Wetlands Ecol Manage (2015) 23:285–292

DOI 10.1007/s11273-014-9380-4

ORIGINAL PAPER

Vereda and Murundu wetlands and changes in Brazilian

environmental laws: challenges to conservation
Vania Rosolen • Diego Alves de Oliveira •

Guilherme Taitson Bueno

Received: 24 January 2014 / Accepted: 26 August 2014 / Published online: 3 September 2014
Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Abstract Vereda and Murundu wetlands are wide-
spread in the Cerrado (Brazilian savannah). The
wetlands occupy topographic depressions on the flat
plateau, which are permanently or seasonally water-
logged, with topsoil that has high contents of organic
matter and endemic fauna and flora. These systems are
important for regulating the water flux in the riverine
network. Despite their environmental importance, the
wetlands are largely neglected in planning policy,
environmental legislation and scientific research,
resulting in their degradation by the expansion and
intensification of agriculture. In the studied catchment,
a typical tropical savannah landscape and a region of
typical agribusiness land use in the state of Minas
Gerais was considered, where the Vereda and Murun-
du ecosystems are completely surrounded by agricul-
ture. The transition zone between dry and wet soils is
the most fragile and susceptible to degradation
because it is subjected to the continuous expansion
of land tillage. If the agribusiness model deployed in
the region is responsible for the increase in wetland
destruction, then changes in regulatory laws to define
and preserve permanent preservation areas in the
Brazilian Forest Code, for the years 1934, 1965, 1989
and in the two versions from 2012, are an impediment
to the effectiveness of forest and wetlands protection
and the policy of sustainable development.

V. Rosolen (&) Keywords Wetlands  Vereda and Murundu 

Department of Petrology and Metallogeny (DPM),
Cerrado  Forest code
University of State of São Paulo (UNESP), Av. 24A,
1515, CP: 178 Bela Vista, Rio Claro, SP CEP: 13506-900,
Brazil
e-mail: vrosolen@rc.unesp.br
Introduction
D. A. de Oliveira
Institute of Geography (IG), Federal University of
Uberlândia (UFU), Av. João Naves de Ávila, 2121, Wetlands composed of Vereda and Murundu are
Campus Santa Mônica, Uberlândia, MG CEP: 38408-100, widespread in the Cerrado (Brazilian savannah) but
Brazil
are largely neglected by planning policy, environ-
e-mail: oliveira.diegoalves@gmail.com
mental legislation and scientific research, reasons for
G. T. Bueno its degradation. Vereda and Murundu are regional
Department of Geography, Pontifı́cia Universidade terminology, like dambo in the African savannah (von
Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC-Minas), Av. Itaú, 505,
der Heyden and New 2003). Murundu (or covoal)
Bairro Dom Cabral, Belo Horizonte,
MG CEP 30.535-012, Brazil corresponds to vegetated micromounds, which con-
e-mail: gtaitson@ig.com.br stitutes a mosaic of the Cerrado woodland (cerrado

