Pantanal | Biomas do Brasil | Ep.1

In 1516, a Portuguese known as <i>Aleixo Garcia</i> and his ship ended up running aground in the Brazilian coast and was helped by a few natives. They lived there for a while and those natives told him about the wealth that existed inland. Of course, he got greedy, gathered some natives and decided to explore the Brazilian inland.

As soon as he arrived, he saw a lot more than precious stones, they came across one of the most gorgeous landscapes of the world. <i>Aleixo Garcia</i> was the first European to discover the region we're about to study, so put some blood in that eye, because today there's Pantanal for you! In order to film this lesson about the Pantanal, I traveled 1420 miles, oh yeah!

Leaving <i>Florianopolis</i> towards the region of <i>Porto Jofre</i> in the state of <i>Mato Grosso</i>. Where's located the national park of <i>Encontro das Aguas</i>. A true ecological paradise.

Regarded as a national treasure, the Pantanal is a huge flatland located almost in the middle of South America. This biome occupies the areas of Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil. Whereas here, it's present in the states of <i>Mato Grosso</i> and <i>Mato Grosso do Sul</i>.

Now before I start talking about the Pantanal, you must understand what's a Biome. So write it down: a Biome is nothing more than a large geographic space in which we have an uniform climate, soil and vegetation. So a Biome, is a large natural space that has a characteristic vegetation, you lay your eyes on it, you see the type of vegetation and you know that it's a type of Biome.

Of course, this vegetation only exists because of the climate and soil available there. In other words, the plants that grow in a place where the soil is deep and dry, are different from the plants that grow in another place where the soil is moist and shallow. This is what's going to establish the types of Biome we have here in Brazil.

We have 6 big biomes in Brazil: The Amazon, the <i>Cerrado</i>, Atlantic Forest, <i>Caatinga, Pampa</i> and the beautiful <i>Pantanal</i>. Now, do not mistake ecosystem for biome! Sometimes you use to say that biome is a "set of ecosystems", which is not wrong, but the ecosystem is any place, any space in which you have interactions between the abiotic and biotic factors.

In other words, the interaction between temperature, moisture, water, nutrients with the living beings. Any place having those, can be called ecosystem. And such ecosystem can be both natural and artificial.

Case in point, an aquarium is an ecosystem. Doesn't it occur interaction between the living beings and abiotic factors in there? Then you can call it an ecosystem.

So bear in mind that Biome is indeed, an ecosystem! Now, not all ecosystem is a biome, in other words, not all ecosystem is big, has a well defined vegetation, a climate, so these are terms a little bit different which you usually want to bring together to explain the same thing. Most likely your mother told you one day, not to judge someone by its size.

If you already heard that, she was probably talking about the Pantanal. Because it occupies less than 2% of the Brazilian territory, but it has one of the largest biodiversities of the planet. Biodiversity is nothing more than the number of species you find in a region.

So there's diversity here, there's a lot of animal species, plants, fungi, bacteria, therefore we regard it as a large biodiversity. The Pantanal is one of the largest floodplains of our planet and this picture here is worth a thousand words from Jubilut. Take a look, a big flatland with its flooded areas.

The great question is: Why does the Pantanal flood so much? Basically due the surrouding landscape of this biome, we have many ridges, many mesas, so during the rain season, the rain will fall over these mountains and guess what happens. The water concentrates in this flatland here.

That's one of the reasons that cause these floodings here in the Pantanal. You may even regard the Pantanal as a pool. The pool's edge is supposed to be the ridges and mesas.

So whenever you pour water over the edge, where does it concentrate? At the bottom of the pool. The Pantanal is supposed to be the bottom.

As long as we're talking about rain, let's talk a little about the Pantanal climate, which is a tropical climate, in other words, it's hot and moist and it's exactly the high temperature and moisture that will weigh in on the type of vegetation we will find in the Pantanal biome. The average temperature here is about 20 degree Celsius and the rainfall index may vary from 1000 to 1500 mm per year. Now, the most important is that you bear in mind that here in Pantanal we have a rain season that goes from November to March, more or less, and then, a drought season that goes from April to September, more or less.

