Pantanal

Pantanal

      floodplain in south-central Brazil that extends into northeast Paraguay and southeast Bolivia. It lies mainly within the Brazilian estados (states) of Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The Pantanal is one of the world's largest freshwater wetlands, and the extent of its dynamic area is estimated to be from 54,000 square miles (140,000 square km) to 81,000 square miles (210,000 square km). The wetlands extend for about 375 miles (600 km) north-to-south along the banks of the upper Paraguay River and several of its tributaries, including the São Lourenço and the Taquari rivers.

      The Pantanal is a gigantic seasonal floodplain. During the summer rainy season (November–March), the rivers overflow their banks and flood the adjacent lowlands, forming shallow lakes and innumerable swamps and marshes and leaving islandlike areas of higher ground. During the drier winter season (April–September), the rivers withdraw into their banks, but the lowlands are only partially drained. The sediments carried by the floods confer great fertility on the Pantanal's soils, which support scattered trees, rushes, and grasses and a rich assortment of wildlife consisting of more than 600 species of birds, 200 species of fishes, and many mammals and reptiles. The Pantanal's grazing lands have supported cattle raising, but by the late 20th century the activities of gold miners and farmers in surrounding areas, and the effects of poachers and tourists in the Pantanal itself, threatened to upset the wetlands' delicate ecology.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • pantanal — s. m. Grande pântano …   Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa

  • pantanal — sustantivo masculino 1. Terreno pantanoso …   Diccionario Salamanca de la Lengua Española

  • pantanal — f. Tierra pantanosa …   Diccionario de la lengua española

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  • Pantanal — Lage Pantanal Das südamerikanische …   Deutsch Wikipedia

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  • Pantanal — Aire de conservation du Pantanal * Patrimoine mo …   Wikipédia en Français

  • pantanal — ► sustantivo masculino GEOGRAFÍA Terreno pantanoso. * * * pantanal m. Tierra pantanosa. * * * pantanal. f. Tierra pantanosa. * * * ► masculino Terreno cubierto de aguas estancadas y poco profundas …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Pantanal — Pantanạl   [portugiesisch »Sumpf«, »Morast«] das, Niederung in Westbrasilien (Mato Grosso und Mato Grosso do Sul), 90 100 m über dem Meeresspiegel, zwischen dem Brasilianischen Bergland (aus devonischen Sandsteinen gebildete Landstufe) und dem… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Pantanal — Original name in latin Pantanal Name in other language State code BR Continent/City America/Sao Paulo longitude 27.60985 latitude 48.51648 altitude 42 Population 4700 Date 2012 08 03 …   Cities with a population over 1000 database

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