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Global sustainability rests on a myriad of benefits provided by natural ecosystems that support human livelihoods and well-being, from biodiversity persistence to climate regulation. The undeniable importance of conserving tropical forests has drawn most of the conservation spotlight towards it. However, open ecosystems such as the Brazilian Campo Rupestre (rupestrian grassland), have been historically overlooked despite their high diversity and key associated ecosystem services. We highlight major current threats to the persistence of the Campo Rupestre emphasizing its ecological, social, cultural, geo-environmental, and economic importance. We call attention to the importance of the Campo Rupestre as a reservoir of biodiversity and ecosystem services and offer priority actions that resulted from discussions involving scientists, industry representatives, environmental managers, and other members of civil society. Proposed actions include efforts related to ecological restoration, sustainable ecotourism, protection of traditional ecological knowledge, identification of emerging research questions, and development of tailored public policies. Such issues are integrated into a framework that collectively represents a road map to safeguard the Campo Rupestre from further degradation and steer its historical overexploitation towards sustainable management. Safeguarding the future of non-forest biomes like this poses a challenge to current paradigms of nature conservation. By establishing priorities and guidelines, we propose an actionable plan, which we hope can support informed decision-making policy towards a sustainable use of the Campo Rupestre. Long Term Ecological Research PELD-CRSC-17 Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas CNPq/MCTI Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo 2013/50155-0, 2010/51307-0, 2019/07773-1

Actively restoring ecosystems that have “been degraded, damaged or destroyed” became imperative in face of worldwide human impacts on nature. For rupestrian grasslands which are so peculiar and restricted in range, but also subjected to strong impact pressures, this seems to be even more important. Making use of ecological knowledge is fundamental to cope with the many uncertainties inherent to the process of ecological restoration. The overview on the ecology of rupestrian grasslands provided by this book thus is of utmost importance for the progress on this ecosystem’s restoration and conservation. We benefit from this by invoking other chapters to base our assumptions and then present extant and possible ways of applying the ecological knowledge gathered. We summarize the academic background on restoration related to rupestrian grasslands, including examples of scientific restoration experiments, plant species with potential for restoration, among other aspects. We then point out potential restoration techniques and potential indicators of functional recovery during the restoration process. The problems imposed by invasive species on the process of restoration are highlighted due to its striking importance for restoration success and sustainability over time. Finally, we outline current gaps and challenges and indicate future directions to the ecological restoration of these ecosystems. This chapter represents the first attempt to review the efforts towards the ecological restoration of rupestrian grasslands at both scientific and technical perspectives.

RESUMOA invasão por espécies de plantas não nativas representa um enorme problema para projetos de restauração ambiental. Estas espécies têm causado muitas vezes o fracasso do processo de restauração, a perda de estoques nativos, prejuízos econômicos e, certamente, sociais. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi listar e avaliar a ocorrência de espécies não nativas em decorrência do asfaltamento da MG-010 em áreas restauradas nos campos rupestres da cordilheira do Espinhaço, Serra do Cipó, Brasil. Foram encontradas 23 espécies de plantas não nativas invadindo as áreas restauradas. Entre essas espécies, destacam-se as leguminosas Cajanus cajan, Chamaecrista flexuosa, Crotalaria pallida, Crotalaria spectabilis e Mimosa pigra e, entre as gramímeas, Andropogon bicornis, A. leucostachyus, Melinis repens, M. minutiflora, Paspalum paniculatum e Urochloa brizantha. A invasão das áreas restauradas, bem como a das bordas da rodovia, por essas espécies está relacionada à melhoria dos solos ao longo das rodovias causada por técnicas que utilizam uma mistura de calcário no preparo do leito estradal. A falta de um programa de monitoramento e gestão das áreas restauradas, bem como das unidades de conservação federal na qual estão inseridas, é outro fator que resulta em falhas no processo de restauração, colocando em risco toda a biota regional. ABSTRACTNon-native plant species invasion significantly represents a problem to projects on environment restoration. Such species have often been associated with the failure of restoration processes, the loss of local inputs, economic issues and, certainly, social losses. This present work aimed at listing and assessing the occurrence of non-native species resulting from the pavement work conducted on route MG-010 in restored areas of rupestrian grassland vegetation along the Espinhaço ridge, on the Cipó range, in Brazil. A total of 23 non-native plant species were found to invade the restored areas. Among such species, we may highlight the legumes Cajanus cajan, Chamaecrista flexuosa, Crotalaria pallida, Crotalaria spectabilis, and Mimosa pigra; and among the invasive weeds, Andropogon bicornis, A. leucostachyus, Melinis repens, M. minutiflora Paspalum paniculatum and Urochloa brizantha. Such species invasion in restored areas, as well in highway roadside, is associated with soil improvements along the highways, which use a common technique that includes limestone-soil mixture in pavement bed preparation. The lack of monitoring and management of restored areas, as well as of the national conservation units where they are located, is another factor that hinders the restoration process, endangering the unique local flora.