Imperatriz - Geography

Geography

Western Maranhão forms the boundary between the Amazon Rainforest and the coastal savanna, which is called Cerrado in Brazil. Imperatriz is the place of intersection of many major roads and waterways. Cerrado includes various types of vegetation. The landscape is characterized by gallery forests and stream valleys. Humid fields and palm paths are found where the water table is near the surface. Alpine pastures occur at higher altitudes and mesophytic forests on more fertile soils. Cerrado trees have twisted trunks covered by a thick bark, and leaves which are usually broad and rigid. Most trees are evergreen, but some lose their leaves in Fall. The thick bark and roots are adaptations for the periodic fires which sweep the cerrado landscape. The adaptations protect the plants from destruction and make them capable of sprouting again after the fire.