The vegetation
The Pantanal is an interesting mixture of various kinds of landscapes, scattered all over the vast plain. The big neighbouring biospheres - the "cerrado" (bush savannah) and the Amazon rainforest - add to the biodiversity in this part of the country, with plants and animals such as the Burití palm and the Victoria-Regia waterlily, the capivara (capibara) and the blue Hyacinth macaw. The "caatinga", though usually to be found in the north-east of Brazil, is also represented (for example by the cactus species "mandaracú"). It occurs particularly on the heights of the surrounding mountains and the extensive hilly landscape. Campos
This landscape is frequent in the Pantanal. It is common both in flooded areas and in higher, drier ones. The camposes are "cleaner" in the flooded areas, meaning there are various different grass species and only few trees or bushes. Wild animals and cattle graze there in harmony during the dry season. The "campos cerrados" develop with the typical vegetation of the neighbouring ecosystem in the higher regions: crippled trees with thick bark grow in the midst of diverse grasses. Matas
Pieces of woodland interrupt the usually low vegetation of the campos. The so-called gallery forests - here they are called "matas ciliares" - accompany the course of the rivers on both sides. They love the humidity, which in the immediate proximity of the streams they can store up all through the year (they protect the rivers from erosion). Also of importance are the "capões de matas": pieces of woodland with strong old trees, which are evocative of an Amazon rainforest idyll. These "prefer" higher terrain with more fertile soil. These "capões" have names depending on the majority of the tree population: "carandazal" if most of the trees are carandas, "acurizal", if most of them are "acuris", or "piuval", if the piuvas are in majority. Further: Vegetation forms | Climate | Fauna | Tourism | Kitchen | History | Cuiaba | Chapada |
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