Because it's this rain season that causes the Pantanal to flood and the drought will cause it to recede, that's what's going to influence the species that live here. Because such species need to be adapted in order to survive in an area that's flooded half the year and dried during the other half. Here we have a nice sample of the Pantanal soil, which is usually arenaceous, in other words, the sediments are not so tied up.

Another interesting detail regarding this soil here, is that it's rather impermeable, which means - actually it's not impermeable per se - it's slightly permeable. That means, the water has difficult to infiltrate this soil, which facilitates the flooding processes that take place in this biome. Another interesting detail here, is that we see various spots in this soil layer, which are sediment deposits.

Year after year, with the floods, the rising levels, the sediments were deposited, so there's a layer here, then there's another and another, displaying the flood cycles of the Pantanal. An interesting detail is that in many areas of the Pantanal, we'll find an arenaceous soil, but in other areas we find soils with more tied up sediments, a more argillaceous soil, so here in this biome you can find both arenaceous and argillaceous soils. These floodings, these ebb tides that occur, are quite important because the Pantanal rivers carry a ton of sediments and of course, these sediments will carry nutrients such as phosphor, magnesium, sulfur, which are quite important for the development of the vegetation.

So whenever the tide rises, it will deposit these sediments all over the Pantanal and then it starts to recede during the drought, the water evaporates, but the nutrients stay in the soil, which makes the soil here in the Pantanal to be extremely fertile, plus, whenever the tide rises and then when it recedes, it ends up depositing organic matter in the soil, and this organic matter ends up working as a fertilizer that helps the development of the regional vegetation as well. So bear in mind that the Pantanal soil is rather fertile and that's also one of the reasons we have such a big biodiversity of plants in this region. In order for you to understand better, come with me because I want to show you this river, which is the <i>Cuiaba</i> river.

If you care to notice, it's got muddy waters, which means it's carrying a ton of sediments, which are also carrying a ton of nutrients and of course, sharing these nutrients throughout the Pantanal soil. A rather interesting detail I noticed here - I'm in this area for a few minutes - is that this is a recent sediment deposit. Because right now I'm in the period that's the end of the rain season and the beginning of the drought.

So the river started to lower its volume and here we have a newly formed deposit of sediments. Hence when I step on the ground, a bunch of air bubbles start to come out. Why?

Because this sediment here, was deposited right on top of a vegetation, thus the soil still too large, it's not compacted yet, hence the bubbles. Analyzing it further, another thing I noticed, is that if I pick some mud, we're able to see the sediment deposit, and the decomposing organic matter, thus this is pure nutrient for the plants. As soon as this place dries, this will give subsidy for the plants to develop and of course, besides the fact that we have a heavily fertile soil in the Pantanal, we have litterfall over the surface in forest areas, this residue made by dead leaves, dead animals.

This is undergoing decomposition by fungi and bacteria and forms this we call humus - mind you that humus is the fertilizer of many forests. So all of it is going to be nutrient, which will infiltrate the soil and be absorbed by the plants that exist here. So a nutritious soil plus decomposing humus - buddy, that's why you have plenty of plants here in the Pantanal.

Come back here with me, these holes in the ground are other interesting detail. Do you know what are these? These are nests of a bird known as <i>martin-pescador</i>, which by the way it's mad at me, hiding up there, just waiting for me to leave to return to its nest.

Some nests might as well be empty, with some snake inside just waiting for me to walk in front of it, to attack me - I'm kidding! Another interesting detail is that although the Pantanal has a high biodiversity, the endemic rate is low, in other words, the number of endemic species found in the Pantanal is low. <i>" - Ah, but Jubijubao, what is an endemic species?

"</i> It's a species that can only be found in a given region, only there, nowhere else in the world you're able to find this species. The reason being is that the Pantanal is a recent biome, thus, you don't have the necessary timespan for new species to rise. So the species we have here, are also found in other Brazilian biomes.

