Citizendia

Pantanal Conservation Area*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Typical Pantanal Fazenda scenery.
State PartyFlag of Brazil Brazil
TypeNatural
Criteriavii, ix, x
Reference999
Region†Latin America
Inscription history
Inscription2000  (24th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
† Region as classified by UNESCO.
This article is about a land area. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex As of 2008 there are a total of 878 World Heritage Sites located in 145 "State Parties" |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex This is a list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex For the species of wild cat, see Pantanal Cat. The Pantanal Cat ( Leopardus braccatus) is a small feline of Brazil and northern Argentina.

The Pantanal is the world’s largest area of wetlands [1][2], a flat landscape, with gently sloping and meandering rivers. A wetland is an area of Land consisting of Soil that is Saturated with Moisture, such as a Swamp, Marsh, or Bog The region, whose name derives from the Portuguese word “pântano” (meaning “swamp” or “marsh” ), is situated in South America, mostly within the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld Mato Grosso ('matu 'gɾosu is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country Mato Grosso do Sul (ˈmatu ˈgɾosu du ˈsuw is one of the states of Brazil. There are also small portions in Bolivia and Paraguay. The Republic of Bolivia (República de Bolivia) named after Simón Bolívar, is a Landlocked country in central South America. Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay ( Spanish: República del Paraguay; Guaraní: Tetã Paraguái) is one of the only In total, the Pantanal covers about 195,000 square kilometers (75,000 sq mi). To help compare Orders of magnitude of different geographical regions we list here Surface areas between 100000 km² and 1000000 km² [3]

The Pantanal floods during the wet season, submerging over 80% of the area, and nurturing the world's richest collection of aquatic plants. It is thought to be the world’s most dense flora and fauna ecosystem. An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants animals and micro-organisms( Biotic factors in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( It is often overshadowed by the Amazon Rainforest, partly because of its proximity, but is just as vital and interesting a part of the neotropic. The Amazon Rainforest (Brazilian Portuguese: Floresta Amazônica or Amazônia; Spanish: Selva Amazónica or Amazonía In Biogeography, Neotropic or Neotropical refers to one of the world's eight terrestrial Ecozones This ecozone includes South and Central America the

Contents

Geography

The Pantanal is a huge gently sloped basin that receives runoff from the upland areas (the Planalto highlands) and slowly releases the water through a single drainage channel, the Paraguay River. The Mato Grosso Plateau ( Planalto do Mato Grosso) is a Plateau in central Brazil occupying most of the state of Mato Grosso. The Paraguay River ( Río Paraguay in Spanish, Rio Paraguai in Portuguese) is a major River in south central South America The formation is a result of the large concave pre-Andean depression of the earth’s crust, related to the Andean orogeny of the Tertiary. The Andes form the world's longest exposed Mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. Orogeny (Greek for "mountain generating" is the process of natural Mountain building and may be studied as a tectonic structural event as a geographical event and The chuprichondira geological time interval covers roughly the time span between the demise of the non- avian Dinosaurs and beginning of the most recent Ice Age, approximately It constitutes an enormous internal river delta, in which several rivers flowing from the surrounding plateau merge, depositing their sediments and erosion residues, which have been filling, throughout the years, the large depression area of the Pantanal. A delta is a Landform where the mouth of a River flows into an Ocean, Sea, Estuary, Lake or another river Sedimentation describes the motion of Molecules in Solutions or particles in suspensions in response to an external force such as gravity This area is also one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger Parana-Paraguay Plain division.

The Pantanal is bounded by the Chiquitano dry forests to the west and northwest, by the Arid Chaco dry forests to the southwest, and the Humid Chaco to the south. The Chiquitano dry forests is a tropical dry broadleaf forest Ecoregion in Bolivia and Brazil. The Gran Chaco ( Quechua chaqu, "hunting land" dubbed by some as "the last South American frontier" is a sparsely populated hot and The Gran Chaco ( Quechua chaqu, "hunting land" dubbed by some as "the last South American frontier" is a sparsely populated hot and The Cerrado savannas lie to the north, east, and southeast. The Cerrado ( English: "closed" or "inaccessible" is a vast Tropical savanna Ecoregion of Brazil.

The extent of the Pantanal in Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay.
The extent of the Pantanal in Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay.

The Pantanal has an average yearly rainfall of 1,000-1,400 mm (40-55 in), but is fed by the upper Paraguay River. Its average temperature is 25 °C (77 °F), but temperatures can fluctuate from 0 to 40 °C (32 to 104 °F).

During the rainy season (December to May), the Pantanal water levels rise more than three meters. Just as annual floods on the Nile allow for fertile, farmable land, the dramatic increase of water during the rainy season nourishes the producers of Pantanal, which in turn nourishes all the other species as well. The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River Humans have taken advantage of this so much that it has become a problem. Approximately 99% of the land in the Pantanal is privately owned for the purpose of agriculture, and ranching in particular. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture A ranch is an area of landscape including various structures given primarily to the practice of ranching the practice of raising grazing livestock such as Cattle There are some 2500 fazendas in the region, with up to 8 million head of cattle. Fazenda is a Portuguese word for ' Farm ' but is used in the English language for the Coffee estates that spread within the interior of Brazil between 1840 Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family [4]

The Pantanal is a natural water treatment facility. Water treatment describes those processes used to make water more acceptable for a desired end-use It supplies freshwater to the nearby areas by removing chemicals and other pollutants from the water which flows through it. However, when this “cleaning system” becomes overloaded, species which call the Pantanal home begin to suffer. Industrial development (especially gold mining) has begun to cause these problems. "Gold mine" redirects here See Goldmine for other uses of the term

