Atlantic Forest

{{Short description|South American forest}} {{Expand Portuguese|Mata Atlântica|topic=geo|date=August 2024}} {{For|the biome in north-western Europe|North Atlantic moist mixed forests}} {{Infobox forest | name = Atlantic Forest | native_name = Mata Atlântica | native_lang = pt | native_name2 = Bosque atlántico | native_lang2 = es | image = Vista Área do Parque Nacional Do Iguaçu - Brasil.jpg | image_caption = Aerial view of Iguaçu National Park and Iguazú National Park | image_size = | map_image = Atlantic Forest WWF.jpg | map_caption = Map of the Atlantic Forest ecoregions as delineated by the WWF. The yellow line approximately encloses the forest's distribution.<br/>{{small|(Satellite image from NASA)}} | map_width = | coordinates = | county = | region = | country = Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay | elevation = | area = {{convert|1315460|km2|abbr=on}} | max_area = | date_max_area = | status = | established = | visitation = | visitation_year = | events = | authority = | website = | ecosystem = | classification_WWF = | classification_EPA = | classification_CEC = | disturbance = | forest_cover = | species = | indicator_plants = | lesser_flora = | fauna = }} {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site | WHS = Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves | Image = Panorama, Parque Nacional e Histórico do Monte Pascoal.JPG | imagecaption = Atlantic Forest in Bahia State, Brazil | Location = Brazil | Criteria = Natural: ix, x | Includes = Una Biological Reserve, PAU Brazil CEPLAC Experimental Station, Veracruz Station, Pau Brasil National Park, Descobrimento National Park, Monte Pascoal National Park, Linhares Forest Reserve and Sooretama Biological Reserve | ID = 892 | Year = 1999 | Area = 111,930 ha }} {{Infobox UNESCO World Heritage Site | WHS = Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves | Official_name = Atlantic Forest South-East Reserves | image = Trilha da figueira na Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Salto Morato.jpg | image_size = | caption = View from a trail in the Salto Morato Reserve | Part_of =  | Includes = 25 protected areas | Location = Paraná and São Paulo, Brazil | Criteria = {{UNESCO WHS type|(vii)(ix)(x)}}(vii)(ix)(x) | ID = 893rev | Coordinates = {{coord|24|10|S|48|0|W|format=dms}} | Year = 1999 | Extension =  | Danger =  | Area = {{convert|468193|ha|sqmi|abbr=on}} | Buffer_zone =  | Website =  | locmapin = | map_caption =  | map_width =  | relief =  | child =  | embedded =  }}

The '''Atlantic Forest''' ({{langx|pt|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''' ({{langx|es|Selva Misionera}}).

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.<ref>Dafonseca, G. 1985. The Vanishing Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Biological Conservation 34:17-34.</ref>

It was the first environment that the Portuguese colonists encountered over 500 years ago, when it was thought to have had an area of {{convert|1000000|–|1500000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}, and stretching an unknown distance inland, making it, back then, the second largest rainforest on the planet, only behind the Amazon rainforest.<ref>Por, Francis Dov. 1992. Sooretama: the Atlantic rain forest of Brazil. The Hague: SPB Academic Pub.</ref> Over 85% of the original area has been deforested, threatening many plant and animal species with extinction.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Atlantic Forest|url=https://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/southamerica/brazil/placesweprotect/atlantic-forest.xml|website=The Nature Conservancy}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Atlantic Forests, South America|url=https://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/atlantic_forests/|website=WWF}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| doi = 10.1126/science.abq5099| volume = 383| issue = 6679| pages = 219–225| last1 = De Lima| first1 = Renato A. F.| last2 = Dauby| first2 = Gilles| last3 = De Gasper| first3 = André L.| last4 = Fernandez| first4 = Eduardo P.| last5 = Vibrans| first5 = Alexander C.| last6 = Oliveira| first6 = Alexandre A. De| last7 = Prado| first7 = Paulo I.| last8 = Souza| first8 = Vinícius C.| last9 = F. De Siqueira| first9 = Marinez| last10 = Ter Steege| first10 = Hans| title = Comprehensive conservation assessments reveal high extinction risks across Atlantic Forest trees| journal = Science| date = 2024-01-12| pmid = 38207046| bibcode = 2024Sci...383..219D| url = https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq5099| url-access = subscription}}</ref>

