The Pantanal of Mato Grosso (Brazil): World's Largest WetlandsFor a naturalist and limnologist, the Pantanal has the extreme fascination of an "ultima Thule" ofundisturbed and little known wilderness. The scientific world at large is almost unaware of its richness. In an age when scientific research is overstretched because of lack of funds and the hands are full of urgentconservationtasks, it is the amateurtourist who unveils the beauty and the interestof this largest wetland ofthe world. I had the privilege of an outsider, well enough familiarized with Brazil, its language and scientific life, but independent enough of the daily chores of a local academic career. For nearly 20 years I have been a faithful sci- entific tourist to this subcontinent. My academic liberty gave me the unique opportunity to try to synthesize in English the knowledge about Brazilian environments little known abroad. My first suchendeavourhas been"Soore- tama - the Atlantic Rain Forest of Brazil". Dealing now with the Pantanal, I wish to pay tribute to the many Brazilian colleagues who under dire and often precarious conditions have advanced the knowledge related to the Pan- tanal. By reviewing their many reports and papers written in Portuguese and bringing them to the knowledge of the international scientific community, I believe that I am doing a useful service. First of all, I have to thank Prof. Vera Lucia Imperatriz Fonseca, the Head of the Department of General Ecology at the University of Sao Paulo, for providingme during the years, the academic basefrom which I couldoperate. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Discovery | 3 |
Limits and size | 5 |
Geological data | 8 |
Local geomorphological terminology | 14 |
The climate | 16 |
River hydrology | 19 |
The Amazonian connection | 22 |
Fire in the Pantanal | 57 |
Zoogeography | 58 |
Aquatic meiofauna | 60 |
Macrobenthos | 64 |
Ichthyofauna | 65 |
Pantanal fisheries | 71 |
The herpetofauna | 72 |
The avifauna | 77 |
The flood regime | 23 |
The Pantanal lakes | 28 |
Hydrochemistry | 31 |
Soils | 34 |
Regional connections | 37 |
Introduction to the biology of the Pantanal | 38 |
Phytogeography | 41 |
Aquatic vegetation | 44 |
Terrestrial vegetation | 50 |
The mammals | 84 |
The humans in the Pantanal | 89 |
Environmental worries | 98 |
Nature conservancy and ecotourism | 100 |
111 | |
118 | |
120 | |
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Common terms and phrases
Ab'Saber Adamoli Alho alluvional Amazon Amazonian APHA units aquatic Aquidauana baías basin Biogeography Biogeography and Ecology biota birds Bodoquena Bolivia Bonetto Brazil Brazilian Cáceres Caiman camalotes Campo capim capybara cattle cerrado Chaco climate copepods Corumbá Coutinho COXIM Cuiabá Ecosystem Eichhornia endemic environment fauna Fazenda Filho fish floating plants floods freshwater Gaiba gallery forests Garça Gavião genus headwaters Heckman important Indians ISBN islands jacaré Jofre Klammer lakes Limnologica Lourenço Magalhães Mato Grosso mentioned mollusc Morros Mourão Nabileque Nhecolândia ninhais northern Pantanal oxygen Pantanal pantaneiros Paraguayan Paraná Paulo phytal piracema piranhas Plata Poconé populations Porto Prance and Schaller predators present reach reported Rio Cuiabá Rio Miranda Rio Paraguay Rio Taquari river roots salinas Salvinia São Paulo savanna Serra Silva South America species square kilometres studied subregions swamps tanal terrestrial trees tributary Tropical typical Upper Paraguay Valverde vazante vegetation waterbodies wetlands µS/cm