Flora and fauna

Capybara
Capybara
See also: List of plants of Pantanal vegetation of Brazil
Hyacinth Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw

This ecosystem is home to a known 3,500 species of plants, as well as over 1000 birds, 400 species of fish, around 300 species of mammals, and 480 species of reptiles, including the caiman, a species closely related to the alligator, of which there are an estimated 10 million. Capybara ( Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) also known as capibara, chigüire in Venezuela chigüiro, carpincho This is a list of Plants found in the wild in Pantanal Vegetation of Brazil. Native to central and eastern South America, the Hyacinth Macaw ( Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) or Hyacinthine Macaw, is the largest Macaw The Pantanal is a natural home for the Hyacinth Macaw. Native to central and eastern South America, the Hyacinth Macaw ( Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) or Hyacinthine Macaw, is the largest Macaw This bird is endangered due to its US$10,000 price tag on the black market. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Other threatened species include the Jaguar, Caiman, Maned Wolf, Bush Dog, Giant Otter, Giant Armadillo, Capybara, Jabiru and Brazilian Tapir. The jaguar (Panthera onca,, or—especially in British English — is a New World Mammal of the Felidae family and one of Alligators and caimans are Archosaurs Species of Crocodilians and form the family Alligatoridae (sometimes regarded instead The Maned Wolf ( Chrysocyon brachyurus) is the largest canid of South America, resembling a big fox with reddish fur For the conservative Democratic group within the United States House of Representatives, see Blue Dog Coalition. The Giant Otter ( Pteronura brasiliensis) is an amphibious mammalian Carnivore native to South America. The Giant Armadillo, also variously Tatou, Ocarro, Tatu-canastra or Tatú Carreta, Priodontes maximus is the largest This article is about the bird Jabiru mycteria from the Americas for other uses see Jabiru (disambiguation. The Brazilian Tapir (from the Tupi tapi'ira) or Anta in Portuguese also known as the Lowland Tapir ( Tapirus terrestris) is


Threats to the Pantanal

The ecosystem of the Pantanal is under threat from human activities, including uncontrolled recreational fishing, the hunting and smuggling of endangered species (caiman, panther, wild cats, parrots and macaws), uncontrolled tourism, and deforestation and forest fires for agricultural use in the neighbouring areas. An endangered species is a population of an organism which is at risk of becoming Extinct because it is either few in numbers or threatened by changing environmental or predation In recent rainy seasons, flooding has been very high and caused the inundation of many cultivated areas surrounding the park. Receding flood waters carried large amounts of pesticides into the rivers and lakes, killing a great number of fish.

Pressure for economic development (such as oil pipelines and shipping canals) is of particular concern. Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Canals are artificial channels for water There are two types of canals water conveyance canals which are used for the conveyance and delivery of water and Waterways A plan to dredge the Paraguay and Parana Rivers to allow ocean-going ships to travel far inland could have serious consequences for the ecosystem by affecting the flooding and drainage cycles. This article is about the second-longest river in South America For the shorter river in Goiás, central Brazil see Paranã River The Paraná River

Protected areas

Pantanal in flood condition, with a private fazenda visible in the background.
Pantanal in flood condition, with a private fazenda visible in the background. Fazenda is a Portuguese word for ' Farm ' but is used in the English language for the Coffee estates that spread within the interior of Brazil between 1840

Pantanal Matogrossense National Park

A portion of the Pantanal in Brazil has been protected as the Pantanal Matogrossense National Park. Pantanal Matogrossense National Park is a National park of Brazil. This 1,350 km² (520 sq mi) park was established in September 1981. It is located in the municipality of Poconé in the State of Mato Grosso, between the mouths of the Bahía de Sao Marcos and the Gurupi River. The Gurupí River is a river in north-central Brazil which forms the boundary between Maranhão and Pará states

This park has been designated a Ramsar Site of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention since May 24, 1993. The Ramsar Convention is an international Treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of Wetlands i

SESC Pantanal Private Natural Heritage Reserve

The SESC Pantanal Private Natural Heritage Reserve (Reserva Particular do Patrimonio Natural SESC Pantanal) is a privately owned reserve in Brazil, established in 1998 and 878. 7 km² (339. 3 sq mi) in size. It is located in the north-eastern portion, known as "Poconé" Pantanal, not far from the Pantanal National Park. It is a mix of permanent rivers, seasonal streams, permanent and seasonal floodplain freshwater lakes, shrub dominated wetlands and seasonally flooded forests. Despite being privately owned, the reserve is currently entirely and exclusively dedicated to nature preservation.

This park has also been designated a Ramsar Site of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention.

Main cities located inside the Pantanal

Corumbá, main center of support to the tourist
Corumbá, main center of support to the tourist

In fiction

References

  1. ^ Rhett A. Butler. Pantanal, the world's largest wetland, disappearing finds new report. mongabay. com. Retrieved on 2006-01-10. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war.
  2. ^ The World's largest wetland. The Nature Conservancy. The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable Environmental organization working to preserve the Plants, Animals, and natural communities Retrieved on 2008-01-21. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade.
  3. ^ Susan Mcgrath, photo's by Joel Sartore, Brazil's Wild Wet, National Geographic Magazine, August 2005
  4. ^ Araras Eco Lodge. Pantanal - Brazil's undiscovered wilderness. Ladatco Tours. Retrieved on 2008-01-22. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus.

External links

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