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Review
. 2020 Dec 18;9(12):1803.
doi: 10.3390/plants9121803.

The Role of Vegetation on the Dynamics of Water and Fire in the Cerrado Ecosystems: Implications for Management and Conservation

Carlos A Klink  1 , Margarete N Sato  1 , Giovanna G Cordeiro  1 , Maria Inês M Ramos  1
Affiliations
Review

The Role of Vegetation on the Dynamics of Water and Fire in the Cerrado Ecosystems: Implications for Management and Conservation

Carlos A Klink et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

The Cerrado is the richest savanna and is undergoing one of the planet's most rapid land transformations for pasture and agriculture; around 45% of the biome has been deforested. Agriculture is of strategic importance to Brazil, but it also modifies ecosystems and jeopardizes habitats and biodiversity. Well-managed agricultural lands can have a favorable impact on environmental conservation. In this paper, we reviewed our current knowledge about water ecology and fire management to show that an ecosystem services perspective can bring about a conciliation of agriculture production with conservation by supporting effective land use decision-making and the optimization of public policy. The landscape/watershed scale seems to be the most relevant for decision-making on how to achieve production and conservation results. This scale appears to be an appropriate level for engaging with stakeholders. Fire frequency and timing (season) combination are determinant of individuals' survivorship. The combination determines vegetation recovery, and it is important to maintain high biodiversity, especially for the herbaceous layer, but it is a limitation to woody vegetation recovery. A pragmatic and conciliatory land use agenda must be based on scientific knowledge and support innovative decision-making solutions for policy-makers and stakeholders, particularly farmers and donors.

Keywords: ecosystem services; land use and conservation; public policies.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The Cerrado biome’s contribution to the hydrographic regions in Brazil (modified from Sano et al. [21]). The numbers refer to the proportion of each hydrographic basin within the Cerrado biome.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) The Cerrado’s main feature is the coexistence of trees and shrubs on a matrix of herbs and grasses. Riparian forests follow the stream and river margins (Photo is courtesy from Reserva Ecológica do Roncador, RECOR/IBGE, Brasília, Brazil); (b) The high species richness (number of species) and vegetation structure (height and canopy cover) shows the ecological complexity of the Cerrado.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Bulbostylis paradoxa flowering starts one day after fire, (b) Lantana montevidensis blooming one month after fire.
Figure 4
Figure 4
(a) Symplocos rhamnifolia with aerial resprouting (light damage), (b) Styrax ferrugineus with top-kill (moderate damage) after a fire in Cerrado.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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