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Ecosystem

Atlantic Forest

Tropical Rainforest

The Atlantic Forest, known in Brazil as Mata Atlântica, is a tropical and subtropical forest system running along Brazil's Atlantic coast and reaching into eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina, ecologically and geographically distinct from the Amazon rainforest further inland. It is recognized as one of the world's great biodiversity hotspots, carrying extraordinarily high rates of endemism among its plants, birds, amphibians and primates, including species such as the golden lion tamarin found nowhere else on Earth. The forest was also the first part of Brazil encountered by Portuguese colonizers in 1500, and five centuries of settlement, agriculture and urban growth along the coast, including cities such as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, have reduced it to a small fraction of its original extent, leaving most of what remains fragmented into isolated patches rather than continuous forest. That combination, exceptional biological richness set against severe historical habitat loss, is what makes the Atlantic Forest one of the most conservation-significant forest systems in the world, and restoration and reforestation efforts along the Brazilian coast now specifically target reconnecting its surviving fragments.

Facts
Classification
Biogeographic Realm
Neotropic 1
Protected Status
Partially Protected 2
Large-scale biome/ecoregion spanning many jurisdictions: it contains formally protected reserves and parks alongside unprotected land, so no single stronger category applies to the region as a whole.
Area (sq km)
1,300,000 3
Historic extent at the time of European colonization circa 1500 CE, per the same source; the same article states only 28 percent of native vegetation cover remains today, so this figure is not the present-day extent.
Water Type
Terrestrial 3
Atlantic Forest
Filter Results1 entry
Connections

Demonstrates

Source Encyclopaedia Britannica

Hosts

Source Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Callicebus personatus (Animal Diversity Web)
Source Azaras's capuchin (Wikipedia)
Source Barbara Brown's titi monkey (Wikipedia)
Source Black capuchin (Wikipedia)
Source Black-fronted titi monkey (Wikipedia)
Source Blond capuchin (Wikipedia)
Source Bothrops jararacussu (Wikipedia)
Source Phoneutria, Wikipedia
Source Brown-throated Sloth (Wikipedia)
Source Buffy-tufted marmoset (Wikipedia)
Caecilian, Species
Source Caecilian (Wikipedia)
Source GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): GBIF species descriptions for Callithrix jacchus
Cougar, Species
Source Cougar (Wikipedia)
Source World Wildlife Fund
Source Golden-bellied capuchin (Wikipedia)
Kinkajou, Species
Source Wikipedia: Kinkajou
Source Northern muriqui (Wikipedia)
Ocelot, Species
Source Ocelot (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Pumpkin Toadlet
Source Red-handed howler (Wikipedia)
Source Small red brocket (Wikipedia)
Source Southern muriqui (Wikipedia)
Source Leopardus guttulus (Wikipedia)

