cerrado

American  

[suh-rah-doh, si-rah-doo] / səˈrɑ doʊ, sɪˈrɑ dʊ /

noun

Ecology.

PLURAL

cerrados

1. a type of plains community characterized by vegetation ranging from tropical broadleaf woodlands to scrublands, occurring in extensive areas of Brazil.

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Etymology

Origin of cerrado

< Brazilian Portuguese; Portuguese: noun use of cerrado thick, dense, literally, shut, past participle of cerrar to close < Vulgar Latin *serrāre; c in Portuguese, Spanish perhaps by association with cercar to enclose, surround

Example Sentences

Forest loss also slowed 11 percent in the Cerrado, a vast region of tropical savannah in central Brazil.

From Barron's

Experts say the destruction of the Amazon and Cerrado is mainly driven by agriculture -- the second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil, the world's largest exporter of beef.

From Barron's

In Brazil, huge swaths of the Amazon rainforest and Cerrado savanna have been lost to pastures and fields that produce beef and soybeans.

From Science Magazine

In recent weeks, blazes exacerbated by climate change consumed large sections of the Amazon rainforest, Pantanal wetlands and Cerrado savanna, as well as the southern state of São Paulo.

From Salon

In the Cerrado, which is the centre of agricultural production, there was a 6% increase in tree loss.

From BBC