The sweeping grasslands, dry forests, scrub and rugged mountains of Brazil s Cerrado encompass some of the countrys most beautiful national parks. The regions rich habitat features 11,000 species of plants and more than 200 varieties of mammals, including jaguars, anteaters, armadillos and tapirs.

It is the most diverse savanna in the world, said Mercedes Bustamante, an ecology professor at the University of Braslia and a Cerrado specialist.

The Cerrado, which covers more than 20% of the country, is also an important motor in Brazils economy, producing over half of Brazils beef, 49% of its soybeans, 47% of its sugar cane and almost all its cotton , according to the government agricultural research institute Embrapa.

To raise those crops, the regions native forests and vegetation are being systematically replaced by farms and ranches. Under Brazilian law, the Cerrado enjoys much less protection than the iconic Amazon rainforest to its north. Half of its land has already been cleared, including some 2,800 square miles last year alone . (That compares to about 20% of the Brazilian Amazon gone.)

Under pressure from the ceaseless agricultural demand and the ravages of climate change, the vital biome is being destroyed at a frightening rate and even as its agriculture helps drive the economy, thats bad news for Brazil.

The Cerrado plays a vital role in Brazils water supply, feeding eight of the countrys 12 hydrographic regions and with that much of the countrys electricity supply, around two-thirds of which comes from hydroelectric dams which makes the signs of climate change that some parts of the Cerrado are experiencing all the more concerning.

While there are no major definitive studies into the Cerrado-wide impacts of land clearing for agriculture, there is plenty of region-specific research that points to trouble. In one so-called transition area, in Mato Grosso state where the southern Amazon meets the western Cerrado a study by Costa and others found that deforestation is delaying the onset of the rainy season. Fewer trees and less native vegetation reduces evapotranspiration, the process by which water transfers from plants and soil to the atmosphere, which is a vital part of the water cycle.