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Savanna turning into forest: concerted vegetation change at the ecotone between the Amazon and “Cerrado” biomes

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Abstract

In the “Cerrado”–Amazon ecotone in central Brazil, recent studies suggest some encroachment of forest into savanna, but how, where, and why this might be occurring is unclear. To better understand this phenomenon, we assessed changes in the structure and dynamics of tree species in three vegetation types at the “Cerrado”–Amazon ecotone that are potentially susceptible to encroachment: open “cerrado” (OC), typical “cerrado” (TC) and dense woodland (DW). We estimated changes in density, basal area and aboveground biomass of trees with diameter ≥ 10 cm over four inventories carried out between 2008 and 2015 and classified the species according to their preferred habitat (savanna, generalist, or forest). There was an increase in all structural parameters assessed in all vegetation types, with recruitment and gains in basal area and biomass greater than mortality and losses. Thus, there were net gains between the first and final inventories in density (OC: 3.4–22.9%; TC: 1.8–12.6%; DW: 0.2–8.3%), in basal area (OC: 8.3–18.2%; TC: 2–12.7%; DW: 2.3–8.9%), and in biomass (OC: 10.6–16.4%; TC: 1–12%; DW: 5.2–18.7%). Furthermore, all vegetation types also experienced net gains in forest and generalist species relative to savanna species. A decline in recruitment of savanna species was a likely consequence of vegetation encroachment and environmental changes. Our results indicate, for the first time based on quantitative and standardized multi-site temporal data, that concerted structural changes caused by vegetation encroachment are occurring at the ecotone between the two largest biomes in Brazil.

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Acknowledgements

The Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and Foundation for Sponsor Research in Mato Grosso (FAPEMAT) granted FB Passos, PS Morandi, SM Reis, EC Neves and F Elias scholarships. The Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) funded the PELD Project: “Cerrado”–Amazon Forest transition: ecological and socio-environmental basis for conservation (phases I and II—Processes 558069/2009-6 and 403,725/2012-7). The team of the Laboratory of Plant Ecology (LABEV) of the University of the State of Mato Grosso helped with data collection in the field. The owners of Fazenda Santa Marta and Fazenda Nossa Senhora da Guia, in Ribeirão Cascalheira, state of Mato Grosso granted permission to access the study area. OLP is supported by an ERC Advanced Grant (T-Forces) and is a Royal Society-Wolfson Research Merit Award holder. TRF is supported by a NERC Grant (NE/N011570/1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia, Rede BIONORTE, Campus de Nova Xavantina, MT, 78690-000, Brazil

    Fábio Barbosa Passos & Paulo Sérgio Morandi

  2. Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso – UNEMAT, Campus de Nova Xavantina, MT, 78690-000, Brazil

    Beatriz Schwantes Marimon, Eder Carvalho das Neves, Fernando Elias, Simone Matias Reis, Bianca de Oliveira & Ben Hur Marimon Júnior

  3. School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Oliver L. Phillips

  4. College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Ted R. Feldpausch

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  1. Fábio Barbosa Passos
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Correspondence to Beatriz Schwantes Marimon.

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Passos, F.B., Marimon, B.S., Phillips, O.L. et al. Savanna turning into forest: concerted vegetation change at the ecotone between the Amazon and “Cerrado” biomes. Braz. J. Bot 41, 611–619 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-018-0470-z

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