123
286
sensu stricto). In the landscape, Murundus stand out as
distinct geomorphological features that are circular or
elliptical in shape. They are located in the headwaters,
in a higher topographic position than the veredas,
which are located along the flat thalwegs. The creation
of the earth mounds (Murundus) is attributed to abiotic
factors (i.e., hydrological/geomorphological pro-
cesses), biotic factors (i.e., termite activities), and
mixed abiotic/biotic genesis (Ponce and Cunha 1993).
Veredas are hillside marshy wetlands located in the
riparian zone of streams; they are considered geomor-
phological features because they only occur along
shallow kilometer-long valleys that are easily recog-
nized by the presence of the Buriti palm (Mauritia
flexuosa) (Wantzen et al. 2006; Augustin et al. 2009;
Wantzen et al. 2012).
In many parts of the developed or developing world,
wetland landscapes are not conserved or integrated
harmonically in socio-economic projects. They were
drained for agriculture and are rarely considered in
urban-cultural landscape planning (Roberts 1988;
Tilton 1995; Klink and Machado 2005; Ewing et al.
2012). They constitute in a fragile ecosystem, and
overgrazing and intensive cropping degrades the
vegetation, affects the hydrology, encouraging soil
erosion and changes the morphological and chemical
soil properties (Roberts 1988, Ewing et al. 2012).
For conservation purposes, some functions of the
Vereda and Murundus wetlands in Cerrado need to be
highlighted. These wetlands (1) contribute signifi-
cantly to the biodiversity by having endemic fauna and
flora; (2) they have a ‘‘sponge effect’’, buffering the
changes in the discharge due to local rainfall events;
(3) store soil carbon; (4) filter residues of fertilizers
and pesticides used in agriculture; (5) provide fiber
and fruits for traditional communities. Most local
population of fauna and flora are associated only with
wetlands and thus vulnerable to extinction (Gibbs
2000). A large numbers of organisms of different
taxonomic groups (algae, protozoa, crustaceans,
insects, reptiles, amphibians and birds) and many
species of plants from the family of Gramineae,
Asteraceae, Cyperaceae and Palmae has living in these
habitats (Gibbs 2000, Barberi et al. 2000, Sousa et al.
2013). A whole host of organisms makes use of
wetlands to establish populations, forage and disperse,
which implies that ecological interactions in such
environments are extremely complex and important
(Sousa et al. 2013).
123
Wetlands Ecol Manage (2015) 23:285–292
The Brazilian portion of the Cerrado originally
covered 2 million km2, but the cleared area amounted
to 956.654 km2 in 2011 (MMA 2011). Until recently,
statistical data on wetland conversion, degradation and
a plan for restoring previously converted cropland did
not exist, despite their geographic extension in the
Brazilian territory (approximately 30 % of the total
area) and their diversity and economic importance
(Junk et al. 2013).
In 1996, the Brazilian government subscribed to the
Ransar Convention, which recognized several ecolog-
ical functions of wetlands. Nevertheless, on the
plateaus of central Brazil, these areas are impacted
by the intensive agriculture which is advancing to
detriment of the wetlands. Furthermore, the absence of
environmental policy and planning, as a result of
several changes in the Federal Environmental Laws
(or Forest Code) since 1934, has contributed to losses
in wetland areas and changes to its soil and vegetation
characteristics.
The present Brazilian Forest Code has adopted the
Permanente Preservation Area (APP), the Legal
Reserve (RL) and the Conservation Units (National
Parks and Indian Reserves) as specially protected
territorially areas. They correspond to areas covered
by native vegetation in order to protect water bodies,
the landscape, soils, biodiversity, gene flow and ensure
wellbeing of the human population. Within this
context, the RL is necessary to the sustainable use of
the natural resources, to the conservation and rehabil-
itation of the ecological processes, to the biodiversity
conservation and to the shelter and protection of the
native fauna and flora within rural properties (Klink
and Machado 2005, Wantzen et al. 2006). The
requirement of RL in the private property varies
according the biome, e.g. in the biome Cerrado
(including Minas Gerais State) it must represent
35 % of the total area, which must remain forested.
The APP is a legal instrument to ensure the protection
especially in zones around hydric bodies, e.g. along
and within the border of rivers, natural and artificial
lakes, dams and wetlands. The Federal law no 9.605 of
1998 punish with criminal and administrative sanc-
tions the actions harmful to the environment, including
deforestation of RL and APP. Also, Brazilian states
and municipalities develop additional environmental
laws which can not be most permissive than the federal
law. The State of Minas Gerais has its own legislation
for the conservation of its forests and biodiversity
Wetlands Ecol Manage (2015) 23:285–292
Fig. 1 Geographical
location of study site—Alto
Uberabinha basin- at plateau
Uberlândia-Uberaba (Minas
Gerais state)
(Law no 14.309 of 2002), as well as the municipalities
of Uberlândia and Uberaba (both containing territory
in the studied catchment).
The objective of this paper is to evaluate the land
use policy for the Cerrado and the expected uncer-
tainty for wetlands conservation related to changes in
regulatory federal laws for the environmental protec-
tion that occurred in 1934, 1965, 1989 and 2012.
Materials and methods
Study area
The Uberabinha catchment (18°560 to 19°260 S and
47°500 to 48°90 W) is located in a sedimentary flat
plateau in the western part of Minas Gerais state, in
Brazil, between the cities of Uberaba and Uberlândia.
This plateau is a segment of the Brazilian Central
Plateau, covered by Cerrado vegetation (Fig. 1). The
study area has 728, 43 km2 and corresponds to the
upper stream of the catchment.
Located at an altitude of 1.050 m, the climate is
characterized by a pronounced dry season (from May
to October) and rainfall during summer months (from
November to April). The average annual rainfall is
1516 mm and the average annual temperature is
23 °C. The geology of the Uberabinha catchment is
characterized by sandstone with carbonate and iron-
287
clay levels of the Marı́lia formation of the Bauru group
(upper Cretaceous) (Nishiyama 1989). The soil cover
is composed of yellow-reddish Oxisol in well-drained
parts of the plateau and Gleysol in imperfectly drained
areas corresponding to Vereda and Murundu. The soils
have a low pH (approximately 5) and are composed of
kaolinite clay, gibbsite, and residual quartz (Correa,
1989). Before the land conversion, the plateau was
mainly covered by open savannah (Cerrado sensu
stricto), adapted to a prolonged dry season (Fig. 2).
Veredas and Murundus are enclaves within open
savannah, showing distinctive physiography and ecol-
ogy (Oliveira and Ratter 2002). Both are subject to
flooding according to the rise and fall of groundwater
following the alternating wet and dry seasons. They
are dominated by dense herbaceous stratum and a
diverse range of shrubs, sedges and the presence of
buriti (Mauritia flexuosa) (only in vereda) (Oliveira
and Ratter 2002).
The history of the current land use started in the
beginning of the 1970s. Intensive agriculture was
driven by governmental policy and a private interest to
connect the Brazilian central region with the industri-
alized southeast and, especially, to introduce Brazilian
agriculture in a global economy by adding technolog-
ical development such as machinery and agricultural
inputs (Brossard and Lópes-Hernández 2005). Large
areas of native open savannah were cleared to
introduce monoculture of soybean, corn and cotton,
123
288 Wetlands Ecol Manage (2015) 23:285–292

