Serra Grande, Perambuco interior forest, Perambuco, Brazil Photograph by Tom Allnutt   Northern South America: Atlantic coast of northeastern Brazil Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   6,800 square miles (17,600 square kilometers) -- about the size of New Jersey Critical/Endangered

· Habitat Hotspot
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Habitat Hotspot

The Pernambuco Coastal Forests, together with the Pernambuco Interior Forests, are an incredible hotspot for endemic life forms in South America. That's partly because the lush forests are separated from similar habitats by extensive scrub and grassland habitats and the Atlantic Ocean. It is also due to the fact that the Amazonian and Atlantic coastal species overlap in this area, as do the temperate and the tropical species. Among these many endemic plants, butterflies, and an incredible 13 threatened bird species is the Alagoas curossaw, a large and extraordinary bird that is now considered extinct in the wild, yet was once restricted only to these coastal forests.

Special Features

The Pernambuco Coastal Forests cover a strip of land 50 miles (80 km) wide along the Atlantic coast of central Brazil. The climate is tropical, with rainfall ranging from 70 to 80 inches (1750 to 2000 mm) annually and with a distinct dry season between October and January. These coastal forests border mangroves in the northern sections and caatinga scrub forests to the south. In terms of elevation, the ecoregion extends from low altitude plateaus along the coast to the windward slopes of the Borborema Plateau at 2,600 feet (800 m) above sea level. Trees grow in several tiers, with the tallest ones reaching heights of more than 115 feet (35 m).

	In addition to feeding on fruits and nuts, the Brazilian squirrel preys on the eggs and young of birds.

Wild Side

Visit this region and you can see a number of critically endangered endemic birds, including the Alagoas foliage-gleaner, Alagoas antwren, and Forbe’s blackbird. Here, a nine-banded armadillo rummages through a rotten tree trunk as it searches for insect larvae and ants. A group of little brown bats clings to the underside of a rock outcropping to roost, occasionally flying around and landing again to get a better grip. An endemic Alagoas tyrannulet perches high in the canopy of an endemic Couepia tree to gain a better perspective on flying insects, which it catches in mid-air. A tree frog sits motionless as a small bug approaches to within its tongue's reach. A Brazilian squirrel runs on a canopy highway of intersecting branches as it searches for its favorite food, palm nuts.

Cause for Concern

Most of the Pernambuco Coastal Forests have been cleared in the last century, first by people logging for Brazil wood and later by the sugarcane industry. Today, forest remnants are legally protected, but agriculture, logging, and hunting still persist. Key ecological processes such as seed dispersal have been critically modified by the elimination of large mammals and fruit-eating birds.

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