The Campos Rupestres montane savanna is a high-elevation Brazilian ecoregion concentrated along the ancient Espinhaço Range, stretching from northern Bahia south through Minas Gerais, with scattered enclaves in the Chapada Diamantina, Serra da Canastra, and Serra do Caparaó. Known locally as "rock fields" (campo rupestre), it is a discontinuous mosaic of grasslands, shrublands, and quartzite rocky outcrops that threads through the Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, and Caatinga biomes, with vegetation dominated by the families Velloziaceae, Eriocaulaceae, Cyperaceae, and Poaceae. The climate brings dry winters and wet summers paired with strong winds and intense solar irradiance, and plants here grow on nutrient-poor, extremely shallow and acidic soils, adapting with waxy leaf coatings, protective hairs, and fire-resistant rolled leaves. It is an exceptional center of plant endemism—roughly 30 percent of its flora is found nowhere else, and within the Velloziaceae and Eriocaulaceae about 70 percent of species are endemic—yet it remains a threatened ecoregion, with only about 26 percent under protection against mining, eucalyptus plantations, and plant extraction. For gardeners, its rocky outcrops are a natural home to orchids and bromeliads adapted to lean, fast-draining substrates.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 22.2°S, 44.9°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12a-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
12a-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.2°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
About the tropical & subtropical grasslands, savannas & shrublands biome
Warm grasslands and savannas where grasses dominate and trees are scattered, maintained by seasonal rainfall, grazing, and fire. They support large herbivore communities and respond sharply to wet–dry cycles.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.
Climate-resilient picks · 4
These plants fit this ecoregion today AND remain in range under the mid-century SSP3-7.0 projection. Lead with these for a planting that holds up as the climate shifts.
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical grasslands, savannas & shrublands ecoregions to explore: