Scleria burchellii

Deforestation of the Cerrado to make space for agricultural commodity monocultures (primarily soybean) and cattle-grazing land poses the primary threat to this species. Estimates of land conversion suggest that more than half of the natural vegetation of the Cerrado has been replaced with agricultural land over the last 35 years (Klink and Machado 2005). Based on satellite imagery, all current occurrences of Scleria burchellii exist on the fringes of encroaching anthropogenic activities, and thus the predicted expansion of these agricultural areas could pose a significant threat to the species (Google Earth 2020).
The development and expansion of urban areas, and the construction of hydroelectric reservoirs pose secondary threats to Scleria burchellii (Faleiro et al. 2013).
Despite being adapted to natural fire cycles, introduced burning regimes in the Cerrado regions to clear pasture land have had extensive impacts on leaching cycles and soil erosion, this is especially prominent in the montane regions of Goias and Minas Gerais (Klink and Machado 2005). These processes are resulting in the degradation of soil quality, and the loss of native plant species. Conversely, the complete eradication of burning cycles results in the conversion of Cerrados vegetation types to forests, with the loss of native species such as Scleria burchellii in these areas.

Despite accounting for 30% of Brazilian species, a disproportionately small area of the Cerrado (2.2%) is currently protected (Francoso et al. 2015, Klink and Machado 2005). This species is not known to exist in any protected area. This creates the need to develop habitat protection to safeguard the remaining refuges of this species, before they are consumed by the encroaching agricultural land.

In order to develop a strong foundation on which to inform conservation strategies, there is a necessity to conduct on-going studies on the population dynamics, ecology, and life history traits of this species.

Management and education about sustainable farming practices, and fire management regimes could reduce the negative impact of agricultural land conversion on Scleria burchellii. Typically, farmers burn their lands during the dry season, when there is high plant biomass, and low humidity. The result of this is that the fires burn at a greater temperature than they naturally would, causing more intensive destruction of soil fauna, and altering successional patterns of the Cerrado (Klink and Machado 2005). The development of planned, scientifically based fire management strategies could reduce the rate of species loss and vegetation conversion.