Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Pasture clearing from invasive woody plants in the Pantanal: a tool for sustainable management or environmental destruction?

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Wetlands Ecology and Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

With a total area of 160,000 km2, the Pantanal is one of the largest wetlands in South America and certainly the most famous. It is essential for the maintenance of biodiversity and is highly ranked in national and international protection plans. The ecology of the Pantanal is influenced by the annual inundation, frequent fires during the dry period, and multiple human activities. To maintain traditional low density cattle ranching, which is the economic basis for the Pantanal’s human population, the spread of woody vegetation into former pasture areas requires pasture clearing. Legal restrictions, however, have led to the confusion of pasture clearing with the illegal deforestation that has accompanied Brazil’s rapid economic development, thus creating serious conflicts between the Pantanal’s ranchers and the governmental environmental agency. This dichotomy of interests, i.e., the need to maintain habitat and species diversity while guaranteeing the livelihoods of the ranchers but warding off deforestation, can only be resolved through modern management plans that reconcile the requirements of environmental protection with the economic needs of the ranchers, who are the owners of most of the Pantanal. The key to any such plan’s successful implementation is to consider the Pantanal not as a pristine wetland, but as a valuable cultural landscape. Over the last two and a half centuries, the vegetation in large parts of the Pantanal has been altered due to the presence of cattle ranches. This has maintained its habitat diversity and multiple services to humans and to the environment, including the enhancement of species diversity. This management practice corresponds to modern approaches in other parts of the world, where low density animal grazing, sometimes in combination with mechanical removal of woody vegetation are considered powerful management tools for the maintenance of valuable cultural landscapes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ab’Saber AN (1988) O Pantanal Mato-grossense e a teoria dos refúgios. Revista Brasiliera de Geografia 50:9–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Abreu UGP, Moraes AS, Seidl AF (2001) Tecnologias apropriadas para o desenvolvimento sustentado da bovinocultura de corte no Pantanal. Embrapa Pantanal, Corumbá, p 31

    Google Scholar 

  • Assine ML, Soares PC (2004) Quaternary of the Pantanal, west-central Brazil. Quat Int 114:23–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braithwaite RW, Lonsdale WM, Estbergs JA (1989) Alien vegetation and native biota in tropical Australia. Biol Conserv 48:189–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callil CT, Junk WJ (2011) Gold mining near Poconé: environmental, social and economic impacts. In: Junk WJ, Da Silva CJ, Nunes da Cunha C, Wantzen KM (eds) The Pantanal: ecology, biodiversity and sustainable management of a large neotropical seasonal wetland. Pensoft, Sofia, pp 695–717

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferraz de Lima JA, Silva ZP, Santana M, Santana M, Berlinck CN (2011) Considerações sobre incêndios naturais na planície nundável do Parque Nacional do Pantanal Matogrossense. In: Batista AC, Biondi D, Giongo M (eds) ANAIS 5º Simpósio Sul-Americano sobre Controle de Incêndios Florestais. PREVFOG/IBAMA, Curitiba, pp 218–222

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferriter A (1997) Brazilian Pepper management plan for Florida—a report from The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Councils Brazilian Pepper Task Force

  • Fossati J, Patou G (1989) Vegetation dynamics in the fens of Chautagne (Savoie, France) after the cessation of mowing. Vegetation 85:71–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gopal B (1991) Wetland (mis)management by keeping people out: two examples from India. Landsc Urban Plan 20:53–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Herberts AL (1998) Os Mbayá-Guaicurú: área, assentamento, subsistência e cultura material. Dissertation, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos

  • Hofmann RR (2003) Zur Funktion großer Pflanzenfresser in Ökosystemen. Grundlagen zur Integration in Nationalparken. LÖBF Mitteilungen 4, Recklinghausen, pp. 29–32

  • IBGE - Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (2007) Censo Agropecuário 2006. Resultados preliminares. Ministério do Planejamento, Orçamento e Gestão-IBGE, Rio de Janeiro

  • Irion G, Buchas H, Junk WJ, Nunes da Cunha C, Morais JO, Kasbohm J (2011) Aspects of the geological and sedimentological evolution of the Pantanal plain during the Pleistocene. In: Junk WJ, da Silva CJ, Nunes da Cunha C, Wantzen KM (eds) The Pantanal: ecology, biodiversity and sustainable management of a large neotropical seasonal wetland. Pensoft, Sofia, pp 47–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Iriondo MH, Garcia NO (1993) Climatic variations in the Argentine plains during the last 18,000 years. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 101:209–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen K, Schrautzer J (1999) Consequences of abandonment for a regional fen flora and mechanisms of successional change. Appl Veg Sci 2:79–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Junk WJ (2005) Flood pulsing and the linkages between terrestrial, aquatic, and wetland systems. Verhandlungen der Internationalen Vereinigung fur Theoretische und Angewandte Limnologie 29:11–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Junk WJ, Wantzen KM (2004) The flood pulse concept: new aspects, approaches, and applications—an update. In: Welcomme RL, Petr T (eds) Proceedings of the Second international symposium on the Management of Large Rivers for Fisheries, Food and Agriculture Organization & Mekong River Commission, 2nd edn. FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok, pp 117–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Junk WJ, Bayley PB, Sparks RE (1989) The flood pulse concept in river floodplain systems. In: Dodge DP (ed) Proceedings of the international large river symposium (LARS), 1st edn. Canadian Special Publication of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Ottawa, pp 110–127

