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
Area (sq km)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. Classification
Biogeographic Realm Connections
Demonstrates
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Hosts
Source Phoneutria, Wikipedia
Source Brown-throated Sloth (Wikipedia)
Source Caecilian (Wikipedia)
Source GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): GBIF species descriptions for Callithrix jacchus
Source Cougar (Wikipedia)
Source World Wildlife Fund
Source Wikipedia: Kinkajou
Source Ocelot (Wikipedia)
Source Wikipedia: Pumpkin Toadlet
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
WikipediaIntroductionQuote, 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).
2. Atlantic Forest (Wikipedia)
WikipediaHistory section, colonization-era extent paragraphQuote, 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).
World Wildlife Fund
World Wildlife Fund- In Biome: Tropical Rainforest
- Hosts: Golden Lion Tamarin
View the Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
Cougar (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Cougar, Social spacing and interactionsQuote, 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.
Brown-throated Sloth (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Brown-throated Sloth, TaxonomyQuote, 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
Ocelot (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationHosts: Ocelot, ThreatsQuote, Hosts: Ocelot, Threats
In the Atlantic Forest in northeastern Argentina, it is affected by logging and poaching of prey species.
Phoneutria, Wikipedia
Hosts: Brazilian Wandering Spider, DistributionQuote, 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.
Caecilian (Wikipedia)
Hosts: Caecilian, Milk provisioningQuote, 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.
Wikipedia: Kinkajou
WikipediaHosts: Kinkajou, Distribution and habitatQuote, 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.
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): GBIF species descriptions for Callithrix jacchus
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)Hosts: Common Marmoset, Habitat description atlantic forestQuote, Hosts: Common Marmoset, Habitat description atlantic forest
Coastal Atlantic Forest, liana forest, semi-deciduous forest, scleromorphic cerrado woodland or cerrado savanna forest
Wikipedia: Pumpkin Toadlet
WikipediaHosts: Pumpkin Toadlet, DistributionQuote, 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).
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