Caatinga
6°00′00″S 40°00′00″W / 6.0000°S 40.0000°W
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Caatinga | |
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Ecology | |
Realm | Neotropical |
Biome | deserts and xeric shrublands |
Borders | |
Geography | |
Area | 730,850 km2 (282,180 sq mi) |
Countries | |
Coordinates | 7°36′46″S 39°26′01″W / 7.612796°S 39.433699°W |
Conservation | |
Conservation status | Vulnerable |
Protected | 44,133 km² (6%)[1] |
Caatinga (Portuguese pronunciation:
Caatinga falls entirely within earth's
The Caatinga is the only exclusively Brazilian biome, which means that a large part of its biological heritage cannot be found anywhere else on the planet.
Geography
The Caatinga covers the interior portion of northeastern Brazil bordering the Atlantic seaboard (save for a fringe of Atlantic Forest), extending across nine states: Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, and parts of Minas Gerais. Altogether, the Caatinga comprises 850,000 km², about 10% of the surface area of Brazil.[3] By comparison, it is over nine times the surface area of Portugal, whence came Brazil's early European settlers.
Located between 3°S 45°W and 17°S 35°W, the Caatinga experiences irregular winds from all directions. Rainfall is thus intermittent but intense, totalling 20–80 cm (7.9–31.5 in) on average.[4] Although the climate is typically hot and semi-arid, the Caatinga includes several enclaves of humid tropical forest,[5] with trees 30–35 m (98–115 ft) tall.[4]
To the northwest, the Caatinga is bounded by the
Climate
During the dry winter periods there is no
The drought usually ends in December or January, when the rainy season starts. Immediately after the first rains, the grey, desert-like landscape starts to transform and becomes completely green within a few days. Small plants start growing in the now moist soil and trees grow back their leaves. Rivers that are mostly dry during the past 6 or 7 months start to fill up and streams begin to flow again.[5]
Ecology
Caatinga harbors a unique biota, with thousands of endemic species. Caatinga contains over 1,000 vascular plant species in addition to 187 bees, 240 fish species, 167 reptiles and amphibians, 516 birds, and 148 mammal species, with endemism levels varying from 9 percent in birds to 57 percent in fishes.[6]
Vegetation
The Caatinga does not correspond to a single type of vegetation, but rather a broad mosaic. Nonetheless, all vegetative structure is adapted to the xeric climate.
The Caatinga has enough endemic species to constitute a floristic province.
Most authors divide the Caatinga into two different subtypes: dry ("sertão") and humid ("agreste"), but categorizations vary to as many as eight different vegetative regimes.[4]
Fauna
The Caatinga is home to nearly 50 endemic species of birds, including Lear's macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), Spix's macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii),[Note 1] moustached woodcreeper (Xiphocolaptes falcirostris), Caatinga parakeet,
Endemic mammal species include:
- eleven rodents - Dasyprocta sp. n., Oryzomys sp. n., Oxymycterus sp. n., Rhipidomys sp. n. ssp. 1, and Rhipidomys sp. n. ssp. 2
- one primate - Callicebus barbarabrownae
- two bats - Xeronycteris vieirai and Chiroderma sp. n
Possible anthropogenic origins
Based on
Conversely, fossil evidence suggests that the Caatinga may historically have been part of a much larger dry belt.[4][5]
Conservation
The Caatinga is poorly represented in the Brazilian Conservation Area network, with only 1% in Integral Protection Conservation Areas and 6% in Sustainable Use Conservation Areas.[6] Protected areas include Chapada Diamantina National Park, Serra da Capivara National Park, and Serra das Confusões National Park.
Economic developed has fragmented the native biome. Estimates on the amount of Caatinga transformed affected by economic development range 25-50%, making Caatinga the most degraded ecosystem in Brazil, following the Atlantic Forest, which has lost over 80% of its original cover.[5]
Economic exploitation
The local population lives in extreme poverty, and many rely on extraction of natural resources for a livelihood.[4][8] There are few drinkable water sources, and harvesting is difficult because of the irregular rainfall.
Agriculture
Native plants are used in local agriculture, much of it
Meliponiculture is also a well-developed and traditional activity in the region.[9] One of the most productive species, Melipona subnitida, known locally as jandaíra, produces up to 6 liters of honey a year, resulting in economic profit for the population.[10]
Irrigation along the São Francisco River promises to turn the region into a breadbasket. The soil is very fertile, and existing irrigation infrastructure already supports the export of grapes, papayas and melons. At the same time, irrigation threatens to salinize the soil.[4]
Grazing
See also
On Caatinga
- Caatinga moist-forest enclaves
- Northeastern Brazil
- Sertão
- List of plants of Caatinga vegetation of Brazil
The five other major ecoregions of Brazil
- Amazon Basin
- Pantanal
- Cerrado
- Atlantic Forest
- Pampas
Notes
References
- ^ Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b. [1]
- ^ Salcedo, I.H., Menezes, R.S.C. (2009): Agroecosystem functioning and management in semi-arid Northeastern Brazil, in: Tiessen, H., Stewart, J.W.B. (eds.): Applying Ecological Knowledge to Landuse Decisions. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research - IICA-IAI-Scope, Paris, pp. 73–81.
- ^ "Mapa de Biomas e de Vegetação" [Biome and Vegetation Map]. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (in Brazilian Portuguese). 21 May 2004. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Lleras, Eduardo. "Caatinga of North-Eastern Brazil". Centres of Plant Diversity. Vol. 3: The Americas. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
- ^ ISSN 1523-1739.
- ^ .
- ISBN 9780817317867.
- ^ Untied, B. (2005). Bewässerungslandwirtschaft als Strategie zur kleinbäuerlichen Existenzsicherung in Nordost-Brasilien? - Handlunsspielräume von Kleinbauern am Mittellauf des São Francisco [Can Irrigation be a Strategy for Small Farmers' Economic Security in Northeast Brazil?: Economic milieu of small farmers in the central São Francisco valley] (in German). Marburg: Philipps-Universität Marburg.
- .
- S2CID 18986069.
- ^ "Embrapa: Guzerá e sindi são alternativas para produzir leite no nordeste [do Brasil]". Milk Point (in Portuguese). Retrieved 10 January 2019.
- ^ "A importância da criação de caprinos e ovinos no nordeste [do Brasil]". Nordeste Rural (in Portuguese). Retrieved 10 January 2019.
Further reading
- Llosa, Mario Vargas - The War of the End of the World
Historical biogeographic surveys
- Marcgrav (1638)
- Spix & Martius (1817-1820)
External links
- "Caatinga". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
- IBAMA
- Brazil Nature
- Caatinga: Brazilian national heritage threatened Archived 2010-10-25 at the Wayback Machine
- Associação Mãe-da-lua The Avifauna of northeastern Brazil