Semi-humid: The Landscape of Central Brazil

Abstract

The Semi-humid landscape unit occupies thecentral area of Brazil. Regionally known as theCerrado, it is characterized by two contrastingseasons, namely dry winter and moist summer,which maintain typical savanna vegetation.Topographically, the Semi-humid landscapepresents low-range relief developed over oldterrain of main cratons and sedimentarybasins. However, in its central area, theCentral Plateau is located over an old orogenof Neoproterozoic age. This plateau is thecore area of the Semi-humid region, which, excluding the Amazon basin, marks the divideof the other three main Brazilian watersheds:the Paraná, the São Francisco and theTocantins/Araguaia system. This landscapeunit was not in the target focus of anthropicimpacts until the 1960’s, when the city ofBrasília, the new capital of Brazil, was built inthe Semi-humid heartland. The Semi-humidregion is currently under rapid transformationand is one of the world’s main food-producingareas because of its evolved and permeablesoils, mainly Ferralsols. The area’s savannaswere thus gradually transformed by broadgrazing farms and grain-producing latifundia.