ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the contribution of the Cerrados region to the national agricultural production and the impact of the conversion of Cerrados to cropland and pastures. The Cerrados region occupies an area of 204 million hectares, localized mostly in the midwest region, and in small areas fringing other regions, such as the northeast and north. “Cerrados” is a denotation for a savanna region where the vegetation is characterized by a high physiognomic diversity. Soils from the Cerrados region contain medium to high contents of organic carbon. The transition from Cerrados natural vegetation to agroecosystems results in soil organic carbon decay and its consequences, such as soil, water and nutrient losses, soil structure degradation and decrease of water availability. Undoubtedly pasture can stock organic carbon in soil despite the high respiration rate, which is counterbalanced by the formation and protection of physically protected organic pools in soil due to a highly developed and voluminous deep root system.