==Ecology==

The Atlantic Forest region includes forests of several variations: * Restinga is a forest type that grows on stabilized coastal dunes. Restinga forests are generally closed canopy short forests with tree density. Open restinga is an open, savanna-like formation with scattered clumps of small trees and shrubs and an extensive layer of herbs, grasses, and sedges.<ref name="Thomas">Thomas, William Wayt, and Elizabeth G. Britton. 2008. The Atlantic coastal forest of Northeastern Brazil. Bronx, N.Y.: The New York Botanical Garden Press. {{ISBN|978-0-89327-498-6}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2023}} * Seasonal tropical moist forests may receive more than {{Convert abbreviated|2000|mm}} of rain a year. These include Tropical Moist: Lowland Forests, Submontane Forest, and Montane Forests.<ref name="Thomas" /> * Tabuleiro forests are found over very moist clay soils and Tabuleiro Savannas occur over faster-draining sand soils.<ref name="Thomas" /> These are humid areas that rely on water vapor from the ocean.<ref name="Galindo" >Galindo Leal, Carlos, and Ibsen de Gusmão Câmara. 2003. The Atlantic Forest of South America: biodiversity status, threats, and outlook. Washington: Island Press.</ref> * Further inland are the Atlantic dry forests, which form a transition between the arid Caatinga to the northeast and the Cerrado savannas to the west. These forests are lower in stature; more open, with high abundance of deciduous trees and lower diversity when compared to tropical moist forests. These forests have between 700 and 1600 mm of precipitation annually with a distinct dry season. This includes Deciduous and Seasonal semideciduous forest each with their own lowland and montane regions.<ref name="Thomas" /><ref name="Galindo" /> * Montane forests are higher altitude wet forests across mountains and plateaus of southern Brazil. Also called Araucaria moist forests. * The Mussununga forests occur in southern Bahia and northern Espírito Santo states. The Mussununga ecosystem ranges from grasslands to woodlands associated with sandy spodosols. The word ''Mussununga'' is Amerindian Tupi-Guarani meaning soft and wet white sand.{{sfn|Saporetti-Junior et al|2011}} * Shrubby montane savannas occur at the highest elevations, also called Campo rupestre. The Atlantic Forest 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 was reviewed in 2018.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Muylaert|first1=Renata Lara|last2=Vancine|first2=Maurício Humberto|last3=Bernardo|first3=Rodrigo|last4=Oshima|first4=Júlia Emi Faria|last5=Sobral-Souza|first5=Thadeu|last6=Tonetti|first6=Vinicius Rodrigues|last7=Niebuhr|first7=Bernardo Brandão|last8=Ribeiro|first8=Milton Cezar|date=2018-09-11|title=UMA NOTA SOBRE OS LIMITES TERRITORIAIS DA MATA ATLÂNTICA|url=https://revistas.ufrj.br/index.php/oa/article/view/14317|journal=Oecologia Australis|language=pt|volume=22|issue=3|pages=302–311|doi=10.4257/oeco.2018.2203.09|issn=2177-6199|doi-access=free|hdl=11449/232809|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

==Geography== [[File:Iguazu_National_Park_Falls.jpg|thumb|The Iguazu Falls are located south of the Atlantic Forest.]]

The Atlantic Forest mainly covers regions of eastern Brazil (92% of the total area), but also reaches eastern Paraguay (6%) and northeastern Argentina (2%).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina & WWF |title=State of the Atlantic Forest: Three countries, 148 million people, one of the richest forests on Earth |date=2017 |publisher=Technical Report |location=Puerto Iguazú, Argentina. |page=146 |url=https://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/documento_fvs_baja.pdf}}</ref>

==History==

The Atlantic Forest has undergone great changes across the last two epochs. Human interaction and environmental changes have been major factors in the ecological history of the forest region.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Atlantic forest: history, biodiversity, threats and opportunities of the mega-diverse forest |date=2021 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-55322-7 |editor-last=Marques |editor-first=Marcia C. M. |location=Cham |editor-last2=Grelle |editor-first2=Carlos E. V.}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Galindo" /> Humans first interacted with the Atlantic Forest 18,000 years ago during the Late Pleistocene.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Solórzano |first1=Alexandro |title=Atlantic Forest Landscapes: Nature-Cultures through Space and Time |date=2024-08-21 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History |url=https://oxfordre.com/latinamericanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.001.0001/acrefore-9780199366439-e-1080 |access-date=2025-11-20 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.1080 |isbn=978-0-19-936643-9 |last2=Brasil |first2=Lucas |last3=Fernandez |first3=Vicente |last4=Amadeo |first4=Thomaz |last5=Amadeo |first5=Maria |last6=Ribeiro de Oliveira |first6=Rogério|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Atlantic Forest region was very different in the Pleistocene than today. Vegetation ranged from a few rain-heavy forests to an abundance of dry open grasslands and forests.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |title=The Atlantic forest: history, biodiversity, threats and opportunities of the mega-diverse forest |date=2021 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-55322-7 |editor-last=Marques |editor-first=Marcia C. M. |location=Cham |editor-last2=Grelle |editor-first2=Carlos E. V.}}</ref>