    Google Scholar 

  • Junk WJ, Nunes da Cunha C, Wantzen KM, Petermann P, Strüssmann C, Marques MI, Adis J (2006) Biodiversity and its conservation in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Aquat Sci 68:278–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Junk WJ, da Silva CJ, Nunes da Cunha C, Wantzen KM (2011) The Pantanal: ecology, biodiversity and sustainable management of a large neotropical seasonal wetland. Pensoft, Sofia

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindborg R, Eriksson O (2004) Effects of restoration on plant species richness and composition in Scandinavian semi-natural grasslands. Rest Ecol 12:318–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lourival R, McCallum H, Grigg G, Arcangelo C, Machado R, Possingham H (2009) A systematic evaluation of the conservation plans for the Pantanal Wetland in Brazil. Wetlands 29:1189–1201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Machado RB, Harris MB, Silva SM, Neto MBR (2011) Human impacts and environmental problems in the Brazilian Pantanal. In: Junk WJ, da Silva CJ, Nunes da Cunha C, Wantzen KM (eds) The Pantanal: ecology, biodiversity and sustainable management of a large neotropical seasonal wetland. Pensoft, Sofia, pp 719–739

    Google Scholar 

  • Mourão G, Coutinho M, Mauro RA, Tomas WM, Magnusson WE (2002) Levantamentos aéreos de espécies introduzidas no Pantanal: porcos ferais (porco monteiro), gado bovino e úfalos. Boletim de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento - Embrapa Pantanal 28:1–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Nunes da Cunha C, Junk WJ (1999) Composição florística de capões e cordilheiras: localização das espécies lenhosas quanto ao gradiente de inundação no Pantanal de Poconé, MT – Brasil. In: EMBRAPA (ed) Anais do II Simpósio sobre Recursos Naturais e Sócio-economicos do Pantanal, Manejo e Conservação, Corumbá, pp 134–148

  • Nunes da Cunha C, Junk WJ (2004) Year-to-year changes in water level drive the invasion of Vochysia divergens in Pantanal grasslands. Appl Veg Sci 7:103–110

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunes da Cunha C, Junk WJ (2011) A preliminary classification of habitats of the Pantanal of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, and its relation to national and international wetland classification systems. In: Junk WJ, da Silva CJ, Nunes da Cunha C, Wantzen KM (eds) The Pantanal: ecology, biodiversity and sustainable management of a large neotropical seasonal wetland. Pensoft, Sofia, pp 127–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliveira JE (1996) Os argonautas Guató: aportes para o conhecimento dos assentamentos e da subsistência dos grupos que se estabeleceram nas áreas inundáveis do Pantanal Matogrossense. Dissertation, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul

  • Oliveira JE (1999) A ocupação indigena das áreas alagáveis do Pantanal. In: Simpósio sobre Recursos Naturais e Sócio-econômicos do Pantanal: Manejo e Conservação, Corumbá, pp 507–516

  • Olson D, Dinerstein E, Canevari P, Davidson I, Castro G, Morisset V, Abell R, Toledo E (1998) Freshwater biodiversity of Latin America and the Caribbean: a conservation assessment. Biodiversity Support Program, Washington

  • Peixoto JLS, Bezerra MAO, Isquerdo SWG (1999) Padrão de assentamento das populações indigenas pré – históricas do Pantanal Sul- Mato- Grossense Pantanal. In: Simpósio sobre Recursos Naturais e Sócio-econômicos do Pantanal: Manejo e Conservação, Corumbá, pp 431–436

  • Pimbert MP, Gujja B (1997) Village voices challenging wetland management policies: experiences in participatory rural appraisal from India and Pakistan. Nat Resour 33(1):34–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Posey DA (1986) Manejo da floresta secundária, capoeiras, campos e cerrados (Kayapó). In: Ribeiro D (ed) SUMA, Etnológica Brasileira. FINEP, Petrópolis, pp 172–185

    Google Scholar 

  • Pott A (1994) Ecossistema Pantanal. In: IICA/PROCISUR. Utilización y manejo de pastizales. Montevideo, Diálogo 40, pp 31–44

