Morpo de Diablo Hill, Brazil Photograph by C.U. Padua   Southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, and easternmost Argentina Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   186,800 square miles (483,800 square kilometers) -- about the size of California Critical/Endangered

· Big Blocks of Forest
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Big Blocks of Forest

If you want to see the largest and best-protected parts of the Brazilian semi-deciduous forest, you should travel to the Parañá-Paraíba Interior Forests. Here you'll find a great variety of plant and animal species, including many that are threatened and endangered. Visit the lowland and northern stretches of the forest and you'll discover tropical conditions, while the upland and southern parts are more temperate. This ecoregion also provides an important migratory corridor for animals, linking the Atlantic forests with the cerrado savannas.

Special Features

The Parañá-Paraíba Interior Forests ecoregion consists of several large blocks of Atlantic semi-deciduous forest spread across southern Brazil and eastern Paraguay to northeastern Argentina. The climate is subtropical with annual rainfall from 48 to 64 inches (1,200-1,600 mm) and a distinct dry season between April and September, when frosts frequently occur. These forests grow on poor soils on ancient plateaus and slopes of the Brazilian Plateau. Forests grow from low river plains to middle-level plateaus (around 2,640 feet [800 m] above sea-level) and are dominated by semi-deciduous trees that grow up to 115 feet (35 m) tall. Nearly half of the tree canopy species are deciduous and lose their leaves during the dry season. Gallery forest and flooded grasslands are interspersed throughout the region.

	The tree known as pau oleo produces a flammable oil at a rate of 20 liters every six months. This oil is used locally as a substitute for kerosene.

Wild Side

In the dry season, groups of golden-rumped lion tamarins travel through the treetops, searching for fruits, insects, and small lizards. These small primates have black bodies, red-golden hair along their lower backs, and a long, black mane. From the lower branches of a pau oleo tree, a São Paula tyrannulet uses its long, slender bill to catch beetles, bugs, and caterpillars. On the forest floor, an ocelot creeps quietly through the dry leaves as it follows the scent of a nearby paca. Along a muddy riverbank, numerous butterflies display their sulfur, white, and blue wings in a chorus of movement and color. A black-fronted piping-guan scratches through leaf litter around a fallen tree looking for large insects.

Cause for Concern

The little native forest that remains in this ecoregion occurs in protected blocks. Timber extraction, agriculture, and hunting represent continuous threats. Such activities will increase as human populations expand and put increased pressure on timber trees, game species, and carnivores.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.