Native vegetation now covers less than half of the biome

The analysis of satellite images taken between 1985 and 2021 by a collaborative network of experts from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, under the coordination of MapBiomas, shows that the South American Pampa lost 20% of its grassland vegetation in the period, including 8.7 million hectares of native grasslands and 260,000 hectares of forests. The data on the transformations of this biome, which extends over more than one million square kilometers between Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, occupying 6.1% of South America, was released today (14/12) by the researchers. The new collection of annual land cover and land use maps is the most complete ever produced for the biome. The previous collection, released last year, was limited to the period 2000-2019. 

>> Access the main highlights of the South American Pampa between 1985-2021

Native vegetation now covers less than half of the Pampa (48.4%). Most of it is grassland vegetation (32%), traditionally used for livestock farming. This is a unique case in which livestock production and biodiversity conservation generally integrate productive systems with remarkable environmental sustainability. Despite this, almost half (47.2%) of the region has been replaced by agriculture, planted pastures or forest. The areas of agriculture and forestry increased by 15.3% in the period, which means around 6.8 million hectares. In terms of area, the advance of forestry was smaller: 2.2 million hectares. But this represented an increase of 363%. Native grassland vegetation, which is the natural vocation of the biome, fell from 44 million hectares in 1985 to 35.3 million hectares in 2021. 

"Several scientific studies indicate that the South American Pampa is one of the least protected and most threatened biomes on the continent, precisely because of the high rates of transformation in land cover and use and the low levels of conservation of its natural ecosystems," explains Eduardo Vélez, MapBiomas Pampa team member. Despite the fact that in 1985, when the mapped period began, at least half of it was already occupied by human activities such as agriculture, livestock, forestry and urban areas, since we are talking about a densely occupied region that is home to large cities such as Buenos Aires and Montevideo, the transformations of the last 37 years have drastically altered the landscape. The consequences of this are bad for biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as jeopardizing the regional potential to produce meat sustainably on a large scale from the biome's typical grassland vegetation.

Brazil, highest proportional loss

The country with the greatest proportional loss of grassland vegetation was Brazil, with 3.2 million hectares - the equivalent of 65 times the area of the municipality of Porto Alegre (RS). This is a loss of 34% of the area existing in 1985 in just 37 years. The main driver of this change is the expansion of agricultural areas to plant soybeans. Agricultural land use increased by 2.6 million hectares between 1985 and 2021. Forestry, on the other hand, expanded its territory by more than 700,000 hectares in this period - an increase of 1,640%. In 1985, the total area occupied by grasslands was 9.4 million hectares and rose to 62.2 million hectares in 2021. 

Argentina, biggest absolute loss

In absolute terms, however, the biggest losses of grassland vegetation were in Argentina: 3.5 million hectares - the same as 173 times the city of Buenos Aires. That's a loss of 16% of the area in 37 years. In 1985, there were 22.6 million hectares; in 2021, 19.1 million. As in Brazil, the main driver was the expansion of agricultural areas and pastures with exotic species. Agricultural land use increased by 1 million hectares. Forestry, on the other hand, increased by more than 340,000 hectares between 1985 and 2021.

Uruguay, advance of forestry

In Uruguay, the loss of grassland was also considerable: 2 million hectares, or 38 times the size of the department of Montevideo. This is a 17% drop compared to the total area in 1985, and is a combined effect of the advance of agriculture and forestry. Agricultural land use alone increased by 30% between 1985 and 2021, from 3.3 million hectares to 4.3 million hectares. But the biggest change, in percentage terms, was in forestry, which expanded its area by 625%, from 180,000 hectares in 1985 to 1.3 million hectares in 2021.

Fact sheets

• The South American Pampa covers 6.1% (109.2 million hectares) of South America;
• 66% of the mapped area is in Argentina (72 million hectares), 18% in Brazil (19.4 million hectares), and 16% in Uruguay (17.8 million hectares);
• The net loss of grassland vegetation between 1985 and 2021 was 8.8 million hectares;
• The areas of agriculture and planted pastures combined grew by 10.6%, from 44 million hectares to 48.6 million hectares and
• The area of forestry (the planting of exotic trees) increased from 645,000 hectares to 2.8 million hectares (an increase of 327%).
  
  

About Pampa

The South American Pampa covers the southern half of Rio Grande do Sul, all of Uruguay and part of Argentina, south of the River Plate. It is a region with very old anthropogenic occupation and is home to three major metropolises (Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Porto Alegre).

The biodiversity of the Pampa is characterized by the predominance of native herbaceous vegetation, known as grassland vegetation, while forests, although present, naturally occupy a smaller proportion. The region's climate varies from subtropical to temperate, with pronounced thermal seasonality (cold winters and hot summers) and no dry season (rain occurs every month of the year).

Due to the natural supply of fodder resources from the abundant grassland vegetation, beef cattle production was the region's characteristic economic activity in the early centuries of European colonization, with a strong influence on regional customs and culture. However, since the 20th century, the biome has undergone profound changes in land use, especially due to the advance of grain agriculture and, more recently, forestry. As a result, its ecosystems are among the least protected and most threatened on the continent.

About MapBiomas South American Pampa Collection 2

Com resolução de 30 por 30 metros e 8 classes na legenda, a Coleção 2 do MapBiomas Pampa Sul-Americano (1985-2021) abrange 108,9 milhões de hectares do bioma que ocupa 6,1% da América do Sul. A plataforma pode ser acessada em pampa.mapbiomas.org. As coleções do MapBiomas estão em contínuo desenvolvimento e aprimoramento. Os pesquisadores do Pampa Sul-americano, que recém-finalizaram a nova coleção ampliada e atualizada, já se debruçam sobre melhorias e novidades para novas versões.

About MapBiomas Pampa Trinacional

MapBiomas Pampa Trinacional https://pampa.mapbiomas.org/ MapBiomas South American Pampa is an initiative involving a collaborative network of experts from Argentina (Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria-INTA, Universidad Nacional de San Luis and the NGO Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina), Brazil (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and GeoKarten) and Uruguay (Faculty of Agronomy and Faculty of Sciences of the Universidad de la República, Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria-INIA and the Ministry of the Environment). The project uses Landsat satellite images (30 x 30 meter resolution) and cloud computing through the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform to produce annual maps of land cover and use with high technology and low cost. The initiative is part of the MapBiomas Network, which began in 2015 with MapBiomas Brasilmapbiomas.org.).