The Cerrado is the largest and biologically richest savanna in South America, covering central Brazil and reaching into northeastern Paraguay and eastern Bolivia across plateaus generally between 500 and 1,700 meters in elevation. Rather than uniform grassland, it forms a shifting mosaic that grades from open campo through wooded savanna to the tall, nearly closed woodland known as cerradao, growing on nutrient-poor, well-drained soils and threaded with gallery forests; characteristic woody plants include the pequi tree, Qualea grandiflora, and the trumpet tree Tabebuia ochracea. Its climate is tropical and strongly seasonal, with a pronounced dry season during the southern winter, average annual rainfall of roughly 1,250 to 2,000 millimeters, and mean temperatures around 20 to 26 degrees Celsius. The region is extraordinarily diverse, holding on the order of 10,400 vascular plant species with endemism reaching about 50 percent among plants, and the maned wolf serves as its flagship animal. Much of the Cerrado has been converted to farmland, and the expansion of agribusiness, especially soybean cultivation, remains the primary threat to its native vegetation. For gardeners, the native Tabebuia trumpet trees are among the genera from this ecoregion already valued as flowering ornamentals.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 15.0°S, 49.8°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
12b-13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
12b-13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.8°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: