The Pantanal is the most conserved biome in Brazil and among the last wild refuges in South America, but intensification of agriculture and other land use changes present challenges for protecting this exceptionally biodiverse wetland ecosystem. Recent studies have shed new light on the origins and biogeochemistry of a suite of >600 small saline-alkaline lakes in Nhecolândia, a floodplain setting located south of the Taquari River in south-central Pantanal. These soda lakes form a unique aquatic environment in Pantanal and nascent research on their geomicrobiology suggests that their biota may be analogous to early life, and extreme life in Earth's deep biosphere. We argue that the conservation of the soda lakes in the lower Nhecolândia region should be an important strategic component of any conservation plan that aims to mitigate the advance of unsustainable land-use change in the Pantanal. Soda lake conservation has important implications for the carbon cycle, as these landforms sequester carbon dioxide and transmit considerably lower concentrations of methane in comparison to macrophyte-rich freshwater lakes in the region. Further, minerals precipitated in the saline-alkaline lakes are leveraged for cattle consumption, and therefore the continued presence of the lakes is critical for allowing pantaneiro ranchers to pursue certified organic, sustainable beef production systems. Beyond protecting soda lakes and their surrounding forests (mata de cordilheiras) for food systems security, the conservation strategy would also allow further research of little studied extremophile biodiversity and biogeochemistry, with potential for biotechnological innovations attendant to UN Sustainable Development Goals.

潘塔纳尔湿地是巴西最保守的生物群落，也是南美洲最后的野生避难所之一，但是农业集约化和其他土地用途的变化给保护这一异常生物多样性的湿地生态系统带来了挑战。最近的研究为Nhecolândia（位于潘塔纳尔中南部Taquari河以南的一个漫滩地区）的600多个盐碱湖小湖群的起源和生物地球化学提供了新的思路。这些苏打湖在潘塔纳尔湿地形成了独特的水生环境，有关其地球微生物学的新生研究表明，它们的生物区可能类似于地球深层生物圈中的早期生命和极端生命。我们认为，对Nhecolândia地区较低的苏打湖的养护应该是任何旨在减轻潘塔纳尔湿地不可持续土地利用变化的养护计划的重要战略组成部分。苏打湖的保护对碳循环具有重要意义，因为与该地区富含丰富植物的淡水湖泊相比，这些地貌螯合了二氧化碳，并传播低得多的甲烷浓度。此外，盐碱湖中沉淀的矿物质被用于牲畜的消费，因此，湖泊的持续存在对于保证牛群的生存至关重要。与该地区富含丰富植物的淡水湖泊相比，这些地貌螯合了二氧化碳并传播了较低的甲烷浓度。此外，盐碱湖中沉淀的矿物质被用于牲畜的消费，因此，湖泊的持续存在对于保证牛群的生存至关重要。与该地区富含丰富植物的淡水湖泊相比，这些地貌螯合了二氧化碳并传播了较低的甲烷浓度。此外，盐碱湖中沉淀的矿物质被用于牲畜的消费，因此，湖泊的持续存在对于保证牛群的生存至关重要。pantaneiro牧场主追求经过认证的有机，可持续牛肉生产系统。除了保护碱湖及其周围的森林（马塔- cordilheiras）粮食系统的安全性，保护战略也将使研究很少嗜极生物多样性和生物地球化学与生物技术创新随之而来的联合国可持续发展目标的潜力的进一步研究。