South American pampas lost 20% of grassland 1985–2022
The grassland vegetation of the South American pampas—a biome covering more than 1 million km² between Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay—suffered a loss of 20 percent, including 9.1 million hectares of native grassland, from 1985 to 2022. Calculations were based on satellite images taken by MapBiomas Pampa, a collaborative network of experts from the three nations.Of the mapped area, 66 percent lies in Argentina (72 million hectares), 18 percent in Brazil (19.4 million), and 16 percent in Uruguay (17.8 million).The South American pampas occupy 6.1 percent of South America. It covers the southern half of Rio Grande do Sul state (in Brazil), all of Uruguay, and the portion of Argentina south of the Plate river. MapBiomas Pampa reported that the region’s biodiversity is characterized by nati...