Fig. 2 Satellite images showing the wetlands in Cerrado surrounding by agriculture. See that only the central area of murundu is
relatively preserved

improved pastures and, in recent years, the expansion

of sugarcane for biofuel. Initially, cultivation occurred
in dry and well-drained lands (Oxisols). After, the
governmental program Provarzeas (National Program
for the Use of Irrigable Floodplains—Federal Decree
no 86146/81), promoted by the military government
during the 1980s, encouraged and financed farmers to
drain wetlands for agricultural expansion or to culti-
vate rice in waterlogged soils. Partially because of this,
and for the necessity to expand land for occupation,
the transition soil (histic soil) between the dryland
(Oxisol) and wetland (Gleysol) was used.
In this study, an analysis of the current land use and
the potential risk to impact wetlands was made on the
basis of the normative protection of Permanent
Preservation Areas (APPs), which was contemplated
in a regulatory framework of APPs in Brazil. In order
to evaluate the impacts on wetlands in the Uberabinha
catchment, four versions of the APP regulations were
analyzed: the first was created by the Federal Decree
no 23.793, in 1934 (Brasil 1934); the second was
created by Federal Law no 4771, in 1965 (Brasil
1965); the third was created by Federal Law no 7.803
in 1989 (Brasil 1989); and the last version corresponds
to Federal Law no 12.651 of 2012 (Brasil 2012), which
was responsible for the regulation and protection of Fig. 3 Current land use and the potential risk to impacted
natural vegetation cover in Brazil. The last version of wetlands in the Alto Uberabinha basin

123
Wetlands Ecol Manage (2015) 23:285–292 289

the Federal Law no 12.651 was modified in 2013 to APP OCCUPIED UNTIL APP NOT OCCUPIED

provide more flexibility in the possible land use in the JULY 22, 2008 UNTIL JULY 22, 2008

