Travel to Brazil
Cerrado
Ecotravel & Tours / Brazil – The Brazilian savannah, or Cerrado, is the second largest
biome of the country, a biodiversity
hostpot and a great travel destination.
For further reading about this amazing ecoregion, see: area / location, geology / geomorphology, climate / soils, vegetation, flora and fauna diversity and wildfires.
Area / Location
The Cerrado has a size of 2 million square kilometers, which corresponds to a quarter of Brazil's territory. It is located in Brazil's midwest region, covering areas of the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, Distrito Federal, Goiás, Mata Grosso do Sul and São Paulo. It is surrounded by the biomes Mata Atlântica, Caatinga, Amazon and Pantanal.Geology / Geomorphology
The geology of the Cerrado is quite complex envolving either Phanerozoic sedimentary basins such as Precambrian rocks of the western segment of the Atlantic Shield. Its relief, which presents medium altitudes between 300 and 600 meters, is composed of plateaus, depressions and plains. The plateaus which dominate this biome form vast plain surfaces, the so - called chapadas.Climate / Soils
The climate of the Cerrado is tropical warm and semi - humid, with just two seasons, a dry one from May to September and a rainy one from October to April. The medium annual temperatures vary between 22 and 27°C and the precipitations between 600 and 2.200 mm. The trees and brushes of the Cerrado have an appearance, that is associated with a vegetation, that grows in an environment were water is rare. But surprisingly, different from the Caatinga biome, water is not the limiting factor of the Cerrado. Even in the dry season, from 2 m depth on the earth contains sufficient humidity. The problem of the Cerrado is the lack of nutrients in the soil, the excessive acidity and the large quantity of aluminum, a toxic substance for most of the plants.Vegetation
In general, the Cerrado vegetation is categorized as savannah-type which in South America means open wooded plain. Depending on tree height and density, forested savannah (savana florestada), open wooded savannah (savana arborizada) and grass- / shrubland savannah (savana gramínea - lenhosa) is being distinguished.Savana Florestada (also Cerradão): trees 8 to 12 m tall, with a closed canopy.
Savana Arborizada (also Cerrado Común): spacious trees, about 5 m high, dominates 75% of the Cerrado.
Savana Gramínea - Lenhosa: as Campo Sujo with low shrub and Campo Limpo as pure grassland.
In addition, there are several variatons, such as gallery or riparian forests along the edges of watercourses. The Cerrado vegetation is semidecidual, which means that part of its plants loose their leaves during the dry season. Most of the plants are xerophyte (adapted to the drought and the fire), with thick and rough barks, crooked and twisted trunks and twigs, reduced leaves or spines and profound roots.