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Atlantic Forest

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The Atlantic Forest ( Portuguese : Mata Atlântica ) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and the Misiones Province of Argentina , where the region is known as Selva Misionera .

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66-458: The Atlantic Forest has ecoregions within the following biome categories: seasonal moist and dry broad-leaf tropical forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands , and mangrove forests . The Atlantic Forest is characterized by a high biodiversity and endemism . It was the first environment that the Portuguese colonists encountered over 500 years ago, when it

132-629: A corridor, which will be known as the Central Biodiversity Corridor , in the Atlantic Forest and one in the Amazon. The Brazilian Development Bank has been financing, with non-reimbursable loans, 16 to 18 ecosystem restoration projects totaling 3,500 hectares and costing approximately $ 22 million under the so-called Iniciativa BNDES Mata Atlântica. In order to preserve diversity, the state of São Paulo has created

198-437: A direct role in childcare, they may help by protecting mothers and infants from threats. They use a variety of calls and behaviours to communicate with each other, with one study identifying 29 different call types. Although a few of the call types were shared with other capuchin species, the majority were unique to blond capuchins. Like other capuchin species, the blond capuchin is diurnal and does most of its foraging during

264-415: A given ecoregion are more similar to each other than to those of surrounding ecoregions and together form a conservation unit. Freshwater systems include rivers , streams , lakes , and wetlands . Freshwater ecoregions are distinct from terrestrial ecoregions, which identify biotic communities of the land, and marine ecoregions, which are biotic communities of the oceans. A map of Freshwater Ecoregions of

330-469: A holistic, "weight-of-evidence" approach where the importance of various factors may vary. An example of the algorithmic approach is Robert Bailey 's work for the U.S. Forest Service, which uses a hierarchical classification that first divides land areas into very large regions based on climatic factors, and subdivides these regions, based first on dominant potential vegetation, and then by geomorphology and soil characteristics. The weight-of-evidence approach

396-427: A mating season, thus mothers can be observed carrying infants of different ages throughout all times of the year. One study observed a mother carrying her dead infant, causing her to fall behind from her group and become exposed to predation, suggesting blond capuchin mothers maintain strong bonds with their children. The mother in this study was guarded by two males, also suggesting that while males may not have much of

462-517: A set of ecoregions identified by WWF whose conservation would achieve the goal of saving a broad diversity of the Earth's ecosystems, includes a number of areas highlighted for their freshwater biodiversity values. The Global 200 preceded Freshwater Ecoregions of the World and incorporated information from regional freshwater ecoregional assessments that had been completed at that time. Sources related to

528-716: A viable population for the next 100 years. The Camaratuba population had a 50% risk of extinction. It has also been seen in the Pau-Brasil Ecological Station in Paraíba, just south of the Camaratuba station. The blond capuchin is also known to inhabit the Caatinga biome in the state of Rio Grande do Norte located in northeastern Brazil. Although only officially discovered in the mid to late 2000s, local residents claim to have seen them for at least

594-407: A web application developed by Resolve and Google Earth Engine. An ecoregion is a "recurring pattern of ecosystems associated with characteristic combinations of soil and landform that characterise that region". Omernik (2004) elaborates on this by defining ecoregions as: "areas within which there is spatial coincidence in characteristics of geographical phenomena associated with differences in

660-435: Is active in reforestation efforts in the northeastern state of Pernambuco , Brazil. During 2007, Joao Milanez and Joanne Stanulonis have planted 5,500 new trees in the mountains commencing with Gravata, adding to the precious little, ancient forest left. The Pact for Atlantic Forest Restoration has assembled over 100 businesses, nongovernmental and governmental organizations around the goal of having 15 million hectares of

726-547: Is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion , which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm . Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species . The biodiversity of flora , fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. In theory, biodiversity or conservation ecoregions are relatively large areas of land or water where

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792-426: Is analogous to that used for terrestrial ecoregions. Major habitat types are identified: polar, temperate shelves and seas, temperate upwelling, tropical upwelling, tropical coral, pelagic (trades and westerlies), abyssal, and hadal (ocean trench). These correspond to the terrestrial biomes . The Global 200 classification of marine ecoregions is not developed to the same level of detail and comprehensiveness as that of

