Cerrado

As Cerrado, Cerrado or Campos cerrados is called the savannas of Central Brazil. With an area of ​​two million square kilometers they cover an area the size of Alaska. The states of Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Minas Gerais are covered by Cerrado, as well as parts of Maranhão, Paraná, Piauí and São Paulo.

Climate

The cerrados have a semi- arid climate with two distinct seasons. During the rainy period in October to April (summer), much of the annual rainfall 1100-2000 mm falls. In the remaining five months of the year (winter) there is drought. The average annual temperature is between 20 ° and 26 ° C.

Ground

The floors of cerrados Campos formed by the weathering of the granites and sandstones of the Brazilian shield. These soils are very old and deep, their nutrients are long but washed out. It lacks above all the main nutrients phosphorous and potassium, and the trace elements zinc and boron, the nutrient deficiency is made responsible for ensuring that the area of ​​the Cerrado is not covered by forest, but of Savannah.

The floors are like many other arable soils of the earth, so pissed that Al 3 ions are released in concentrations that are tolerated only adapted plants.

Vegetation and wildlife

The trees in the cerrados reach a height 4-9 m, cover between 3% and 30 % of the area. During the dry season the soil from a depth of 2 m remains moist. The roots of the trees therefore always reach water, they stay green all year and do not have to limit their transpiration. Grasses and plants flachwurzelnde dry up during the dry season.

The development of the Cerrado vegetation is characterized by irregularly occurring forest or bush fires. The fires are naturally caused by lightning, but the people down by the fire are becoming more common. Characteristic of the cerrado plants are the thick, korkige bark and underground organs that are used for regeneration after fires. Due to frequent fire, there is a change in vegetation composition, the number of trees decreases usually because they will not have enough time to recover after a fire.

The biodiversity of the Cerrado is very large: there occur about 10,000 different species of vascular plants, half of which are endemic. The fauna includes about 200 species of mammals, 840 species of birds, 180 species of reptiles and 110 species of amphibians. The cerrados are, for example, the home of the Large Nandu ( Rhea americana). The best-known representatives of the Cerrado fauna are the maned wolf and the tapir. They feed mainly on fruits, as well as the marmosets of the genus Callithrix. This biodiversity is threatened by the expansion of agriculture. One of the most important national parks within the Cerrado region is the Emas National Park.

Use and threat

The Cerrado region is used for agriculture only been about 50 years in a big way. For this, the nutrient poverty of the soil must be compensated by fertilization. On large plantations, soybeans, corn, sugar cane and rice are grown. A more recent development in the use of the Cerrado is the expansion of sugar cane plantations for the production of bioethanol, including at the expense of food production. Livestock is also operated. The capital Brasília is located in the Cerrado, so the area is well connected by highways. Since the scenery is easily accessible, it is used very intensively. Meanwhile, two-thirds of the Cerrado areas have already been heavily modified by human influence. Only one percent of the total area is under protection. With the expansion of the used for agriculture and livestock areas is increasingly the natural flora and fauna lost. The more frequently set fires and the introduction of fertilizers disturb the ecosystem. To get the Cerrado, large areas of the region as a whole should be involved in the protection, in particular dry forests, swamps and gallery forests along the rivers. The living there mammals, birds and insects penetrate in the Cerrado and assume the role of pollinators, fruit and seed widening. There is clearance for eucalyptus and soya plantations.