APP. Also, to assess the land use, the lineation of the

2012

2012
1934

1965

1989
DIMENSION DISTANCE (m or ha)
wetlands, the calculation of their area and their (MF*)

(1)

(2)
For up
corresponding APP, considering 50 m from the wet- 5 For up to 1
to 10
5 30 30

lands border as required to Forest Code, was made a 8 1-2 10 - 50 50 50

5a
51 - 100
15 2-4 100 100
map (Fig. 3) on from satellite images (RapidEye of 11 RIVER
200
201 -
august of 2009) with spatial resolution of 5 9 5 m. 20 -
600
200 200
More than 4 More 100
The georeferencing was made using the topo map 100
than 500 500
600
(scale of 1:50.000 from Instituto Brasileiro de Geog- For up

25% of the vegetation

5 For up to 1 No
rafia e Estatı́stica—IBGE). The Geographic Informa- to 1
For up
8 1-2 50
tion System used was the IDRISI (16:01 version, Clark NATURAL to 20
POND More
Labs, 2009). It was made an enhancement and a 15 2-4
than 21
100
Urban Urban
colorful composition from the bands blue 30 More than 4
Area Legislation
30

(440–510 nm), red-edge (690–730 nm) and near- 15 All

SPRING
50 50
(Nascente)
infrared (760–810 nm). The composition highlights 30 For up to 4
VEREDAS 50
50 More than 4
the contrasts between wetlands and other forms of land For up
No
use during the dry season. The digitization of data and to 1
ARTIFICIAL More
30 - 100
the calculation of the respective land uses were POND than 21
Urban Urban
performed in ArcGIS (ESRI, 2012). The delineation Area Legislation
15 - 30
o
1934 – Decree n 23.793 Without definition of protection range
of the APP was made creating buffer polygons around Protection range defined in the environm
1965 – Federal Law no 4.771
wetlands specifying 50 m of distance from their license
2012 - Federal Law no (1) 12.651 and (2) 12.727;
1989 – Federal Law no 7.803
borders. *MF = Fiscal Module

Fig. 4 Comparative laws of the APP in Brazilian Forest Code

Results and discussion
In the studied catchment, the conversion from natural
vegetation to agriculture represents 57 % of the total
area, whereas mining, pasture and planted forest
(pinus) correspond to 15.5 %. The sum of all activities
corresponds to 529.36 km2. The Cerrado occupies
only 0.3 % or 2.28 km2 and the non-converted wet-
lands occupy 27 % or 196.79 km2. The land use
mapping (Fig. 3) shows that the transition zone
between the dry and wet soils is the most sensitive
area to degradation.
The process of land conversion and land use in the
catchment violates the current Brazilian Forest Code
ratified in 2012, especially regarding to the establish-
ment of the APPs, which impose a preservation zone
of 50 meters between the swamp and dry soils,
maintaining the natural vegetation and prohibiting
human use. The uncertainties in this document
regarding the Vereda and Murundu wetlands help to
clarify the social and environmental conflicts
generated.
The status of the APP has changed: e.g., in size and
width in 1934 (Decree no 23.793), 1965 (Decree no
in 1934, 1965, 1989 and 2012 * Since the last version of the
Forest Code (2012), the punishment for impacts in the APP
discriminates two groups: (1) those that deforested until July of
2008 are free from the responsibility of restoration because the
areas are considered to be ‘‘areas of consolidated agriculture’’;
and (2) those that deforested after July of 2008 and are under
assessment (payment and restoration)
4.771), 1986 (Decree no 7.511) and 1989 (Decree no
7.803); by the Provisional Measure no 2.166–67 in
1986; by the resolutions of the Environmental
National Council (CONAMA) no 302 and 303 of
2002 (CONAMA—Conselho Nacional Do Meio Am-
biente 2002); and, finally, by the Federal Law no
12.651 that was modified in 2012 through the Federal
Law no 12.727 (Fig. 4).
The first version (1934) of the Forest Code (Federal
Law no 23.793) was created exclusively to protect the
natural vegetation cover, forbidding landowners from
clearing more than 75 % of the property, and it did not
define the zones with special interest to conservation,
e.g., river floodplains or high gradient slopes. The
original version of the legislation was in place until
1965, when the concept of APPs was introduced for
the protection of sensitive areas (Federal Law no
4.771). However, the law’s nature and place in

