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Similar vegetation structure in protected and non-protected wetlands in Central Brazil: conservation significance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2015

SUZANA N. MOREIRA ,
PEDRO V. EISENLOHR ,
ARNILDO POTT ,
VALI J. POTT  and
ARY T. OLIVEIRA-FILHO
SUZANA N. MOREIRA*
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Botânica, PO Box 486 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
PEDRO V. EISENLOHR
Affiliation:
Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Faculdade de Ciências Biológicas e Agrárias, Campus de Alta Floresta, PO Box 324, Alta Floresta, MT, Brazil
ARNILDO POTT
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, PO Box 554, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
VALI J. POTT
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, PO Box 554, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil
ARY T. OLIVEIRA-FILHO
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Departamento de Botânica, PO Box 486 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
*
*Correspondence: Suzana N. Moreira Tel +55 31 3409-2688 Fax +55 31 3409-2688 e-mail: suzannanevesmoreira@gmail.com
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Summary

Appropriate legislation based on in-depth ecological evidence is essential for ecosystem conservation. Wetland areas in the Brazilian Cerrado hotspot are facing difficulties in terms of status under environmental law: only those wetlands with the palm Mauritia flexuosa (veredas) are recognized as protected. Comprehensive fieldwork in central-western Brazil (72 50-m transects) coupled with both exploratory and confirmatory analyses showed that communities with (MP) and without (MA) M. flexuosa are similar in terms of the floristics and ecology. The results demonstrate that the analysed wetlands are part of a continuum, in which a gradual replacement of species and community structure occurs without a pattern related to physiognomy. Considering such floristic and structure patterns when legally defining the ecosystem would promote a more comprehensive and realistic view of the ecosystem's characteristics and functions, and result in laws with a stronger scientific support. Conservationists should further examine the lack of consistent separation of plant community attributes between the MP and MA areas, and reconsider the scientific definition of veredas.

Keywords

BrazilCerradoenvironmental legislationlegal protectionsavannahveredaswetland
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 42 , Issue 4: Thematic section: Tradable Rights in Conservation , December 2015 , pp. 356 - 362
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2015 

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