Forests in the South Brazilian Grassland Region

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

Authors

  • Rodrigo Scarton Bergamin
  • Martin Molz
  • Milena Fermina Rosenfield
  • Joice Klipel
  • Larissa Donida Biasotto
  • Joao André Jarenkow
The southern region of Brazil is characterized by the dominance of extended grasslands. However, the landscape also contains different types of forests, such as Araucaria forests in the Atlantic Forest domain and Seasonal forests in the Pampa domain. This chapter addresses different elements of these forests in the South Brazilian grassland region. Based on a database of 139 forest sites with a total number of 675 tree species, all located in grassland-dominated landscapes, we analyzed the influence of current environmental and historical drivers on tree species richness and forest community composition. Our results show that only current environmental drivers, such as temperature seasonality, influence tree species richness, whereas both current environmental and historical drivers influence community composition. Further, we present examples of ecosystem functioning and services of these forests regarding water balance, carbon stocks, and soil productivity. Finally, we show landscape-level changes of forest cover. Across the region, forest cover increased in the last 35 years. However, this was driven by Seasonal forests in the Pampa region, while the Araucaria forests in the Atlantic forest region decreased in cover. We consider that the implementation of actions to restore mosaics of forests and grasslands in landscapes that were degraded is urgent. Despite their biological importance by harboring many floristic elements from different biogeographical affinities, the South Brazilian grassland region, including its forests, remains neglected in terms of biodiversity conservation.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationSouth Brazilian Grasslands : Ecology and Conservation of the Campos Sulinos
EditorsGerhard Ernst Overbeck, Valério de Patta Pilar, Sandra Cristina Müller, Glayson Ariel Bencke
Number of pages31
Place of PublicationCham
PublisherSpringer Schweiz
Publication date15.12.2023
Edition1
Pages385-415
ISBN (print)978-3-031-42579-0
ISBN (electronic)978-3-031-42580-6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15.12.2023
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2024. All rights reserved.

    Research areas

  • Biodiversity conservation, Biodiversity drives, Biodiversity managment, Disturbance effects on biodiversity, Ecology of subtropical grassland, Grassland conservation, Grassland management, Human impact on biodiversity, Land-use change, Landscape management, Natural resources, Sustainable regional development
  • Biology
  • Ecosystems Research