biostudies-literatureBarbizan Suhs RConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoCoordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorBrazilian Program for Biodiversity Research (PPBio) Atlantic Forest Networke0206805https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC6248941biostudies-literatureUnknown13(11)In the southern Brazilian highlands, pre-Columbian societies created domesticated landscapes through the use and management of forests, including nurse Araucaria angustifolia trees, a common conifer in these regions. Nowadays, local smallholders still use traditional practices, such as burning, to promote vegetation for cattle grazing in highland grasslands. Even though burning is normally of small extent and low frequency, such management can slow down natural forest expansion and contribute to the maintenance of grasslands, by opposing the facilitative effect of nurse araucaria trees. To comprehend the interplay between human cultural management, species interactions and the environment, it is important to better understand how these relations affect diversity and composition. Our goal wPloS oneInteraction of land management and araucaria trees in the maintenance of landscape diversity in the highlands of southern Brazil.PMC6248941CNPq 457451/2012-9Peroni NHettwer Giehl ELBarbizan Suhs RfalseInteraction of land management and araucaria trees in the maintenance of landscape diversity in the highlands of southern Brazil.In the southern Brazilian highlands, pre-Columbian societies created domesticated landscapes through the use and management of forests, including nurse Araucaria angustifolia trees, a common conifer in these regions. Nowadays, local smallholders still use traditional practices, such as burning, to promote vegetation for cattle grazing in highland grasslands. Even though burning is normally of small extent and low frequency, such management can slow down natural forest expansion and contribute to the maintenance of grasslands, by opposing the facilitative effect of nurse araucaria trees. To comprehend the interplay between human cultural management, species interactions and the environment, it is important to better understand how these relations affect diversity and composition. Our goal w2018-01-01T00:00:00Z20182026-07-16T08:02:34.214Z2019-03-27T00:10:32ZS-EPMC62489413046266010.1371/journal.pone.0206805