Campos Rupestres da Serra do Cipó - Brazil

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Basic Information

Site Name

Campos Rupestres da Serra do Cipó

Short name

CRSC

Country

Brazil

Web Address

https://sites.icb.ufmg.br/leeb/peld/

Site Manager

Geraldo Fernandes

Site Description

For over 20 years as a team of Long Term Sites in Serra do Cipó PELD-CRSC has been working to answer crucial questions of evolutionary ecology and provide a basis for understanding the spatio-temporal ecosystem functioning and it is future challenges with changes in climate and land use.

Last modified

2023-08-08 09:30:15

General Characteristics and Status

Site Status

Operational

Year Established

2009

Observed properties

Photos

Map of the study site

Geographic

View in site map

Centroid/Representative Coordinates

Latitude: -19.291999 Longitude: -43.582207

Size

ca. 100.00ha

Elevation (min)

750.00msl

Elevation (max)

1.67msl

Download

Site information [.json]

Centroid/representative coordinates [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]

Bounding Box [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]

Boundaries [.shp] [.kml] [.geojson]

Site Details

Ecosystem and Environmental Characteristics

GEO-BON Biome

Terrestrial

Biome

Grasslands

Ecosystem Type

Grasslands

Savanna

Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands

Air Temperature: Average Annual

18.00°C

Precipitation Annual

1600.00mm

Landforms

Mountain

Plateau

Valley

Geology

The geological history of the region is quite old, dating back to the Precambrian period (over a billion years ago). Quartzites, the predominant sandy rocks in the Serra, were formed by marine deposits about 1.7 billion years ago. The "riple marks", marks formed by the ripples of the sand caused by the movement of the waves are common. After the removal of the waters and the uplift of the mountains, the Espinhaço Range was formed. The alteration of the rocks gave rise, in the Cretaceous, to the soils currently occupied by the cerrados, rupestrian fields and gallery forests. The area is divided into two geosystems: the Espinhaço mountainous geosystem and the semi-mountainous geosystem of the Middle Cipó river inter-plateau basin.

Vegetation

The vegetation of the region is extremely varied and diverse and the degree of endemism is one of the highest in the world. The region is home to the most extraordinary sample of rocky outcrops in Brazil. At least three major vegetation formations (Cerrado, Mata Atlântica and Caatinga) can be defined due to geographic positioning, the varied morphology of the uneven soil and the climatic variation at different altitudes. In the research area four main types of vegetation are frequent which are: Cerrado, Campo rupestre, Atlantic forest patches (capão de mata) and gallery forests.

Soils

In the Espinhaço geosystem, if not rocky outcrops, the soils are litholic, acid and shallow. They occupy accentuated, mountainous and strongly undulating reliefs with frequent rocky outcrops, normally associated with cambisols. The phytomass is represented by rocky fields subjected to annual or periodic fires. There are stretches of gallery forests along water courses, in valley bottoms and alluvial soils throughout variations in altitude.
In the semi-mountainous geosystem of the inter-plateau basin of the Middle Cipó river, the soils found in this geosystem present an incipient B horizon (allic and dystrophic cambisols). The soils are thicker, due to the decomposition of limestone and alluvial deposits. The soils are well-irrigated and suffer flooding during the wet season and have low natural fertility and susceptibility to erosion. The phytomass comes from savannah and gallery forests.

Hydrology

The Espinhaço Range encompass a watershed between the São Francisco River and the rivers of the Brazilian east coast. Several rivers of regional relevance have their sources in the Serra do Cipó National Park or in the Morro da Pedreira APA. The rugged relief of the region favors the formation of several waterfalls, natural pools and/or rapids of great scenic value. Due to the abundance of these water bodies, tourist visitation is extremely common, exerting strong human pressures on the fragile ecosystem.

Protection Level and Land Use

Protection Level (IUCN category)

Category II – National Park

Category VI – Protected Area with sustainable use of natural resources

Land Use

primary production

tertiary production

tertiary production » community services

tertiary production » cultural entertainment and recreational services

other uses

other uses » areas without any specified planned use

other uses » natural areas not in other economic use