Terrestrial vegetation

Abstract

As already mentioned above, the phytosociology of the Pantanal is well studied, although, as usual in such cases, there exist different opinions and classifications. I shall try to give an overview of this subject, using my liberty as a non-specialist. In order to simplify a very complex phytosociological picture, as presented by Veloso (1972) or by Valverde (1972), I shall largely rely on Prance and Schaller (1982) and on Dubs (1992). It is worth mentioning, that the Pantanal vegetation is often characterized by monospecific tree stands, called “parques”. Typical parques are the “paratudais” of Tabehuia caraiba, the “ carandazais” of the palm Copernicia alba (Fig. 36), ”acurizais” of the palms Attaleia spp., and “buritizais”, of the palm Mauritia vinifera. Among these dominant palm species, the first is frequent in the southern areas, while the “buriti” is encountered at the northern edge of the Pantanal.