Early human hunting likely resulted in the first mass extinctions of large mammals in the Atlantic Forest region. Indigenous groups in the Holocene used slash-and-burn agriculture which transformed biological corridors into food resources. Changes in landscape and faunal demographics contributed to greater ecological changes in the Holocene.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Atlantic forest: history, biodiversity, threats and opportunities of the mega-diverse forest |date=2021 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-55322-7 |editor-last=Marques |editor-first=Marcia C. M. |location=Cham |editor-last2=Grelle |editor-first2=Carlos E. V.}}</ref> Ecological changes in this era were signified by the increase in dense rainforests.

Unlike refugia for equatorial rainforests, the refuges for the Atlantic Forest have never been the product of detailed identification.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sales |first1=Lilian P. |last2=Pires |first2=Mathias M. |date=2023 |title=Identifying climate change refugia for South American biodiversity |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.14087 |journal=Conservation Biology |language=en |volume=37 |issue=4 |article-number=e14087 |doi=10.1111/cobi.14087 |pmid=36919472 |bibcode=2023ConBi..37E4087S |issn=1523-1739|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

By the time of European colonization circa 1500 CE, the Atlantic Forest stretched approximately {{Convert abbreviated|1300000|km2}}.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Morellato |first1=L. Patrícia C. |last2=Haddad |first2=Célio F. B. |date=2000 |title=Introduction: The Brazilian Atlantic Forest1 |journal=Biotropica |volume=32 |issue=4 |page=786 |doi=10.1646/0006-3606(2000)032[0786:itbaf]2.0.co;2 |issn=0006-3606}}</ref> The regions first encountered by Europeans were not pristine landscape. Researchers estimate that Indigenous land management shaped 60–80% of the forest landscape by the time of European contact.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Solórzano |first1=Alexandro |title=The Atlantic forest: history, biodiversity, threats and opportunities of the mega-diverse forest |last2=de Assis Brasil |first2=Lucas Santa Cruz |last3=de Oliveira |first3=Rogério Ribeiro |date=2021 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-55322-7 |editor-last=Marques |editor-first=Marcia C. M. |location=Cham |pages=25–44 |editor-last2=Grelle |editor-first2=Carlos E. V.}}</ref> Portuguese colonists exploited Indigenous labor and knowledge to extract ''Paubrasilia echinata'' for the red dye the trunk of the plant could produce.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last1=Solórzano |first1=Alexandro |title=The Atlantic forest: history, biodiversity, threats and opportunities of the mega-diverse forest |last2=de Assis Brasil |first2=Lucas Santa Cruz |last3=de Oliveira |first3=Rogério Ribeiro |date=2021 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-55322-7 |editor-last=Marques |editor-first=Marcia C. M. |location=Cham |pages=25–44 |editor-last2=Grelle |editor-first2=Carlos E. V.}}</ref> Portuguese sugar plantations, engenho, had the most impact on the Atlantic Forest region in colonial times.<ref name=":12" /> Colonists needed forests cleared to both hold sugar plantations and to feed mill furnances for sugar conversion.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last1=Solórzano |first1=Alexandro |title=The Atlantic forest: history, biodiversity, threats and opportunities of the mega-diverse forest |last2=de Assis Brasil |first2=Lucas Santa Cruz |last3=de Oliveira |first3=Rogério Ribeiro |date=2021 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-55322-7 |editor-last=Marques |editor-first=Marcia C. M. |location=Cham |pages=25–44 |editor-last2=Grelle |editor-first2=Carlos E. V.}}</ref> Overtime, these interactions shaped the Atlantic Forest region in a manner that had not occurred under Indigenous land management.