858-414: Is believed to reduce competition within the group, as their favoured food, fruits, are often found in clumps that could inspire conflict if too many individuals were to forage from the same clump at the same time. Although both males and females exhibit parental care, females are the primary caregivers of infants and have been observed to be doing the majority of infant carrying. Blond capuchins do not have

924-622: Is exemplified by James Omernik's work for the United States Environmental Protection Agency , subsequently adopted (with modification) for North America by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation . The intended purpose of ecoregion delineation may affect the method used. For example, the WWF ecoregions were developed to aid in biodiversity conservation planning, and place a greater emphasis than

990-437: Is not common in blond capuchins, it has been observed in a few instances. One such instance is the occurrence of termite fishing by blond capuchins inhabiting Atlantic forests. This process involves first finding an arboreal termite nest, finding a stick, putting the stick in the nest, pulling the stick out after a short amount of time, then finally eating the termites on the stick. Blond capuchins have also been observed rubbing

1056-526: Is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible. Secondly, ecoregion boundaries rarely form abrupt edges; rather, ecotones and mosaic habitats bound them. Thirdly, most ecoregions contain habitats that differ from their assigned biome . Biogeographic provinces may originate due to various barriers, including physical (plate tectonics, topographic highs), climatic (latitudinal variation, seasonal range) and ocean chemical related (salinity, oxygen levels). The history of

1122-482: Is predicted that many regional, fruit-bearing tree species in the Atlantic forest will become extinct due to failure of seedling recruitment and recolonisation. With all these species already threatened, it is predicted that with the persistence of current deforestation rates the Atlantic forest will see continued extinction of species. Due to the Atlantic Forest's vast diversity of endemic plants and animals as well as

1188-517: Is the loss of habitat, either through deforestation in the Atlantic forest habitat or desertification in the Caatinga habitat. Deforestation caused by agriculture and human encroachment has led to reduced population sizes and has forced groups to move from their typically inhabited areas. This has further led to groups of blond capuchins overlapping with other species of capuchins they did not previously encounter, possibly leading to hybridization between

1254-519: Is threatened by loss of habitat due to agriculture, primarily sugarcane fields. In many cases this has caused sugarcane to make up a large portion of their diet, which would otherwise consist of mostly fruit and small animals. The blond capuchin is known to inhabit both the Atlantic forest and Caatinga biomes, although the habitation of the Caatinga may be a recent choice caused by human encroachment into its former habitats. Like other primate species,

1320-509: Is unusual in that it extends as a true tropical rain forest to latitudes as far as 28°S. This is because the trade winds produce precipitation throughout the southern winter. In fact, the northern Zona da Mata of northeastern Brazil receives much more rainfall between May and August than during the southern summer. The geographic range of Atlantic Forest vary depending on author or institution that published them. Information on four most important boundaries as well as their union and intersection

1386-404: The C. capucinus group) which retain the genus Cebus . The body hair of the blond capuchin is almost uniformly golden-yellow with the notable exception of a whitish cap on the front half of the head. It has a pink-coloured face with light-brown eyes and a darkly-coloured, hairless throat flap on the ventral side of its neck. The hair on the feet and hands is much lighter compared to the rest of

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1452-718: The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund if they abide by its rules. These include the Species Protection Program, the Program for Supporting Private Natural Heritage Reserves and the Institutional Strengthening Program. Another strategy being implemented to maintain biodiversity within the Atlantic Forest is creating wildlife corridors . The World Bank is donating $ 44 million to create

1518-608: The Himalayas and the Sahara . The boundaries of ecoregions are often not as decisive or well recognized, and are subject to greater disagreement. Ecoregions are classified by biome type, which are the major global plant communities determined by rainfall and climate. Forests, grasslands (including savanna and shrubland), and deserts (including xeric shrublands ) are distinguished by climate ( tropical and subtropical vs. temperate and boreal climates) and, for forests, by whether

1584-573: The Restinga de Bertioga State Park , a 9.3 thousand hectares park which also serves as a wildlife corridor linking the coastal regions to the Serra do Mar mountain range. Some organizations, such as the Nature Conservancy , are planning to restore parts of the forest that have been lost and to build corridors that are compatible with the lifestyles of the native people. The Amazon Institute

1650-450: The "ecoregion" as a unit of analysis. The " Global 200 " is the list of ecoregions identified by WWF as priorities for conservation . Terrestrial ecoregions are land ecoregions, as distinct from freshwater and marine ecoregions. In this context, terrestrial is used to mean "of land" (soil and rock), rather than the more general sense "of Earth " (which includes land and oceans). WWF (World Wildlife Fund) ecologists currently divide