123
290
preserving the forest has not been defined. In the second
version of the Forest Code (1965), the APP was
considered to be a narrow area (5 m) along rivers and
natural or artificial lakes (art. 2 and 3). The APP around
water sources was mentioned but its area was not
determined. The replacement of the Forest Code of 1934
by the Forest Code of 1965 resulted in a decrease in the
total area for environmental preservation. The advance-
ment in this code (1965) was the enlargement of the
concept of the biodiversity protection, highlighting that
all protected areas (including APPs) could only be
changed by law, prohibiting any land use that may alter
the integrity of the elements of the natural environment.
In both codes, the establishment of the APP in Vereda
and Murundu wetlands was not mentioned or consid-
ered. That set of laws that accomplished this change
between 1965 and 1986 corresponded to the beginning
of the period of clearing and converting the Cerrado to
agriculture in the studied area. The expansion and
intensification of agriculture began in a period when any
legislation about APPs was absent. In 1989, the new
writing of the Forest Code determined the enlargement
of APPs and established that they would be delimitated
according to the maximum flood level of rivers. Only in
2002 the status, importance and regulation of the APP
were determined by National Council on the Environ-
ment (CONAMA). In this resolution, the category of the
vereda and its APP was defined, which is the area of
50 m from the swamp soil (in the transition between dry
and wet soils). However, the CONAMA resolution does
not have the authority of federal law and it generated
judicial doubts about its application in Brazilian terri-
tory, diminishing the effectiveness of preservation.
The variety of legal instruments and the institution’s
uncertainty led to high judicial insecurity among
landowners about the laws, as well as well as about
the state action in controlling deforestation with
regards to the periodically changing limits of the
APPs. It is possible to admit that until 2002, the APP
laws did not have any social effectiveness because the
various regulations passed in the previous seventy-
eight years were sometimes more permissive and other
times more restrictive. The amount of time required for
a landowner to adapt to new legislation is slower than
the time it takes for rules to change, implying a real
conflict of interest for preservation.
In fact, until 2012 there was no national policy that
regulated the protection and management of wetlands
including Vereda and Murundu. In 2012, the last version
123
Wetlands Ecol Manage (2015) 23:285–292
of the Forest Code, which, for the first time in 78 years,
regulated all of the limits and categories of the APP,
including vereda, was passed. The negative feeling
regarding the preservation of the APPs is the establish-
ment of legal concepts, such as consolidated agricul-
tural areas, alternative land use, the permission to use
APPs as areas of public utility and social interest,
thereby admitting human activities in the APP. This new
conception results in a reduction of the total area to be
preserved (Fig. 4). The Murundu ecosystem is not
recognized in the Forest Code and its preservation was
not secured until recently, thus increasing the gap
between scientific knowledge, policy and decision
makers. The absence of the Murundu ecosystem in the
legislation reflects the incomplete implementation of
wetland inventories and wetland classification in Brazil,
as noted by Junk et al. (2013). Additionally, as reported
by Matiza (1994), a shared feeling about the importance
of these wetlands does not exist, making the recognition
of their importance for conservation more difficult.
This situation is only part of the problem related to the
conservation of the Vereda and Murundu in the
Triângulo Mineiro region. The other part could be
