The Cerrados of Brazil - by Paulo Oliveira & Robert Marquis (Paperback)

About the Book

The massive grasslands of Brazil--known as the cerrados--which cover roughly a quarter of its land surface and are among the most threatened regions in South America, have received little media attention. This book brings together leading researchers on the area to produce the first detailed account in English of the natural history and ecology of the cerrado/savanna ecosystem. Given their extent and threatened status, the richness of their flora and fauna, and the lack of familiarity with their unique ecology at the international level, the cerrados are badly in need of this important and timely work.

Book Synopsis

While the imperiled Brazilian rainforest has been the focus of considerable international media attention and conservation efforts, the massive grasslands of Brazil--known as the cerrados--which cover roughly a quarter of its land surface and are among the most threatened regions in South America, have received little notice. This book brings together leading researchers on the area to produce the first detailed account in English of the natural history and ecology of the cerrado/savanna ecosystem. Given their extent and threatened status, the richness of their flora and fauna, and the lack of familiarity with their unique ecology at the international level, the cerrados are badly in need of this important and timely work.

Review Quotes

The Cerrados of Brazil is one of the few general works in English about the cerrados and the only major one... to be written primarily by a large group of Brazilian scientists. It is clearly the best and most comprehensive overview of the ecosystem that an English-only reader can get their hands on. The work is of consistently high quality throughout and well documented.--G. F. Guala "Plant Systematics and Evolution"

The book provides an interesting and detailed review of our current understanding of the cerrados.... A great accomplishment.-- "Southeastern Naturalist"

This excellent book is the first in English to focus entirely on the Brazilian cerrados biome... The editors and authors have succeeded in their hope to write a book that will aid and foster future cerrados research.--Noel B. Pavlovic, U.S. Geological Survey "Plant Science Bulletin"

This is an excellent book and highly recommended for economic-botanists.-- "Economic Botany"

This superbly edited volume provides a long overdue synthesis of ecological investigations of the 'cerrados' of Brazil...the book is a landmark in savanna ecology.--Daniel C. Nepstad, Woods Hole Research Center "Ecology"

About the Author

Paulo S. Oliveira is professor of ecology at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas in Brazil and was president of the Association for Tropical Biology in 1999. Robert J. Marquis is associate professor of biology at the University of Missouri in St. Louis and is currently editor of Biotropica, the journal of the Association for Tropical Biology