The biodiversity of the Amazonian savannahs may be lost before it is known, unless scientists, conservationists and policymakers come together quickly to protect it.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Amazonian savannas are an integral part of Brazil’s Amazon “biome”: implications for environmental policies
Discover Conservation Open Access 27 March 2025
-
Origin of sandy substrates controlling the distribution of open vegetation ecosystems in Amazonia
Scientific Reports Open Access 01 October 2024
-
Unaccounted for nonforest vegetation loss in the Brazilian Amazon
Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 21 August 2024
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
$32.99 / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 digital issues and online access to articles
$119.00 per year
only $9.92 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout


References
Strassburg, B. B. N. et al. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 1, 0099 (2017).
Silva, J. M. C. & Bates, J. M. BioScience 52, 225–234 (2002).
Barbosa, R. I., Campos, C., Pinto, F. & Fearnside, P. M. Funct. Ecosyst. Communities 1, 29–41 (2007).
Plotkin, R. L. & Riding, S. Geogr. Helv. 3, 183–192 (2011).
Sanderson, E. W. et al. Conserv. Biol. 16, 58–72 (2002).
Ministério do Meio Ambiente Portaria 126, de 27 de Maio de 2004 (2004); http://go.nature.com/2l47PId
Nepstad, D. et al. Conserv. Biol. 20, 65–73 (2006).
Fearnside, P. M. Science 353, 746–748 (2016).
Diniz, A. M. A. & Santos, R. Cad Geografia 15, 23–44 (2005).
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia Área plantada, área colhida, quantidade produzida, rendimento médio e valor da produção das lavouras temporárias (2016); http://go.nature.com/2mvQ1TA
Vera-Diaz, M. C., Kaufmann, R. K. & Nepstad, D. C. The Environmental Impacts of Soybean Expansion and Infrastructure Development in Brazil's Amazon Basin (Global Development and Environment Institute, 2009).
Silva, E. Revista Globo Rural 371, 28–33 (2016).
Mayle, F. E., Langstroth, R. P., Fisher, R. A. & Meir, P. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 362, 291–307 (2007).
Fernandes, G. W. et al. Nat. Conservação 14, 146–151 (2016).
Ministros assinam contrato que estuda ligação de RR ao Pará pela BR-210. GLOBO G1 (27 June 2016); http://go.nature.com/2lYa3sa
Mittermeier, J. C., Zyskowski, K., Stowe, E. S. & Lai, J. E. Bull. Peabody Mus. Nat. Hist. 51, 97–122 (2010).
Barni, P. E., Fearnside, P. M. & Graça, P. M. L. A. Env. Manage. 55, 259–278 (2015).
Turcios, M. M., Jaramillo, M. M. A., do Vale J. F. Jr, Fearnside, P. M. & Barbosa, R. I. Glob. Change Biol. 22, 190–197 (2016).
Barbosa, R. I. & Fearnside, P. M. Forest Ecol. Manage. 204, 371–384 (2005).
Acknowledgements
We thank H. R. da Silva for comments on this manuscript. W.D.C. was supported by a post-doctoral scholarship (Programa Nacional de Pós Doutorado, PNPD) from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçomento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
W.D.C. conducted the literature search to quantify the number of studies carried out in the Amazonian savannahs. K.M. conducted the GIS analyses to calculate total areas, and areas protected. Both authors contributed equally to the ideas and writing of the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Methods; Supplementary Table 1; Supplementary References (PDF 271 kb)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
de Carvalho, W., Mustin, K. The highly threatened and little known Amazonian savannahs. Nat Ecol Evol 1, 0100 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0100
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0100
This article is cited by
-
Amazonian savannas are an integral part of Brazil’s Amazon “biome”: implications for environmental policies
Discover Conservation (2025)
-
Community structure, biomass, and tree species composition across soil and fire gradients in a threatened Amazonian savanna
Plant Ecology (2025)
-
Origin of sandy substrates controlling the distribution of open vegetation ecosystems in Amazonia
Scientific Reports (2024)
-
Functional diversity and trait-environment relationships of bat assemblages in an Amazonian forest-savannah mosaic
Biodiversity and Conservation (2024)
-
Unaccounted for nonforest vegetation loss in the Brazilian Amazon
Communications Earth & Environment (2024)