attributed to a lack of effectiveness of the Brazilian
environmental laws for territorial planning. Presently,
farmers appeal to the Public Ministry of Justice for
situations of judicial insecurity or follow the environ-
mental law of the Minas Gerais state (PL 276/11), which
is, in some aspects, more flexible concerning the APP.
Conclusions
The delineation and rate of conversion and degrada-
tion of wetlands in the Cerrado are unknown and there
is a gap between Brazilian legislation, knowledge of
the scale of degradation, the damage to the physical,
social, cultural and economic features, and any
proposition for sustainable land management. The
agribusiness has contributed to the loss of wetlands;
however, the constant changes in Brazilian environ-
mental laws are an impediment to forest protection
effectiveness and the policy of sustainable develop-
ment. Particularly, the revisions in status of the APP
have contributed to generate insecurity for the land-
owners who must adapt to receive economic incen-
tives, reducing its effectiveness.
The challenge to fully protect wetlands is to achieve
a balance between environmental preservation and
Wetlands Ecol Manage (2015) 23:285–292
economic exploitation. Agribusiness imposes a model
of agriculture that demands expansion and intensifi-
cation, clearing and converting areas of natural
vegetation despite their importance for providing
environmental services, especially in the Cerrado,
which is considered to be a frontier propitious to the
continuous expansion of agriculture and pastureland.
Thus, the conflicts generated among landowners,
legislators and conservationists have resulted in dis-
agreements about the delimitation of wetland borders
(the dry-wet soil transition), which must be considered
to establish any territorial planning. An additional
conflict is the fact that the Murundu, which was not
introduced into the Forest Code, as was the vereda,
needs to be preserved and free from human activities
within 50 m of its border. Despite the exigency, the
imposition of legislation is not respected because of
the absence of surveillance and, in rare cases, disobe-
dience is reported. It is evident that the vulnerability of
wetlands is linked to Brazilian political and economic
choices. Many damages are not reversible, but polit-
ical efforts to plan land use according to well-defined
environmental legislation helps to protect the remain-
ing Vereda and Murundu areas as well as the
ecosystem services provided by them.
Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank FAPESP
(Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo—
Proc. n° 2014/001131-4) and FAPEMIG (Fundação de Apoio à
Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais—Proc. n°. CRA-APQ-
01103-11) for supporting this research.
References
MMA—Ministério do Meio Ambiente (2011). Plano de ação
para prevenção e controle do desmatamento e das quei-
madas: Cerrado. http://www.mma.gov.br/estruturas/201/_
arquivos/ppCerrado_201.pdf. Accessed 15 Aug 2012
Augustin CHRR, Melo DR, Aranha PRA (2009) Aspectos
geomorfológicos de vereda: um ecossistema do Bioma do
Cerrado. Brasil Rev Br Geom 10(1):103–114
Barberi M, Salgado-Labouriau ML, Suguio K (2000) Paleo-
vegetation and paleoclimate of ‘‘Vereda de Águas Emen-
dadas’’, central Brazil. J South Am Earth Sci 13:241–254
Brasil (1934) Decreto Federal n 23.793, de 23 de janeiro de 1934.
Aprova o Código Florestal. http://www.planalto.gov.br/
ccivil_03/decreto/1930-1949/d23793.htm. Accessed 27 Jan
2013
Brasil (1965) Lei Federal n 4.771 de 15 de setembro de
1965. Institui o novo Código Florestal. http://www.
planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/leis/L4771.htm. Accessed 27
Jan 2013
291
Brasil (1989) Lei Federal n°s 7.803 de 17 de julho de 1989.
Altera a redação da Lei n8 4.771, de 15 de setembro de
1965, e revoga as Leis n8s 6.535, de 15 de junho de 1978, e