1716-595: The Atlantic Forest. New species are continually being found in the Atlantic Forest. In fact, between 1990 and 2006 over a thousand new flowering plants were discovered. Furthermore, in 1990 researchers re-discovered a small population of the black-faced lion tamarin ( Leontopithecus caissara ), previously thought to have been extinct. In 1991, the butterfly Actinote zikani was rediscovered in southern Brazil, after being declared extinct ten years earlier. In southern Brazil A new species of blonde capuchin ( Cebus queirozi ), named for its distinguishing bright blonde hair,

1782-558: The Earth. The use of the term ecoregion is an outgrowth of a surge of interest in ecosystems and their functioning. In particular, there is awareness of issues relating to spatial scale in the study and management of landscapes . It is widely recognized that interlinked ecosystems combine to form a whole that is "greater than the sum of its parts". There are many attempts to respond to ecosystems in an integrated way to achieve "multi-functional" landscapes, and various interest groups from agricultural researchers to conservationists are using

1848-552: The Omernik or Bailey systems on floral and faunal differences between regions. The WWF classification defines an ecoregion as: A large area of land or water that contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural communities that: According to WWF, the boundaries of an ecoregion approximate the original extent of the natural communities prior to any major recent disruptions or changes. WWF has identified 867 terrestrial ecoregions, and approximately 450 freshwater ecoregions across

1914-470: The WWC scheme: Others: Cebus queirozi Cebus queirozi Mendes Pontes and Malta, 2006 The blond capuchin ( Sapajus flavius ) is a species of capuchin monkey endemic to northeastern Brazil. This endangered species was rediscovered in 2006. It can live in exceptionally large groups of over 150 individuals, and like other capuchin species, exhibits a complex and high level of sociality. It

1980-571: The WWF concept prioritizes biogeography, that is, the distribution of distinct species assemblages. In 2017, an updated terrestrial ecoregions dataset was released in the paper "An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm" led by E. Dinerstein with 48 co-authors. Using recent advances in satellite imagery the ecoregion perimeters were refined and the total number reduced to 846 (and later 844), which can be explored on

2046-523: The World (TEOW), led by D. Olsen, E. Dinerstein, E. Wikramanayake, and N. Burgess. While the two approaches are related, the Bailey ecoregions (nested in four levels) give more importance to ecological criteria and climate zones, while the WWF ecoregions give more importance to biogeography, that is, the distribution of distinct species assemblages. The TEOW framework originally delineated 867 terrestrial ecoregions nested into 14 major biomes, contained with

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2112-783: The World, released in 2008, has 426 ecoregions covering virtually the entire non-marine surface of the earth. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) identifies twelve major habitat types of freshwater ecoregions: Large lakes, large river deltas, polar freshwaters, montane freshwaters, temperate coastal rivers, temperate floodplain rivers and wetlands, temperate upland rivers, tropical and subtropical coastal rivers, tropical and subtropical floodplain rivers and wetlands, tropical and subtropical upland rivers, xeric freshwaters and endorheic basins, and oceanic islands. The freshwater major habitat types reflect groupings of ecoregions with similar biological, chemical, and physical characteristics and are roughly equivalent to biomes for terrestrial systems. The Global 200 ,

2178-480: The authors was to support global biodiversity conservation by providing a "fourfold increase in resolution over that of the 198 biotic provinces of Dasmann (1974) and the 193 units of Udvardy (1975)." In 2007, a comparable set of Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW) was published, led by M. Spalding, and in 2008 a set of Freshwater Ecoregions of the World (FEOW) was published, led by R. Abell. Bailey's ecoregion concept prioritizes ecological criteria and climate, while

2244-454: The blond capuchin and other capuchin species. Loss of habitat has also caused blond capuchins to live in small forest fragments where they are at higher risk of infectious diseases. One group of blond capuchins was found to have 12% of its individuals containing antibodies for Toxoplasma gondii , and 46% of its individuals carrying microfilariae parasites. Like other species of primates, blond capuchins are threatened by hunting and capture for

