ABSTRACT
The Cerrado Biome is one of the world’s principal centres of biodiversity and has 6429 recorded native species of vascular plants, although according to estimates the total may be as high as 10,500. Tree and large shrub species of the savannic element (i.e. cerrado sensu lato) total c.700–1000, of which the great majority are rare: only 300 species occurred at ≥2.5% of 316 sites surveyed in the main core cerrado area and its southern and western outliers. An oligarchy of 116 species dominates the woody flora, while a total of c.340 species provides the vast majority of the vegetation cover. The cerrado woody flora probably evolved from an ancestral cerradão of endemic species to which were added a large number of species from neighbouring biomes. Multivariate analyses of the results of 376 floristic surveys produced six geographical groups: southern (principally São Paulo state); central and south-eastern, and central-western — both subdivisions of the main Planalto core area; far-western; north and north-eastern; and disjunct Amazonian. In addition, another group is linked to the presence of mesotrophic soils and is scattered across a large area of the cerrado region. The explosion of modern highly mechanized agriculture during the last c. 35 years has destroyed the natural vegetation of at least 1.3 million km2 representing about 66% of the biome’s area, and continues to expand. Major conservation initiatives to protect biodiversity hotspots and provide a representation of the geographical variation across the biome are urgent.