The Atlantic Forest has become fragmented since early colonial interactions. Forest fragmentation continues to impact the Atlantic Forest region and contemporary conservation efforts.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last1=Morellato |first1=L. Patrícia C. |last2=Haddad |first2=Célio F. B. |date=2000 |title=Introduction: The Brazilian Atlantic Forest1 |journal=Biotropica |volume=32 |issue=4 |page=786 |doi=10.1646/0006-3606(2000)032[0786:itbaf]2.0.co;2 |issn=0006-3606}}</ref>

The threatened existence of the golden lion tamarin sparked global interest in the Atlantic Forest in 1970.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |title=The Atlantic forest: history, biodiversity, threats and opportunities of the mega-diverse forest |date=2021 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-030-55322-7 |editor-last=Marques |editor-first=Marcia C. M. |location=Cham |editor-last2=Grelle |editor-first2=Carlos E. V.}}</ref> thumb|Golden lion tamarin in the Primate, Cat, and Aquatics building at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

==Biodiversity==

[[File:Jaguar (Panthera onca palustris) male Three Brothers River.JPG|thumb|A jaguar in the forest]] Despite having only 28% of native vegetation cover remaining,<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Rezende|first1=C.L.|last2=Scarano|first2=F.R.|last3=Assad|first3=E.D.|last4=Joly|first4=C.A.|last5=Metzger|first5=J.P.|last6=Strassburg|first6=B.B.N.|last7=Tabarelli|first7=M.|last8=Fonseca|first8=G.A.|last9=Mittermeier|first9=R.A.|date=October 2018|title=From hotspot to hopespot: An opportunity for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest|journal=Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation|volume=16|issue=4|pages=208–214|doi=10.1016/j.pecon.2018.10.002|issn=2530-0644|doi-access=free|bibcode=2018PEcoC..16..208R }}</ref> the Atlantic Forest remains extraordinarily lush in biodiversity and endemic species, many of which are threatened with extinction.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=de Lima|first1=Renato A. F.|last2=Oliveira|first2=Alexandre A.|last3=Pitta|first3=Gregory R.|last4=de Gasper|first4=André L.|last5=Vibrans|first5=Alexander C.|last6=Chave|first6=Jérôme|last7=ter Steege|first7=Hans|last8=Prado|first8=Paulo I.|date=2020-12-11|title=The erosion of biodiversity and biomass in the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot|journal=Nature Communications|language=en|volume=11|issue=1|page=6347|doi=10.1038/s41467-020-20217-w|pmid=33311511 |pmc=7733445 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.6347D |issn=2041-1723}}</ref> 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 the world.<ref name="Tabarelli5">Tabarelli, Marcelo, Antonio Venceslau Aguiar, Milton Cezar Ribeiro, Jean Paul Metzger, and Carlos A. Peres. "Prospects for Biodiversity Conservation in the Atlantic Forest: Lessons from Aging Human-modified Landscapes." Biological Conservation 143.10 (2010): 2328-340.</ref> 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.<ref name="delaSanchaetal.20">de la Sancha, Noé U., Sarah A. Boyle, and Nancy E. McIntyre. "Identifying structural connectivity priorities in eastern Paraguay's fragmented Atlantic Forest." Scientific reports 11, no. 1 (2021): 16129. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-95516-3</ref> 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 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.<ref name="Galindo" /> 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.<ref>[http://www.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/atlantic_forests.cfm World Wildlife Fund: Atlantic Forest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100406202247/http://www.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/atlantic_forests.cfm |date=2010-04-06 }}. World Wildlife Fund. 29 November 2011.</ref>

