The environmental triangle of the Cerrado Domain: Ecological factors driving shifts in tree species composition between forests and savannas

Researchers propose the 'Cerrado Vegetation Triangle,' a novel model that characterizes woody vegetation in Brazil's Cerrado Domain based on tree species composition and ecological drivers. The study analyzed 1,165 inventories across six vegetation types—woody savannas, dystrophic cerradão, mesotrophic cerradão, seasonally dry tropical forests, semideciduous forests, and evergreen forests—and found three distinct extremes: high-water-availability forests (semideciduous and evergreen), fertile-soil forests (seasonally dry tropical), and poor-soil savannas. Mesotrophic cerradão acts as a transitional type. The findings underscore the role of local substrate heterogeneity and fire history in shaping vegetation mosaics, offering insights for conservation under environmental change.

Bueno, M. L., Dexter, K. G., Pennington, R. T., Pontara, V., Neves, D. M., Ratter, J. A., & de Oliveira‐Filho, A. T. (2018). The environmental triangle of the Cerrado Domain: Ecological factors driving shifts in tree species composition between forests and savannas. Journal of Ecology, 106(5), 2109–2120. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2745.12969