Water Resources in the Rupestrian Grasslands of the Espinhaço Mountains

The rupestrian grasslands in Minas Gerais State comprise headwaters of important watersheds that drainages for millions citizens in over 400 cities in Sao Francisco and Doce river basins. The human activities in the rupestrian grasslands include domestic supply, agriculture, forestry, cattle raising, industry, and mineral extraction. This chapter addresses the ecological conditions of streams in terms of water quality (physical and chemical characteristics, nutrient availability), habitat quality and structure (diversity of benthic macroinvertebrates, structure of the riparian vegetation, riparian food webs, invertebrate drift), and ecosystem functioning (allochthonous and autochthonous production, dynamics of coarse and fine particulate organic matter, leaf litter breakdown of native and alien species). A synthesis of 20 years of ongoing research on the headwaters in the rupestrian grasslands is included, together with perspectives for future conservation and management of water resources.