2310-458: The blond capuchin is also threatened by poaching and capture for the illegal pet trade. The blond capuchin was first described as "caitaia" by Georg Marcgrave in 1648. In 1774 Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber posited Simia flavia as an independent species, but it had long lacked any specimen. It was not until in 2006 when researchers made its neotype designation. In their neotype designation article, de Oliveira and Langguth confirmed

2376-677: The broad latitudinal divisions of polar, temperate, and tropical seas, with subdivisions based on ocean basins (except for the southern hemisphere temperate oceans, which are based on continents). Major marine biogeographic realms, analogous to the eight terrestrial biogeographic realms , represent large regions of the ocean basins: Arctic , Temperate Northern Atlantic , Temperate Northern Pacific , Tropical Atlantic , Western Indo-Pacific , Central Indo-Pacific , Eastern Indo-Pacific , Tropical Eastern Pacific , Temperate South America , Temperate Southern Africa , Temperate Australasia , and Southern Ocean . A similar system of identifying areas of

2442-496: The coat, while the palms and soles of the feet are hairless and black. The hair on the head grows towards the posterior and is not tufted. The blond capuchin is on the smaller end of capuchin monkeys, reaching a maximum head and body length of 40 cm (16 in). Similar to other capuchin species, the length of the tail is nearly equivalent to the length of the head and body. The typical weight of an adult ranges from 2 to 3 kg (4.4 to 6.6 lb). The blond capuchin inhabits

2508-428: The consistency of Marcgrave's, Schreber's, and their capuchins, attributed the authority to Schreber, and established a new combination of its scientific name, C. flavius Schreber, 1774. In the same year, 2006, Mendes Pontes and Malta reported C. queirozi as a new species. However, de Oliveira and his collaborators pointed out the existence of the previous studies, that is, those of Marcgrave and Schreber, as well as

2574-471: The consumption of sugarcane is providing caloric intake without much of the nutrition found in other plant foods they would normally consume. A study of a different group of blond capuchins found similarly that the majority of their diet was made up of introduced plants, suggesting that the blond capuchin's ability to adapt to new food sources is a significant contributing factor to their survival in forest fragments isolated by agricultural land. While tool use

2640-401: The delineation of ecoregions an imperfect science. Another complication is that environmental conditions across an ecoregion boundary may change very gradually, e.g. the prairie-forest transition in the midwestern United States, making it difficult to identify an exact dividing boundary. Such transition zones are called ecotones . Ecoregions can be categorized using an algorithmic approach or

2706-405: The early 1970s, the term 'ecoregion' was introduced (short for ecological region), and R.G. Bailey published the first comprehensive map of U.S. ecoregions in 1976. The term was used widely in scholarly literature in the 1980s and 1990s, and in 2001 scientists at the U.S. conservation organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF) codified and published the first global-scale map of Terrestrial Ecoregions of

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2772-447: The early morning, possibly to avoid harsher midday temperatures. It is an omnivore and feeds on a wide variety of food types including fruits and other vegetable parts, small vertebrates, arthropods, and sugarcane. Notably, sugarcane was found in one study to make up 50% of the blond capuchin's diet, although fruit was the preferred food when available. Sugarcane is obtained by raiding the agricultural sugarcane fields that often surround

2838-587: The extent of human disturbances, including habitat destruction , in the Atlantic Forest has led to an extinction crisis. The endemic species in this region are especially vulnerable to extinction due to fragmentation because of their small geographic ranges and low occurrence. In a study of the Atlantic Forest fragments, community level biomass was reduced to 60% in plots less than 25 hectares. Key ecological processes such as seed dispersal , gene flow , colonization and other processes are disturbed by fragmentation. With many key vertebrate seed dispersers going extinct, it

2904-644: The forest actually survived in moist pockets well away from the coastline where its endemic rainforest species mixed with much cooler-climate species. Unlike refugia for equatorial rainforests, the refuges for the Atlantic Forest have never been the product of detailed identification. Despite having only 28% of native vegetation cover remaining, the Atlantic Forest remains extraordinarily lush in biodiversity and endemic species , many of which are threatened with extinction . Approximately 40 percent of its vascular plants and up to 60 percent of its vertebrates are endemic species, meaning they are found nowhere else in

2970-418: The forest fragments the blond capuchins inhabit. Within these forest fragments, sugarcane is often more readily available than fruit, but requires significant processing time and effort, thus creating conflict between individuals who gather the sugarcane and individuals who would prefer to steal the processed sugarcane from the gatherers. Blond capuchins suck on the sugarcane rather than eating it, indicating that

