomes. Comparing data from the Cerrado and other biomes, our results indicate a rapid expansion of the soybean frontier in most Brazilian biogeographic regions. Moreover, it demonstrates how the growth of soy farming in the Brazilian Cerrado is also affecting other biomes such as the Amazon, influencing local and national policies of agrarian expansion and environmental conservation.Until the 1970s, the Brazilian Cerrado was considered an unsuitable agricultural territory. Logistic and infrastructural issues, combined with soil acidity, made the Cerrado a marginal biome for crop production. However, since the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) was created in 1973, the Cerrado has become a national and international hotspot for the food industry. Such a transformation turned this savannah biome into a landmark for the tropical expansion of commodity frontiers, especially in soy production. This research seeks to analyze data on the historical development of soy production volumes and productivity in the Cerrado, considering the complex interrelations between commodity frontier dynamics and its interface within different Brazilian biomes. Comparing data from the Cerrado and other biomes, our results indicate a rapid expansion of the soybean frontier in most Brazilian biogeographic regions. Moreover, it demonstrates how the growth of soy farming in the Brazilian Cerrado is also affecting other biomes such as the Amazon, influencing local and national policies of agrarian expansion and environmental conservation.Until the 1970s, the Brazilian Cerrado was considered an unsuitable agricultural territory. Logistic and infrastructural issues, combined with soil acidity, made the Cerrado a marginal biome for crop production. However, since the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) was created in 1973, the Cerrado has become a national and international hotspot for the food industry. Such a transformation turned this savannah biome into a landmark for the tropical expansion of commodity frontiers, especially in soy production. This research seeks to analyze data on the historical development of soy production volumes and productivity in the Cerrado, considering the complex interrelations between commodity frontier dynamics and its interface within different Brazilian biomes. Comparing data from the Cerrado and other biomes, our results indicate a rapid expansion of the soybean frontier in most Brazilian biogeographic regions. Moreover, it demonstrates how the growth of soy farming in the Brazilian Cerrado is also affecting other biomes such as the Amazon, influencing local and national policies of agrarian expansion and environmental conservation

Study area characterization and preliminary results on GHG emissions in eucalyptus forest, Mato Grosso do Sul.

Abstract: Forestry in the Cerrado Biome have the potential to act as carbon sink and storage and can be used as climate change mitigation option through compensatory planting. The Cerrado occupies about 23% of the national territory, presenting varied physiognomies. The Cerrado sensu stricto (herbaceous layer with different densities of tree and shrubs) is the predominant physiognomic type with total extent of about 41.8 million hectares. The Cerrado biome may play a significant role on global carbon balance due to carbon storage and fixation. However, vast areas of Cerrado have been degraded as a result of extensive and frequent fire mainly related with cattle ranching. Planted forests in Cerrado are predominant comprised of eucalyptus, which are generally established on degraded pasture. Fast growing Eucalyptus boosts absorption of carbon dioxide from the air and therefore Eucalyptus forestry is considered as a greenhouse gas mitigation option. This study presents a preliminary evaluation of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from planted forests in the Cerrado of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Study area characterization and preliminary results on GHG emissions in eucalyptus forest, Mato Grosso do Sul.

Forestry in the Cerrado Biome have the potential to act as carbon sink and storage and can be used as climate change mitigation option through compensatory planting. The Cerrado occupies about 23% of the national territory, presenting varied physiognomies. The Cerrado sensu stricto (herbaceous layer with different densities of tree and shrubs) is the predominant physiognomic type with total extent of about 41.8 million hectares. The Cerrado biome may play a significant role on global carbon balance due to carbon storage and fixation. However, vast areas of Cerrado have been degraded as a result of extensive and frequent fire mainly related with cattle ranching. Planted forests in Cerrado are predominant comprised of eucalyptus, which are generally established on degraded pasture. Fast growing Eucalyptus boosts absorption of carbon dioxide from the air and therefore Eucalyptus forestry is considered as a greenhouse gas mitigation option. This study presents a preliminary evaluation of greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions from planted forests in the Cerrado of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

Floristic survey of the Brazilian Ages Memorial: a Cerrado sensu stricto area with an educational relevance

The Cerrado Biome is currently classified as one of the most diverse savannas in the world. The anthropic destruction of this biome led the Cerrado to be recognized as one of the world’s hot spots for bioconservation. Cerrado sensu stricto phytophysiognomy represents 70% of the original Cerrado Biome surface and floristic surveys are basic and important studies for conservation initiatives in these areas. Our survey area is a Cerrado sensu stricto of 6 ha attached to the Memorial das Idades do Brasil, an open air museum located in Distrito Federal, in the center of the Cerrado Biome. Our list counted 225 species of angiosperms, with the families Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Malpighiaceae and Myrtaceae being the richest ones. Our work contributes towards a better understanding of the Cerrado biome and also may help future educational programmes in the museum.

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) in the Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado biomes: multi scale governance for Implementing enhanced socio-biodiversity chains

Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP), contribute to the livelihoods of over 6 million people in Amazon and over 4 million people in the Cerrado biomes. Here we explored data on the socio-ecology of extractivist landscapes at the biome scale in Amazonia and Cerrado in Brazil. We found that there are market chains for 45 and 58 NTFPs in Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado, respectively. Although there is a vast repertoire of empirical data for characterizing sociobiodiversity in Brazil this body of literature is mostly case-study driven, focusing on a very limited number of products and using different methodological approaches. Therefore, although there is a robust research legacy meaningful comparisons are very challenging. So far we have a fragmented view of vegetal extractivist dynamics at the biome scale. Our work contributes to upscale from the socioecology of individual NTFP to the biome scale encompassing a variety of products and its associated livelihoods

Discrimination And Biophysical Characterization Of Brazilian Cerrado Physiognomies With Eo-1 Hyperspectral Hyperion

The savanna, typically found in the sub-tropics and seasonal tropics, are the dominant vegetation biome type in the southern hemisphere, covering approximately 45% of the South America. In Brazil, the savanna, locally known as "cerrado," is the most intensely stressed biome with both natural environmental pressures (e.g., the strong seasonality in weather, extreme soil nutrient impoverishment, and widespread fire occurrences) and rapid/aggressive land conversions (Skole et al., 1994; Ratter et al., 1997). Better characterization and discrimination of cerrado physiognomies are needed in order to improve understanding of cerrado dynamics and its impact on carbon storage, nutrient dynamics, and the prospect for sustainable land use in the Brazilian cerrado biome. Satellite remote sensing have been known to be a useful tool for land cover and land use mapping (Rougharden et al., 1991; Hansen et al., 2000). However, attempts to discriminate and classify Brazilian cerrado using multi-spectral sensors (e.g., Landsat TM) and/or moderate resolution sensors (e.g., NOAA AVHRR NDVI) have often resulted in a limited success due partly to small contrasts depicted in their multiband, spectral reflectance or vegetation index values among cerrado classes (Seyler et al., 2002; Fran a and Setzer, 1998). In this study, we aimed to improve discrimination as well as biophysical characterization of the Brazilian cerrado physiognomies with hyperspectral remote sensing. We used Hyperion, the first satellite-based hyperspectral imager, onboard the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) platform