Brazilian “campos rupestres"

The Brazilian “campos rupestres” sensu lato include montane, grassy-shrubby, fire-prone vegetation mosaics with rocky outcrops of quartzite, sandstone or ironstone (i.e., banded iron formation such as itabirites and cuirasses known as canga) along with sandy, stony and waterlogged grasslands. It occurs in eastern and central Brazil but a few disjunct areas are also found in the country’s interior, as well as in Bolivia. Campo rupestre is rich in plant species (5000 – nearly 15 % of Brazil’s flora occupying just 0.8 % of the land area) and endemics (up to 80 % in some taxa). Patches of transitional vegetation such as cerrado, gallery forests, and relictual hilltop forests also occur within the campo rupestre landscape. Campo rupestre sensu stricto can be defined as grassland mosaic and associated vegetation on the rocky outcrops. Major current threats to campo rupestre are opencast mining, annual anthropogenic burning to support cattle breeding, wood extraction, invasive species, overharvesting of ornamental species and uncontrolled urbanization.