3036-656: The fragmentation affecting these species, many groups and organizations are working to restore this unique ecosystem . Non-governmental organizations (NGO) are huge benefactors in Brazil, providing funding as well as professional help to the Atlantic Forest due to the Brazilian Environmental Movement . One organization, called BirdLife International , uses its research to preserve the area's bird biodiversity and teach people about sustainable natural resource use. Some organizations receive grants from

3102-407: The inadequacy of Mendes Pontes and Maldta's designation of the type specimen, and therefore considered C. queirozi to be a junior synonym . Rylands and Mittermeier followed de Oliveira and Langguth's view. In 2011, Jessica Lynch Alfaro et al. proposed that the robust capuchins such (formerly the C. apella group) be placed in a separate genus, Sapajus , from the gracile capuchins (formerly

3168-501: The land surface of the Earth into eight biogeographical realms containing 867 smaller terrestrial ecoregions (see list ). The WWF effort is a synthesis of many previous efforts to define and classify ecoregions. The eight realms follow the major floral and faunal boundaries, identified by botanists and zoologists, that separate the world's major plant and animal communities. Realm boundaries generally follow continental boundaries, or major barriers to plant and animal distribution, like

3234-646: The northeastern Atlantic Forest extended in the states of Paraíba , Pernambuco , and Alagoas in the northeastern part of Brazil. It was rediscovered in two Atlantic Forest fragments in Paraíba, the Camaratuba Experimental Station and the Engenho Gargaú Private Natural Heritage Reserve . Sample animals were captured and examined. In the Gargaú reserve they seemed healthy and were probably

3300-472: The oceans for conservation purposes is the system of large marine ecosystems (LMEs), developed by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). A freshwater ecoregion is a large area encompassing one or more freshwater systems that contains a distinct assemblage of natural freshwater communities and species. The freshwater species, dynamics, and environmental conditions within

3366-729: The original ecosystem restored by 2050. The Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul keeps a private reserve of the Araucaria moist forest ecoregion of approximately 3.100 ha called Pró-Mata , near the city of São Francisco de Paula in the state of Rio Grande do Sul . This reserve is used for research and biodiversity conservation. Terrestrial ecoregions within the Atlantic Forest Biome include: 16°30′S 39°15′W  /  16.500°S 39.250°W  / -16.500; -39.250 Terrestrial ecoregion An ecoregion ( ecological region )

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3432-595: The past 40 years. Locals of the area claim the blond capuchins frequently raid the nearby maize fields, indicating that they may have been forced to move to and adapt to the Caatinga biome due to human activity. Notably, blond capuchins living in the Caatinga spend much more of their time on the ground then populations living in the Atlantic forest. Blond capuchins live in large, complex social groups that can be made up of over 150 individuals, containing both males and females. Males will typically lead group movements, and will sometimes split into subgroups when foraging. This

3498-430: The probability of encountering different species and communities at any given point remains relatively constant, within an acceptable range of variation (largely undefined at this point). Ecoregions are also known as "ecozones" ("ecological zones"), although that term may also refer to biogeographic realms . Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches. Firstly, no single bio-geographic framework

3564-415: The quality, health, and integrity of ecosystems ". "Characteristics of geographical phenomena" may include geology , physiography , vegetation, climate, hydrology , terrestrial and aquatic fauna , and soils, and may or may not include the impacts of human activity (e.g. land use patterns, vegetation changes). There is significant, but not absolute, spatial correlation among these characteristics, making

3630-671: The result of human activity in the past 400 years. Over 11,000 species of plants and animals are considered threatened today in the Atlantic Forest. Over 52% of the tree species and 92% of the amphibians are endemic to this area. The forest harbors around 20,000 species of plants, with almost 450 tree species being found in just one hectare in some locations. The Atlantic Forest is one of the best studied tropical ecosystems. For example, over 3000 tree species, 98 bat species, 94 large or medium-sized mammal species, over 2000 epiphyte species, 26 primate species, 528 amphibian species, 124 small mammal species, and over 800 bird species have been recorded in

