Originally, campo rupestre was used to characterize the montane vegetation of the Espinhaço Range, but recently this term has been broadly applied by the scientific community to define high altitudinal fire-prone areas dominated by grasslands and rocky outcrops.

[3] This ecoregion consists of a series of relatively small and isolated grasslands and rocky outcrops mostly distributed in the Espinhaço Range in eastern Brazil, surrounded by lowland and montane forests.

[5] The geological formation subtending this impoverished soil is ancient, stable, weathered and diverse; campo rupestre areas occur on quartzite, granite, migmatites, gneiss, metarenites, and itabirites.

[5] Because of these conditions, the flora thriving in the campo rupestre has developed several adaptations, such as carnivory, C4 metabolism, superficial root systems (to absorb periodic rain water faster), underground storage, stomatal crypts, etc.

These landscapes are often expected to harbor a high number of endemic, old and rare lineages specialized in obtaining nutritional elements from impoverished soils and presenting biological adaptations to cope with harsh environmental conditions.

[7] There are at least three areas located in three different continents that can be characterized as ancient and climatically and geologically stable; the Pantepui Highlands in Venezuela, South Africa's Greater Cape and the Southwest Australian Floristic region.

[12] Moreover, even though tourism has grown over the past four decades due to facilitated access, the general public is still unaware of the ecosystem services this region promotes and the benefits of preserving the campo rupestre.

Monoculture stands out as another relevant issue affecting the campo rupestre; eucalyptus plantations represent a serious threat due to their ability to thrive in poor soils, such as the ones found throughout this ecoregion.

[21] While fire boosts the reproductive system of some species by positively impacting the number of seeds or seedling recruitment it can also negatively affect the sparse and relictual forests intermingled with the more common rocky outcrops and grasslands.