Itacarambi, Brazil Photograph by WWF/ David Oreu/ Cardosa de Silva   Eastern Brazil Tropical and Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests   44,400 square miles (115,100 square kilometers) -- about the size of Pennsylvania Vulnerable

· Patchwork Forests
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
More Photos

Patchwork Forests

The Atlantic Dry Forests ecoregion occurs in patches extending from north to south between the Cerrado Grasslands and Caatinga Scrub ecoregions of eastern Brazil. The climate is mostly tropical, receiving between 34 and 39 inches (850 and 1,000 mm) of rain annually and having a five-month dry season. The topography is flat, with occasional rolling hills. Tropical deciduous and semi-deciduous dry forests, interspersed with patches of open scrub and savanna vegetation, dominate the ecoregion.

Special Features

Dry forests are some of the most threatened and poorly known Neotropical ecosystems, and the Atlantic Dry Forests are certainly some of the richest and most vulnerable among them. These forests are fairly dense, and the trees reach heights of up to 98 feet (30 m). Throughout this region are several calcareous caves, which support a number of animals adapted to cave life, including many species of bats. Species richness in this area is moderate, as is the number of endemic species. Endemics include a number of birds and plants and several small mammals.

	The most interesting tree in this area is certainly the imbaré. Its huge, bottle-shaped trunks reach a diameter of almost 5 feet (1.5 m) at only 10 feet (3 m) above ground level--and the tree can attain heights of about 90 feet (27 m).

Wild Side

From high in a leafless imbaré tree come the raucous calls of vinaceous-breasted Amazon parrots and golden-capped parakeets. The parrots stand out in stark contrast to the drab surroundings with their plum-colored breasts and red foreheads. The passing of a small Brazilian three-banded armadillo, locally known as tatù-bola, does not go unnoticed as it crunches across the dry leaf litter. A nearby ocelot is keen to this sound and quietly pursues the hard-shelled little mammal. A regionally endemic São Francisco black-tyrant perches in low foliage, where it can snatch insects as they fly by or crawl below. A pair of locally endemic Minas Gerais tyrannulets forages for insects throughout the open canopy. A small group of gray-brocket deer browses and rests in an open area, well hidden among the grasses and other plants. And at a small water hole, a mother puma rests in the shade as her cub gets a drink of water.

Cause for Concern

These dry forests currently face intensifying human impacts. Already, almost 75 percent of the ecoregion has been altered from its original form. The rich soils have encouraged agricultural development, which now dominates the landscape. The abundance of hardwoods has made these forests an important source of fuel for Brazil’s charcoal-driven steel and pig-iron industries, causing further habitat loss.

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