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 the Atlantic Forest.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=de Lima |first1=Renato A. F. |last2=Oliveira |first2=Alexandre A. |last3=Pitta |first3=Gregory R. |last4=de Gasper |first4=André L. |last5=Vibrans |first5=Alexander C. |last6=Chave |first6=Jérôme |last7=ter Steege |first7=Hans |last8=Prado |first8=Paulo I. |date=2020-12-11 |title=The erosion of biodiversity and biomass in the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=6347 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-20217-w |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=7733445 |pmid=33311511|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.6347D }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ramos |first1=Flavio Nunes |last2=Mortara |first2=Sara Ribeiro |last3=Monalisa-Francisco |first3=Nathalia |last4=Elias |first4=João Pedro Costa |last5=Neto |first5=Luiz Menini |last6=Freitas |first6=Leandro |last7=Kersten |first7=Rodrigo |last8=Amorim |first8=André Márcio |last9=Matos |first9=Fernando Bittencourt |last10=Nunes-Freitas |first10=André Felippe |last11=Alcantara |first11=Suzana |date=February 2019 |title=ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.2541 |journal=Ecology |language=en |volume=100 |issue=2 |pages=e02541 |doi=10.1002/ecy.2541 |pmid=30707454 |bibcode=2019Ecol..100E2541R |hdl=20.500.12008/30081 |s2cid=73437737 |issn=0012-9658|hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Souza |first1=Yuri |last2=Gonçalves |first2=Fernando |last3=Lautenschlager |first3=Laís |last4=Akkawi |first4=Paula |last5=Mendes |first5=Calebe |last6=Carvalho |first6=Mariana M. |last7=Bovendorp |first7=Ricardo S. |last8=Fernandes-Ferreira |first8=Hugo |last9=Rosa |first9=Clarissa |last10=Graipel |first10=Maurício Eduardo |last11=Peroni |first11=Nivaldo |date=October 2019 |title=ATLANTIC MAMMALS: a data set of assemblages of medium- and large-sized mammals of the Atlantic Forest of South America |journal=Ecology |language=en |volume=100 |issue=10 |pages=e02785 |doi=10.1002/ecy.2785 |pmid=31180132 |s2cid=182951440 |issn=0012-9658|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019Ecol..100E2785S |hdl=11449/190610 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Culot |first1=Laurence |last2=Pereira |first2=Lucas Augusto |last3=Agostini |first3=Ilaria |last4=Almeida |first4=Marco Antônio Barreto |last5=Alves |first5=Rafael Souza Cruz |last6=Aximoff |first6=Izar |last7=Bager |first7=Alex |last8=Baldovino |first8=María Celia |last9=Bella |first9=Thiago Ribas |last10=Bicca-Marques |first10=Júlio César |last11=Braga |first11=Caryne |date=January 2019 |title=ATLANTIC - PRIMATES: a dataset of communities and occurrences of primates in the Atlantic Forests of South America |journal=Ecology |language=en |volume=100 |issue=1 |pages=e02525 |doi=10.1002/ecy.2525 |pmid=30317556 |s2cid=52979277 |issn=0012-9658|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019Ecol..100E2525C |hdl=10923/19194 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Vancine |first1=Maurício Humberto |last2=Duarte |first2=Kauã da Silva |last3=de Souza |first3=Yuri Silva |last4=Giovanelli |first4=João Gabriel Ribeiro |last5=Martins-Sobrinho |first5=Paulo Mateus |last6=López |first6=Ariel |last7=Bovo |first7=Rafael Parelli |last8=Maffei |first8=Fábio |last9=Lion |first9=Marília Bruzzi |last10=Ribeiro Júnior |first10=José Wagner |last11=Brassaloti |first11=Ricardo |date=July 2018 |title=ATLANTIC AMPHIBIANS: a data set of amphibian communities from the Atlantic Forests of South America |journal=Ecology |language=en |volume=99 |issue=7 |page=1692 |doi=10.1002/ecy.2392|pmid=29953585 |hdl=11449/176529 |s2cid=49589547 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2018Ecol...99.1692V |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bovendorp |first1=Ricardo S. |last2=Villar |first2=Nacho |last3=de Abreu-Junior |first3=Edson F. |last4=Bello |first4=Carolina |last5=Regolin |first5=André L. |last6=Percequillo |first6=Alexandre R. |last7=Galetti |first7=Mauro |date=August 2017 |title=Atlantic small-mammal: a dataset of communities of rodents and marsupials of the Atlantic forests of South America |journal=Ecology |language=en |volume=98 |issue=8 |page=2226 |doi=10.1002/ecy.1893|pmid=28500789 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2017Ecol...98.2226B |hdl=11449/178972 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lima |first1=Fernando |last2=Beca |first2=Gabrielle |last3=Muylaert |first3=Renata L. |last4=Jenkins |first4=Clinton N. |last5=Perilli |first5=Miriam L. L. |last6=Paschoal |first6=Ana Maria O. |last7=Massara |first7=Rodrigo L. |last8=Paglia |first8=Adriano P. |last9=Chiarello |first9=Adriano G. |last10=Graipel |first10=Maurício E. |last11=Cherem |first11=Jorge J. |date=November 2017 |title=ATLANTIC-CAMTRAPS: a dataset of medium and large terrestrial mammal communities in the Atlantic Forest of South America |journal=Ecology |language=en |volume=98 |issue=11 |page=2979 |doi=10.1002/ecy.1998|pmid=28857166 |s2cid=21908829 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2017Ecol...98.2979L |hdl=20.500.12219/4132 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hasui |first1=Érica |last2=Metzger |first2=Jean Paul |last3=Pimentel |first3=Rafael G. |last4=Silveira |first4=Luís Fábio |last5=Bovo |first5=Alex A. d. A. |last6=Martensen |first6=Alexandre C. |last7=Uezu |first7=Alexandre |last8=Regolin |first8=André L. |last9=Bispo de Oliveira |first9=Arthur Â. |last10=Gatto |first10=Cassiano A. F. R. |last11=Duca |first11=Charles |date=February 2018 |title=ATLANTIC BIRDS: a data set of bird species from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.2119 |journal=Ecology |language=en |volume=99 |issue=2 |page=497 |doi=10.1002/ecy.2119|pmid=29266462 |bibcode=2018Ecol...99..497H |hdl=11449/179566 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