7.511, de 7 de julho de 1986. https://www.planalto.gov.br/
ccivil_03/leis/l7803.htm. Accessed 27 Jan 2013
Brasil (2012) Medida Provisória n° 571, de 25 de maio de
2012. Altera a Lei no 12.651, de 25 de maio de 2012, que
dispõe sobre a proteção da vegetação nativa; altera as Leis
nos 6.938, de 31 de agosto de 1981, 9.393, de 19 de
dezembro de 1996, e 11.428, de 22 de dezembro de 2006;
revoga as Leis nos 4.771, de 15 de setembro de 1965, e
7.754, de 14 de abril de 1989, e a Medida Provisória no
2.166-67, de 24 de agosto de 2001. http://www.planalto.gov.
br/ccivil_03/_Ato2011-2014/2012/Mpv/571.htm. Accessed
27 Jan 2013
Brossard M, Lópes-Hernández D (2005) Des indicateurs
d’évolution du milieu et des sols pour rendre durable
l’usage des savanes d’Amérique du Sud. Nat Sci Soci
13:266–278. doi:10.1051/nss:2005041
CONAMA—Conselho Nacional Do Meio Ambiente (2002)
Resolução 303, de 20 de março de 2002. Dispõe sobre
parâmetros, definições e limites de Áreas de Preservação
Permanente. http://www.mma.gov.br/port/conama/res/
res02/res30302.html. Accessed 27 Jan 2013
Correa GF (1989) Les microreliefs ‘‘murundus’’ et leur envi-
ronment pedologique dans l’ouest du Minas Gerais, region
du plateau central bresilian. Ph.D. Thesis, Université de
Nancy I, France
Ewing JM, Vepraskas MJ, Broome SW, White JG (2012)
Changes in wetland soil morphological and chemical
properties after 15, 20, and 30 years of agricultural pro-
duction. Geoderma 179–180:73–80
Gibbs JP (2000) Wetland loss and biodiversity conservation.
Cons Bio 14(1):314–317
Junk WJ, Piedade MTF, Lourival R, Wittmann F, Kandus P,
Lacerda LD, Bozelli RL, Esteves FA, Nunes da Cunha C,
Maltchik L, Schöngart J, Schaeffer-Novelli Y, Agostinho
AA (2013) Brazilian wetlands: their definition, delineation,
and classification for research, sustainable management,
and protection. Mar. Freshw. Ecosyst, Aquatic Conserv.
doi:10.1002/aqc.2386
Klink CA, Machado RB (2005) Conservation of the Brazilian
Cerrado. Conserv Biol 19(3):707–713 Machado
Matiza T (1994) Wetlands in Zimbabwe: an overview. In:
Matiza T, Crafter SA (eds) Wetlands Ecology and Priori-
ties for Conservation in Zimbabwe: Proceedings of a
Seminar on Wetlands of Zinbabwe. Published by IUCN,
Switzerland, The IUCN Wetlands Programme, pp 3–10
Nishiyama L (1989) Geologia do Municı́pio de Uberlândia e
áreas adjacentes. Soc Nat 1:9–16
Oliveira AT, Ratter JA (2002) Vegetation physiognomies and
woody flora of the cerrado biome. In: Oliveira AT, Marquis
RJ (eds) The cerrados of Brazil: ecology and natural history
of a neotropical savanna. Columbia University Press, New
York, pp 91–120
Ponce VM, Cunha CN (1993) Vegetated earthmounds in trop-
ical savannas of Central Brazil: with special reference to
the Pantanal do Mato Grosso. J Biogeogr 20(2):219–225
Roberts N (1988) Dambos in development: management of a
fragile ecological resources. J Biogeogr 15:141–148.
doi:10.1046/j.1365-2699.2001.00594.x
123
292
Sousa FDR, Elmoor-Loureiro LMA, Galvão LM (2013) Cla-
docerans (Crustacea, Anomopoda and Ctenopoda) from
Cerrado of central Brazil: inventory of phytophilous
community in natural wetlands. Biota Neotrop
13(3):222–229
Tilton DL (1995) Integrating wetlands into planned landscape.
Land Urb Plan 32:205–209
von der Heyden CJ, New MG (2003) The role of a dambo in the
hydrology of a catchment and the river network down-
stream. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 7(3):339–357. doi:10.5194/
hess-13-1299-2009
123
Wetlands Ecol Manage (2015) 23:285–292
Wantzen KM, Siqueira A, Cunha CN, Sa MFP (2006) Stream-
valley systems of the Brazilian Cerrado: impact assessment
and conservation scheme. Aquatic Conserv: Mar Freshw
Ecosyst 16:713–732. doi:10.1002/aqc.2386
Wantzen KM, Couto EG, Mund EE, Amorin RSS, Siqueira A,
Tielbörger K, Seifan M (2012) Soil carbon stocks in
stream-valley-ecosystems in the Brazilian cerrado agres-
cape. Agr Ecosyst Environ 151:70–79. doi:10.1016/j.agee.
2012.01.030