Concept
Campo limpo
Also known as: campo limpo, Cerrado grassland, open grassland physiognomy, campo sujo
The open-grassland extreme of the Cerrado gradient — near-treeless, fire-frequent grass-and-herb fields holding the biome's richest plant diversity per square metre. The least visibly impressive and most under-protected Cerrado physiognomy, and the one whose deep-rooted grassland flora most flatly contradicts the idea of the Cerrado as empty land.
Campo limpo is the open-grassland end of the [[cerrado|Cerrado]] gradient — the face of the biome with almost no trees at all.
What’s distinctive
A continuous sward of grasses, sedges and forbs with scattered shrubs at most; campo sujo and campo cerrado are the slightly woodier steps from here toward [[cerrado-sensu-stricto|typical cerrado]]. It looks like the least of the Cerrado and is in fact among its richest: open Cerrado grasslands hold some of the highest plant diversity per square metre on Earth, almost all of it in deep-rooted perennials — the [[fire-adapted-flora|underground forest]] with the trees subtracted.
It is also the least defended. Conservation instinct protects what looks like forest; treeless grassland reads as “available,” so campo limpo is disproportionately converted and disproportionately absent from protected areas, even though it cannot be recreated once ploughed.
Why this entry
Campo limpo anchors the open end of the gradient with [[cerrado-sensu-stricto|cerrado sensu stricto]] and [[cerradao|cerradão]], and carries the argument that the Cerrado’s grasslands are ancient biodiversity, not vacant frontier. It is the strongest single rebuttal to “empty land.”
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[cerrado-sensu-stricto]] · [[fire-adapted-flora]]
- Contained by: [[cerrado]]
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
Scientific
shares approach with
- Cerrado sensu stricto the open grassland end of the same density gradient
- Cerradão the open-grassland opposite end of the same gradient
contains
- Cerrado the open-grassland end of the structural gradient
Cultural
stewards
- Geraizeiros the open upland gerais grazed and gathered in common is the campo-limpo/campo-cerrado the community defends
4 inbound links · 3 outbound