New species are continually being found in the Atlantic Forest. In fact, between 1990 and 2006 over a thousand new flowering plants were discovered.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Furthermore, in 1990 researchers re-discovered a small population of the black-faced lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus caissara''), previously thought to have been extinct.<ref>Reaka-Kudla, Marjorie L, Don E. Wilson, and Edward O. Wilson. Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting Our Biological Resources. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press, 1997.</ref> In 1991, the butterfly ''Actinote zikani'' was rediscovered in southern Brazil, after being declared extinct ten years earlier.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Francini |first1=Ronaldo |last2=Freitas |first2=André Victor |last3=Brown Jr. |first3=Keith Spalding |date=October 2005 |title=Rediscovery of Actinote zikani (D'Almeida) (Nymphalidae, Heliconiinae, Acraeini): natural history, population biology and conservation of an endangered butterfly in SE Brazil |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259781650 |access-date=August 29, 2024 |website=ResearchGate}}</ref> A new species of blonde capuchin (''Cebus queirozi''), named for its distinguishing bright blonde hair, was discovered in northeastern Brazil at the Pernambuco Endemism Center in 2006.<ref>Pontes, A., A. Malta, and P. Asfora. 2006. A new species of capuchin monkey, genus ''Cebus erxleben'' (Cebidae, Primates): found at the very brink of extinction in the Pernambuco Endemism Centre. Zootaxa:1-12.</ref> A species of endangered three-toed sloth, named the maned sloth (''Bradypus torquatus'') because of its long hair, is endemic to the Atlantic Forest.<ref>Cassano, C., M. Kierulff, and A. Chiarello. 2011. The cacao agroforests of the Brazilian Atlantic forest as habitat for the endangered maned sloth ''Bradypus torquatus''. Mammalian Biology 76:243-250.</ref> Hylid tree frog ''Dendropsophus branneri'' is also endemic to the Atlantic Forest.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Martins-Sobrinho |first1=Paulo Mateus |last2=Silva |first2=Winny Gomes de Oliveira |last3=Santos |first3=Elizandra Gomes dos |last4=Moura |first4=Geraldo Jorge Barbosa de |last5=Oliveira |first5=Jaqueline Bianque de |date=2017-07-26 |title=Helminths of some tree frogs of the families Hylidae and Phyllomedusidae in an Atlantic rainforest fragment, Brazil |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00222933.2017.1337945 |journal=Journal of Natural History |language=en |volume=51 |issue=27–28 |pages=1639–1648 |doi=10.1080/00222933.2017.1337945 |bibcode=2017JNatH..51.1639M |s2cid=90234341 |issn=0022-2933|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Conservation== ===Human impact=== thumb|Atlantic Forest fragmentation [[File:Hillside deforestation in Rio de Janeiro.jpg|thumb|Deforestation of Atlantic Forest in Rio de Janeiro]]