3696-412: The secretions to each other's hard-to-reach areas, suggesting the sociality of this behaviour may provide further health and efficacy benefits. In the Caatinga biome, blond capuchins have been observed using a 'hammer and anvil' method to crack open Manihot nuts, the hammer being a small rock and the anvil being a larger rock. Like many capuchin species, the primary threat facing the blond capuchin

3762-426: The size of the Atlantic Forest, which has resulted in species impoverishment. Almost 88% of the original forest habitat has been lost and replaced by human-modified landscapes including pastures , croplands , and urban areas . This deforestation continues at an annual rate of 0.5% and up to 2.9% in urban areas. Habitat fragmentation leads to a cascade of alterations of the original forest landscape. For example,

3828-408: The term is somewhat vague. It has been used in many contexts: forest classifications (Loucks, 1962), biome classifications (Bailey, 1976, 2014), biogeographic classifications ( WWF / Global 200 scheme of Olson & Dinerstein, 1998), etc. The phrase "ecological region" was widely used throughout the 20th century by biologists and zoologists to define specific geographic areas in research. In

3894-454: The terrestrial ecoregions; only the priority conservation areas are listed. See Global 200 Marine ecoregions for a full list of marine ecoregions. In 2007, TNC and WWF refined and expanded this scheme to provide a system of comprehensive near shore (to 200 meters depth) Marine Ecoregions of the World (MEOW). The 232 individual marine ecoregions are grouped into 62 marine provinces , which in turn group into 12 marine realms , which represent

3960-460: The toxic defensive secretions of Poecilocricus millipedes on themselves. This behaviour was performed by individuals of all ages, done mostly socially, and during mosquito season, suggesting this behaviour serves a dual purpose as a method of social bonding and a method of mosquito repellent. Similar behaviours have been observed in other capuchin species, although the secretions served an anti-parasitic role. Here, individuals were observed applying

4026-913: The trees are predominantly conifers ( gymnosperms ), or whether they are predominantly broadleaf ( Angiosperms ) and mixed (broadleaf and conifer). Biome types like Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ; tundra ; and mangroves host very distinct ecological communities, and are recognized as distinct biome types as well. Marine ecoregions are: "Areas of relatively homogeneous species composition , clearly distinct from adjacent systems….In ecological terms, these are strongly cohesive units, sufficiently large to encompass ecological or life history processes for most sedentary species." They have been defined by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to aid in conservation activities for marine ecosystems . Forty-three priority marine ecoregions were delineated as part of WWF's Global 200 efforts. The scheme used to designate and classify marine ecoregions

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4092-491: The world's 8 major biogeographical realms. Subsequent regional papers by the co-authors covering Africa, Indo-Pacific, and Latin America differentiate between ecoregions and bioregions, referring to the latter as "geographic clusters of ecoregions that may span several habitat types, but have strong biogeographic affinities, particularly at taxonomic levels higher than the species level (genus, family)". The specific goal of

4158-441: The world. The official threatened species list of Brazil contains over 140 terrestrial mammal species found in Atlantic Forest. In Paraguay the Atlantic Forest has been heavily impacted in recent years. In Paraguay there are 35 species listed as threatened, and 22 species are listed as threatened in the interior portion of the Atlantic Forest of Argentina. Nearly 250 species of amphibians , birds, and mammals have become extinct due to

4224-496: Was discovered in northeastern Brazil at the Pernambuco Endemism Center in 2006. A species of endangered three-toed sloth, named the maned sloth ( Bradypus torquatus ) because of its long hair, is endemic to the Atlantic Forest. Hylid tree frog Dendropsophus branneri is also endemic to the Atlantic Forest. The incorporation of modern human societies and their needs for forest resources has greatly reduced

4290-495: Was reviewed in 2018. The Atlantic Forest mainly covers regions of eastern Brazil (92% of the total area), but also reaches eastern Paraguay (6%) and northeastern Argentina (2%). During glacial periods in the Pleistocene , the Atlantic Forest is known to have shrunk to extremely small fragmented refugia in highly sheltered gullies, being separated by areas of dry forest or semi-deserts known as caatingas. Some maps even suggest

4356-505: Was thought to have had an area of 1,000,000–1,500,000 km (390,000–580,000 sq mi), and stretching an unknown distance inland, making it, back then, the second largest rainforest on the planet, only behind the Amazon rainforest . Over 85% of the original area has been deforested , threatening many plant and animal species with extinction . The Atlantic Forest region includes forests of several variations: The Atlantic Forest

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