So do not forget! The Pantanal is a biome, but is also a mix of biomes that are around it, the Amazon; the <i>Cerrado</i>; the <i>Chaco</i>, which is a biome quite similar to the <i>Caatinga</i> you'll find in Argentine and will find in Paraguay, and even the Atlantic Forest itself, all those biomes will influence the Pantanal. So sometimes you walk through the thick vegetation that reminds me of the Amazon, then you walk around here, which is a more spaced vegetation with crooked trees that remind me of the <i>Cerrado</i>, which by the way is the biome that most influences the Pantanal, and even sometimes you walk and see a cactus, something that reminds of a <i>Chaco</i> vegetation, in other words, the Pantanal is a huge mosaic.

Now, the landscape that most defines the Pantanal is this one right here, these small lagoons spread across the underbrush, birds galore, screaming the whole time, This looks just like Pantanal. Now let's talk about "philosophy of life", here with Jubijubao. We are here in the Pantanal, where the soil is fertile, the climate is hot, has moisture, has plenty of fresh water.

Do you think the vegetal biodiversity here is high or low? Obviously is very high, there are 2000 species of angiosperms alone, now an interesting detail is that most of the species of plants we have here are not endemic, in other words, they are not plants we'll only find here. They are plants found in other biomes of Brazil, such as the Amazon, the <i>Cerrado</i>, the Atlantic Forest, so we could say the Pantanal is a mosaic of vegetations from other Brazilian biomes.

Here in this biome, we find several types of vegetal formations, such as the ones formed in permanently flooded areas, besides vegetal formations that are developed in areas that are flooded from time to time, we have vegetal formations that are established by the riverbank, and even forest formations located in areas not affected by floodings. Here we have another landscape common to the Pantanal, which are these areas that remain permanently flooded, and of course, where we'll find an abyss of aquatic plants - the Pantanal has one of the largest biodiversities of the planet. When it comes to these plants, that do have an awesome adaptation, which is the presence of a tissue known as aerenchyme.

This tissue stores air and allows for the plant to float in the water. Another interesting detail is this plant here, the <i>aguape</i>, which has very pilous roots and is a very important plant for this biome. Why?

Because it's got a huge capacity to absorb nutrients and heavy metals from the water, therefore the presence of such plant in the region prevents ecological issues such as the eutrophication and the process of bioaccumulation. Mind you that the <i>aguape </i> are quite utilized by the birds that build their nests on top of these plants. Check out how cool!

Here we are - as I already told you - in the beginning of the drought season and the river is receding. It already left its deposit of sediments and organic matter on this side of the riverbank. And the first plants thriving in this newly started environment in this drought season, are grasses, the powerful grass, it's always the pioneer in the environment that's surfacing to develop.

And here you see the predominance of grass, of herbaceous plants, which are smaller plants, so that later on it gives conditions for the development of new plants in here. Other type of vegetation quite common here in the Pantanal, it's the riparian forests which is this vegetation we have here on the riverbanks. Here you have the predominance of herbaceous plants, which are big trees such as the fig tree, right behind me.

Another type of vegetation is the gallery forests, which are nothing more than riparian forests that arch over the river. As long as this river is a little bit wider, this vegetation is unable to arch over it, but if you get in a narrower river you will see how the vegetation arches over it and that's a gallery forest. It's worth mentioning that this type of vegetation here, riparian forests, gallery forests, are quite important for the animal species that utilize this type of vegetation to move around, many times from one biome to another, case in point, a jaguar can utilize this type of vegetation to reach the Cerrado, in the border of the Pantanal.

Now we are in a forest area of the Pantanal, this one here is located in a higher region not flooded by the river during the rain seasons. Thus of course, you have the possibility of forests formation and you have the possibility of developing larger plants, a more arboreous vegetation, here beside me we have an exemplary of palm tree known as <i>acuri</i>, which produces a fruit and there's a seed inside this fruit that's food for the blue macaw. Here we have another plant which is the fig tree - big fig tree - a large plant, a very respectable plant which is known as the mother-plant.

Why? Because as long as it's big, it casts shadow and many animals look forward to hide from the sun, and many times the feces of these animals carry the seeds of other plants of the Pantanal and these seeds are dropped here in a protected soil, a shadowed soil that's got plenty of organic matter formed by the remains of dead leaves from this tree, so these plants end up thriving here. In other words, it's called "mother-plant" because it's the mother of other plants that exist here, actually for making possible an environment that allows the development of these plants and the formation of a forest.

If you doubt that a bird can transport seeds take a look at this picture, that's right, that's poop, it's bird poop. Look these little balls, they are the seeds the bird ate, a seed already fertilized. Guys check this out, I find this awesome but I'm filming in this area more into the forest and our guide spotted something quite interesting: Here we have tapir footprints, the biggest Brazilian mammal, a herbivorous animal, so it came here - tapir footprints.

It came here to drink some water, to get refreshed. If you follow its footprints, here we have jaguar fooprints. So the tapir came to drink water, walked here and the jaguar came along and is following the tapir tracks Needless to say that very likely this tapir is no longer alive.

Here in the Pantanal we also have homotypic landscapes, in other words, where we have the predominance of only one vegetal species, such as the <i>cambara</i> right behind me. So we're able to find various <i>cambara</i>, you also have areas in which you will find one type of palm tree, the <i>caranda</i>, thus, several <i>caranda</i>. You have other places where you will only find the <i>paratudo</i>, which is a plant utilized by the local people as medicine, hence the name <i>"paratudo"</i> a pun meaning "for all diseases".

I don't know whether it's for all diseases, but for some! So this happens, and usually these homotypic vegetal formations, in other words, of only one type, only thrive in places already degraded. Case in point, long time ago, there was a ranch behind me, so these plants thrive in areas where other plants aren't able to thrive.

That's why they are important, because they will create the conditions so that other vegetal species are able to thrive and of course after a while, you will have the formation of a forest, later on. Guys, here we can lovely observe how this river flow will influence the Pantanal vegetation. So here the river just receded and what we have is a deposit of sediments.

There are nutrients here, there's organic matter here. In time, this will become this: the grass starts to grow. After a while, this space becomes this and later on this becomes that forest there, if the water allows.

Because next year the water rises again and most of it will be destroyed. <i>"- But Jubijubao, will these plants die</i> <i>whenever the river level rises? "</i> Great question.

Actually, most plants of the Pantanal need to be adapted in order to survive the rain season and the draught period as well. Case in point, some aquatic plants will float and follow the water flow, so there's no problem whether the river is deep or shalow because they will always follow the flow of the water. Another example of survival we have here, are plants that keep themselves partially buried during a bad season and when it starts to rain again, this underground portion starts to germinate and it thrives again.

Another adaptation we have, are plants that "know" they are going to die - yes, plants are that smart - but before they die, because very likely the river level will rise or because it will be too dry, they drop their seeds here. And the seeds inside this soil, will be dormant until they find a favorable situation to germinate. Guys, I just invaded a ranch <i>- oh my god, I'm gonna get shot!

</i> Actually the owner arrived, he's got a small ax on his hip but he said it's cool, I can film this part here. Why did I invade the ranch? Why am I risking my life here?

Because there are plenty of blue macaws in here and I came in to check them out and realized why there are so many of these birds here, which are endangered species. First off, there's this palm tree here, the <i>acuri</i>, and its fruit produces a seed that's food for the blue macaw. And right beside.

. . there's the <i>manduvi</i>, which is where the blue macaw likes to build its nest.

So there's a place to nest and there's food, that's why they are here in this region. Now an interesting detail is that the toucan loves to eat the fruits of this tree, the <i>manduvi</i>. And of course, as the toucan eats the fruits, it ends up spreading the seeds of this plant throughout the Pantanal.

Thus the toucan is very important for the maintenance of the population of a tree that's utilized to build macaw nests. In other words, the toucan is helping the blue macaw without even knowing. But there's a problem: whenever the toucan comes over to eat <i>manduvi</i> fruits, it also eats the eggs of blue macaw, if there's nest.

What a friend! The toucan eats about 50% of the eggs laid by blue macaws, so this guy really loves to eat their eggs. So notice the lovely ecological relationship, in a given time the toucan helps the macaws, and in the other moment it harms them.

Stuff you will only find here in the Pantanal. And since we're talking about animals, just so you know they will be the great subject of our next video lesson, all in all, there's no need to say it was a treat to be here with you, a big hug, bye! <b>Subs: <i>msfreelancer</i></b> http://tinyurl.