In Biome

Source World Wildlife Fund
In the Other Atlases

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Atlantic Forest
WikipediaIntroduction
Quote, Introduction
The Atlantic Forest (Portuguese: Mata Atlântica) is a moist broadleaf 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 it is known as the Missionary rainforest (Spanish: Selva Misionera).
View the Source
2. World Wildlife Fund
World Wildlife Fund
  • Protected Status: Partially Protected
View the Source
3. Atlantic Forest (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • History section, colonization-era extent paragraph
    By the time of European colonization circa 1500 CE, the Atlantic Forest stretched approximately 1,300,000 km2 (500,000 sq mi).
  • Lead paragraph
    is a moist broadleaf forest
View the Source
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.Demonstrates: BiodiversityView the Source
Leopardus guttulus (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Southern tigrina, Distribution and habitat
Quote, Hosts: Southern tigrina, Distribution and habitat
in the Atlantic forest, eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina
View the Source
Buffy-tufted marmoset (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Buffy-tufted marmoset, Distribution, ecosystem
Quote, Hosts: Buffy-tufted marmoset, Distribution, ecosystem
The buffy-tufted marmoset is endemic to the Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil
View the Source
Red-handed howler (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Red-handed howler, Lead
Quote, Hosts: Red-handed howler, Lead
It is endemic to Brazil, found in the southeastern Amazon and disjunctly in the Atlantic Forest between Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe.
View the Source
Southern muriqui (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Southern muriqui, Distribution and habitat
Quote, Hosts: Southern muriqui, Distribution and habitat
Southern muriquis are now found only in specific areas of the Atlantic rainforest located in Brazil, South America, more specifically they are found in the Brazilian states of Paraná, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais.
View the Source
Northern muriqui (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Northern muriqui, Lead
Quote, Hosts: Northern muriqui, Lead
This species is endemic to the Atlantic Forest region of Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais and Bahia.
View the Source
Blond capuchin (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Blond capuchin, Distribution and habitat
Quote, Hosts: Blond capuchin, Distribution and habitat
The blond capuchin inhabits the northeastern Atlantic Forest extended in the states of Paraíba, Pernambuco, and Alagoas in the northeastern part of Brazil.
View the Source
Black capuchin (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Black capuchin, Distribution and habitat
Quote, Hosts: Black capuchin, Distribution and habitat
is a capuchin monkey from the Atlantic Forest in south-eastern Brazil and far north-eastern Argentina
View the Source
Golden-bellied capuchin (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Golden-bellied capuchin, Distribution and habitat
Quote, Hosts: Golden-bellied capuchin, Distribution and habitat
Populations of S. xanthosternos are restricted to the Atlantic forest of south-eastern Bahia, Brazil
View the Source
Azaras's capuchin (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Azaras's capuchin, Distribution and habitat
Quote, Hosts: Azaras's capuchin, Distribution and habitat
where they are located in the humid semi deciduous Alto Parana Atlantic Forest
View the Source
Bothrops jararacussu (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Bothrops jararacussu, Geographic range
Quote, Hosts: Bothrops jararacussu, Geographic range
They can be found in the atlantic forest and semi-deciduous forest.
View the Source
Small red brocket (Wikipedia)
  • Hosts: Small red brocket, Lead, ecosystem
    endemic to Atlantic Forest in Paraná, Santa Catarina and São Paulo in southeastern Brazil
  • Hosts: Small red brocket, Lead paragraph
    It is endemic to Atlantic Forest in Paraná, Santa Catarina and São Paulo in southeastern Brazil.
View the Source
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Callicebus personatus (Animal Diversity Web)
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of ZoologyHosts: Atlantic titi monkey, Habitat
Quote, Hosts: Atlantic titi monkey, Habitat
They inhabit primary and secondary Atlantic coastal forests
View the Source
Barbara Brown's titi monkey (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Barbara Brown's titi monkey
Quote, Hosts: Barbara Brown's titi monkey
The blond titi monkey is endemic to the Atlantic forests of eastern Brazil
View the Source
Black-fronted titi monkey (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Black-fronted titi monkey
Quote, Hosts: Black-fronted titi monkey
The black-fronted titi is endemic to the Atlantic forest region of Brazil
View the Source
Cougar (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Cougar, Social spacing and interactions
Quote, Hosts: Cougar, Social spacing and interactions
Cougars in the Atlantic Forest were active throughout the day but displayed peak activity during early mornings in protected areas and crepuscular and nocturnal activity in less protected areas.
View the Source
Brown-throated Sloth (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Brown-throated Sloth, Taxonomy
Quote, Hosts: Brown-throated Sloth, Taxonomy
The seven recognized subspecies of the brown-throated sloth, although these are not all readily distinguishable, are: B. v. boliviensis Gray, 1871 Western Amazon B. v. brasiliensis Blainville, 1840 Southern Atlantic Forest in coastal Brazil B. v. ephippiger Philippi, 1870 The Trans-Andean regions of Central America B. v. gorgon Thomas, 1926 Gorgona Island, off the Pacific coast
View the Source
Ocelot (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Ocelot, Threats
Quote, Hosts: Ocelot, Threats
In the Atlantic Forest in northeastern Argentina, it is affected by logging and poaching of prey species.
View the Source
Phoneutria, Wikipedia
Hosts: Brazilian Wandering Spider, Distribution
Quote, Hosts: Brazilian Wandering Spider, Distribution
The remaining species are restricted to Atlantic Forest of Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil, including forest fragments in the Cerrado savanna.
View the Source
Caecilian (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Caecilian, Milk provisioning
Quote, Hosts: Caecilian, Milk provisioning
In a detailed 2024 study, researchers collected 16 mothers of the species Siphonops annulatus from cacao plantations in Brazil's Atlantic Forest and filmed them with their altricial hatchlings in the lab.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Kinkajou
WikipediaHosts: Kinkajou, Distribution and habitat
Quote, Hosts: Kinkajou, Distribution and habitat
Kinkajous range from east and south of the Sierra Madre in Mexico, throughout Central America to Bolivia east of the Andes and the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil.
View the Source
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): GBIF species descriptions for Callithrix jacchus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)Hosts: Common Marmoset, Habitat description atlantic forest
Quote, Hosts: Common Marmoset, Habitat description atlantic forest
Coastal Atlantic Forest, liana forest, semi-deciduous forest, scleromorphic cerrado woodland or cerrado savanna forest
View the Source
Wikipedia: Pumpkin Toadlet
WikipediaHosts: Pumpkin Toadlet, Distribution
Quote, Hosts: Pumpkin Toadlet, Distribution
This diurnal species is endemic to southeastern Brazil where it is found among leaf litter on the floor of Atlantic rainforests at an altitude of 200-1,250 m (660-4,100 ft).
View the Source

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