Cerrado

The Cerrado (Portuguese: "thick", "dense") is a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil.

Related Topics:
Portuguese - Tropical savanna - Ecoregion - Brazil

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The Cerrado covers an area of 1,916,900 km² (740,100 square miles), including the state of Goiás and the Federal District, most of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Tocantins, the western portions of Minas Gerais and Bahia, the southern portion of Maranhão and Piauí, small portions of São Paulo and Paraná, and extends into northeastern Paraguay and eastern Bolivia. The Cerrado accounts for 22% of Brazil's area, an area the size of Alaska.

Related Topics:
State - Goiás - Federal District - Mato Grosso - Mato Grosso do Sul - Tocantins - Minas Gerais - Bahia - Maranhão - Piauí - São Paulo - Paraná - Paraguay - Bolivia - Alaska

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The cerrado is characterised by an enormous range of plant and animal biodiversity, but these natural riches are increasingly threatened by single-crop plantations (monoculture; particularly soybeans), the expansion of agriculture in general, and coal mining.

Related Topics:
Biodiversity - Monoculture - Soybean

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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug has described the cerrado as one of Earth's last remaining arable frontiers for the expansion of agriculture.

Related Topics:
Nobel Peace Prize - Norman Borlaug

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