  • Pott EB, Catto JB, Brum PAR (1989) Períodos críticos de alimentação para bovinos em pastagens nativas, no Pantanal Mato-Grossense. Pesquisa Agropecuária Brasileira 24:1427–1432

    Google Scholar 

  • Pratt PD, Quevedo V, Bernier L, Sustache J, Center TD (2005) Invasion in Puerto Rican wetlands by the Australian tree Melaleuca quinquenervia. Caribb J Sci 41:42–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie ME, Olff H (1999) Spatial scaling laws yield a synthetic theory of biodiversity. Nature 400:557–560

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rosa AN, Abreu UGP, Silva LOC, Nobre C, Gondo APRCV (2007) Pecuária de corte no Pantanal Brasileiro: realidade e perspectivas futuras de melhoramento. Embrapa Pantanal, Corumbá

    Google Scholar 

  • Santos SA, Pellegrin AO, Moraes AS, Barros ATM, Comastri Filho JA, Sereno JRB, Silva RAMS, Abreu UGP (2002) Sistema de produção de gado de corte do Pantanal Corumbá. Embrapa Pantanal, Corumbá

    Google Scholar 

  • Santos SA, Abreu UGP, Tomich TR, Comastri Filho JA (2011) Traditional beef cattle ranching and sustainable production in the Pantanal. In: Junk WJ, da Silva CJ, Nunes da Cunha C, Wantzen KM (eds) The Pantanal: ecology, biodiversity and sustainable management of a large neotropical seasonal wetland. Pensoft, Sofia, pp 755–774

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmitz PI, Rogge JH, Beber MV, Rosa AO (2001) Arqueologia do Pantanal do Mato Grosso do Sul - Projeto Corumbá. http://www.neppi.org/projetos/gera_anexo.php?id=1428

  • Serbesoff-King K (2003) Melaleuca in Florida: a literature review on the taxonomy, distribution, biology, ecology, economic importance and control measures. J Aquat Plant Manag 41:98–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Short NM, Blair RW Jr (1986) Geomorphology from space. A global overview of regional landforms (Cap. 4—Fluvial landforms—Pantanal, Brazil-Plate F-21), NASA A.T.I.B., Washington, DC, pp 300–301

  • SIDRA - Sistema IBGE de Recuperação Automática (2011) Censo Demográfico e da Contagem da População. http://www.sidra.ibge.gov.br/bda/popul/default.asp. Accessed 18 June 2011

  • Silva JSV, Moraes AS, Seidl AF (2001) Evolução da agropecuária no Pantanal brasileiro, 1975–1985. Embrapa Pantanal, Corumbá

    Google Scholar 

  • Stevaux JC (2000) Climatic events during the late Pleistocene and Holocene in the upper Parana River: correlation with NE Argentina and South-Central Brazil. Quat Int 72:73–85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tomas WM, Cáceres NC, Nunes AP, Fisher E, Mourão G (2011) Mammals in the Pantanal wetland, Brazil. In: Junk WJ, da Silva CJ, Nunes da Cunha C, Wantzen KM (eds) The Pantanal: ecology, biodiversity and sustainable management of a large neotropical seasonal wetland. Pensoft, Sofia, pp 565–597

    Google Scholar 

  • Vieira RS (2000) Legislation and the use of Amazonian floodplains. In: Junk WJ, Ohly JJ, Piedade MTF, Soares MGM (eds) The Central Amazon floodplain: actual use and options for a sustainable management. Backhuys Publishers, Leiden, pp 505–533

    Google Scholar 

  • Vos W, Meeskes H (1999) Trends in European cultural landscape development: perspectives for a sustainable future. Landsc Urban Plan 46:3–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • WWF Brasil (2010) Monitoramento das alterações da cobertura vegetal e uso do solo na Bacia do Alto Paraguai. http://www.wwf.org.br/informacoes/?uNewsID=25181. Accessed 14 June 2011

Download references

Acknowledgments

This paper is a result of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas e Technologia em Áreas Úmidas (INAU) financed by the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq). We gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of INAU and the logistic assistance of the State University of Mato Grosso (UFMT). The first author also received financial assistance from the State University of Amazonas (UEA), Manaus-AM, Brazil.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State University of Amazonas (UEA), Manaus, Brazil

    Wolfgang J. Junk

  2. National Amazon Research Institute (INPA), Manaus, Brazil

    Wolfgang J. Junk

  3. National Institute of Science and Technology in Wetlands (INAU), Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT), Cuiaba, Brazil

    Wolfgang J. Junk & Catia Nunes da Cunha

Authors
  1. Wolfgang J. Junk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Catia Nunes da Cunha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wolfgang J. Junk.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Junk, W.J., Nunes da Cunha, C. Pasture clearing from invasive woody plants in the Pantanal: a tool for sustainable management or environmental destruction?. Wetlands Ecol Manage 20, 111–122 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-011-9246-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11273-011-9246-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation