Relationships among vegetation, geomorphology and hydrology in the Bananal Island tropical wetlands, Araguaia River basin, Central Brazil

The Bananal Plain spreading on the Middle Araguaia River basin in Central Brazil at the Cerrado–Amazonia ecotone is a unique system that sustains the largest seasonal wetlands of the Cerrado biome. The huge Bananal Plain is an intracratonic sedimentary basin filled with Pleistocene sediments of the Araguaia formation. Covering approximately two million hectares, the Bananal Island is a major geomorphologic feature of the Bananal plain. Fieldwork and the analysis of a temporal series of MODIS–VI and Landsat ETM images allowed us to discriminate Cerrado phyto-physiognomies on the Bananal Island. Maps of vegetation and geomorphologic units were created, and from the correlation between landforms and vegetation types we identified morpho-vegetation units.Our approach allowed us to postulate that Pleistocene landforms strongly influence, if not dominate, the distribution of vegetation units.For example, the distribution of current gallery forest is not only controlled by active floodplains, but also by alluvial belts abandoned by avulsion. Additionally, arboreal Cerrado vegetation is supported by laterite developed on the sediments of the Araguaia Formation. Some of these inactive landforms are in part modified by the present day geomorphologic processes and colonized by successional vegetation that varies from alluvial forest to Cerrado.Characterized by a very flat landscape with a hindered drainage, the muddy sediments of the Araguaia Formation and the high seasonal rainfall favor the development of regional seasonal wetlands.The Bananal plain is a key area for understanding the Quaternary climatic and biogeographic changes in tropical South America. The control exerted by relict Quaternary landforms on the current vegetation units demonstrates the strong links between geomorphologic aspects of the landscape and ecological patterns. This multidisciplinary approach provides a better understanding of the biogeographic patterns in the Cerrado–Amazon ecotone, which is useful for identifying and designing areas for conservation.

► We analyzed the Bananal plain a key Quaternary archive of tropical South America.
► The Bananal is one of the most important seasonal wetlands of South America.
► The relation among geomorphology and vegetation was assessed.
► Paleoforms control the current distribution of vegetation units.