Wildlife & Wildlands of South America: The Brazil Project

Home to some of the most spectacular concentrations of wildlife on Earth, the Pantanal region of southwest Brazil is the largest contiguous wetland on the planet, covering an area half the size of California and 20 times the size of the Everglades. A Unesco World Heritage Site, the Pantanal’s remote location has historically protected its striking diversity of wildlife and habitat from extreme human impact. We will form a small field research unit to explore this impressive and magnificent floodplain of Brazil. Be prepared for a thrilling South American experience.

We will arrive just as the waters of the Rio Negro recede at the beginning of the dry season. The grassland cerrado, the main habitat type, and the woodlands are brimming with birds and wildlife as the land changes in its annual cycle of wet and dry. The area is dotted with a mosaic of different kinds of lagoons: the white-fringed ones are called salinas due to their brackish water, while the others surrounded by green vegetation are known as baias. 
The Pantanal offers us a unique opportunity for ecological field studies by harboring a remarkably rich biodiversity and varied environments. Habitats include: several types of savannah, a mosaic of wetlands, gallery forests, lake-margin scrub forest, and deciduous forest. We will be staying at the conservation-conscious Barranco Alto fazenda (ranch) on the Rio Negro River and use it as a base camp to conduct our field studies in surrounding ecosystems.

Most of our fieldwork will be done by boat, on foot, or by vehicle as we conduct land and river surveys. This region is home to many spectacular and endangered species of mammals, birds, and reptiles. The most famous are the jaguar, giant otter, tapir, rhea, hyacinth macaw, and caiman—these elusive species are seen more readily here than in any other part of their range.

Part of the ranch is still used for grazing cattle, and we will be able to compare native grasslands to those using exotic grasses and study how this affects wildlife use. How do these open grassland areas compare with untouched forested areas and wetlands? Our investigations of the fauna, flora, and habitats will provide the answer.

THE PROJECT

Our field research will focus on three components: We will investigate species and their density based on habitat type, particularly endangered or threatened species like otters, macaws, and jaguar. In field study settings, participants will learn methodology to evaluate individual land/aquatic species and species groups as ecological indicators of environmental health and diversity.