The term cerrado (Portuguese for ‘closed’ or ‘dense’) can be confusing, as depending on the context it can variably be used to describe: 1) a huge biome the size of Western Europe containing a range of savanna and forest vegetation types, 2) structurally variable savanna-like vegetation within the biome (cerrado sensu lato), and 3) a particular structural form of (2) intermediate between more open savanna scrub and dense xeric forest termed cerrado sensu stricto. The term cerrado (= closed) apparently originally referred to the difficulty of travelling through the vegetation by horse.

There are many works that describe the subtypes of cerrado (sensu lato) and Eiten (1972) and Ribeiro & Walter (1998) describe them at length and provide a useful guide. However, the observer should always use a pragmatic approach in such classification and remember that they are trying to identify stages in a structural continuum: attempts to define too precisely stages in such a situation are not profitable. In general the following are recognized: campo limpo (= clean field) consisting of a ground layer of herbs and subshrubs, but without taller shrubs and trees; campo sujo (=dirty field), like the previous formation but with taller shrubs also present; campo cerrado (=closed field), a park-like vegetation with a broken cover of trees and shrubs, but with plenty of space between them; cerrado (known scientifically as cerrado sensu stricto (s.s.), a fairly dense savanna woodland but with the canopy sufficiently open to allow a considerable ground layer of grasses, forbs and subshrubs; and cerradão (=Portuguese, big cerrado), a closed savanna woodland often of trees 7-12m tall but with the canopy usually sufficiently dense to suppress most of the ground vegetation. This may sound rather complicated, but in general, botanists (both Brazilians and foreigners) agree remarkably well in their classification of areas they are studying.

To a large extent the density of arboreal vegetation in cerrado (sensu lato) is influenced by agricultural practice and particularly the frequency of man-made fires used to encourage growth and spread of grasses at the expense of woody vegetation. There is good evidence to show that in the past before increased human activity, cerradão (the forest form of cerrado sensu lato) was the dominant vegetation over much of the biome (Ratter et al., 2006). Further discussion on the range of vegetation types to be found within the cerrado can be found in Oliveira-Filho & Ratter (2002), Eiten (1972), Ribeiro & Walter (1998) and in many other publications.

The typical vegetation landscape within the biome consists of cerrado sensu lato on the well-drained interfluves, with gallery and deciduous forests on watercourses and on areas of more fertile soil respectively. On topographic ridges and the tops of plateaux the ground can be extremely rocky and especially prone to seasonal drought. The vegetation occurring in such sites is frequently called campo rupestre (rocky grassland) and is usually low and shrubby with many characteristic species.

Useful references:

Eiten, G. (1972). The cerrado vegetation of Brazil. The Botanical Review 38 (2): 201-341.

Oliveira-Filho, A. T. and Ratter, J. A. (2002). Vegetation physiognomies and woody flora of the cerrado biome. In: Oliveira, P. S. & Marquis, R. J. (eds.). The Cerrados of Brazil. Columbia University Press, New York.

Ribeiro, J. F. & Walter, B. M. (1998). Fitofisionomias do bioma Cerrado. In: S. M. Sano & S. P. de Almeida (eds.). Cerrado: ambiente e flora, pp. 89-166.. Embrapa, Brasilia,