The incorporation of modern human societies and their needs for forest resources has greatly reduced the size of the Atlantic Forest, which has resulted in species impoverishment.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Forest Fragmentation, Synergisms and the Impoverishment of Neotropical Forests |author1=Tabarelli, Marcelo |author2=José Maria Cardoso Da Silva |author3=Claude Gascon |name-list-style=amp | journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |date=June 2004 | volume=13 | issue=7 | pages=1419–1425 | doi=10.1023/B:BIOC.0000019398.36045.1b|bibcode=2004BiCon..13.1419T |s2cid=26608375 }}</ref> 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. :'''Agriculture:''' A major portion of human land use in the Atlantic Rain Forest is for agriculture. Crops include sugar-cane, coffee, tea, tobacco and more recently soybean and biofuel crops.<ref name="Tabarelli5" /> :'''Pasture:''' Even more common than using land for agriculture is the conversion of forest to cattle pastures.<ref name="IIz">{{cite journal | url=https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol13/iss2/art3/ | title=Thirty Years of Human Demography and Land-Use Change in the Atlantic Forest of Misiones, Argentina: an Evaluation of the Forest Transition Model |author1=IIzquierdo, Andrea E. |author2=Carlos D. De Angelo |author3=T. Mitchell Aide |name-list-style=amp | journal=Ecology and Society | year=2008 | volume=13 | issue=2 | pages=3. (online)| doi=10.5751/ES-02377-130203 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2008EcSoc..13Tar.3I | hdl=10535/3497 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> This is commonly done by slash and burn, which increases the likelihood of additional forest loss to human-induced wildfires. :'''Hunting:''' Species in a fragmented forest are more susceptible to decline in population size because they are in a confined area that is more accessible to hunters. Larger animals make up the highest percentage of biomass. These animals are also the most rewarding to hunters and are heavily hunted in accessible fragments. This results in a change in species interactions such as seed dispersal and competition for resources. :'''Logging:''' Logging removes 10 to 80% of the canopy cover of a forest, making that habitat more susceptible to natural elements such as wind and sunlight. This causes an increase in forest heating and desiccation.<ref name="Laurance">Laurance, William F., and Diana C. Useche. "Environmental Synergisms and Extinctions of Tropical Species." ''Conservation Biology'' 23.6 (2009): 1427–1437.</ref> Large amounts of organic litter and debris build up, which results in an increase in forest vulnerability to fires. Additionally, logging roads create accessibility for humans, thereby increasing the rate of human land disturbance and decreasing the amount of natural forest.<ref name="Laurance" /> :'''Fire:''' Human activity such as logging causes an increase in debris along forest floors that makes the Atlantic Forest more susceptible to fires. This is a forest type that is not accustomed to regular fire activity, so human-induced fires dramatically affect the forest understory because plants do not have fire adaptations. As a result, the forest becomes even more vulnerable to secondary fires, which are far more destructive and kill many more species including large trees.<ref name="Laurance" />

====Results of human activity====

Habitat fragmentation leads to a cascade of alterations of the original forest landscape.<ref name="Tabarelli5" /> For example, the extent of human disturbances, including habitat destruction, in the Atlantic Forest has led to an extinction crisis.<ref name="Brooks">Brooks, Thomas M., Mittermeier, Russell A., Mittermeier, Cristina G., Da Fonseca, Gustavo A. B., Konstant, William R., Flick, Penny, Pilgrim, John, Oldfield, Sara, Magin, Georgina, Hilton-Taylor, Craig. "Habitat Loss and Extinction in the Hotspots of Biodiversity." Pérdida de Hábitat y Extinciones en Áreas Críticas para la Biodiversidad 16.4 (2002).</ref> The endemic species in this region are especially vulnerable to extinction due to fragmentation because of their small geographic ranges and low occurrence.<ref>Patterson, B. D. & W. Atmar. "Analyzing species composition in fragments." ''Bonner Zoologische Monographen'' 46 (2000): Pp. 9–24.</ref> In a study of the Atlantic Forest fragments, community level biomass was reduced to 60% in plots less than 25 hectares.<ref name="Putz">Pütz, J. Groeneveld, L.F. Alves, J.P. Metzger, A. Huth. "Fragmentation drives tropical forest fragments to early successional states: A modelling study for Brazilian Atlantic forests." ''Ecological Modelling'', 222. 12 (2011), pp. 1986–1997.</ref> Key ecological processes such as seed dispersal, gene flow, colonization and other processes are disturbed by fragmentation.<ref name="Putz" /> With many key vertebrate seed dispersers going extinct, it is predicted that many regional, fruit-bearing tree species in the Atlantic forest will become extinct due to failure of seedling recruitment and recolonisation.<ref name="IIz" /> 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.<ref name="Brooks" />

===Conservation by nongovernmental organizations===

Due to the Atlantic Forest's vast diversity of endemic plants and animals as well as 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.<ref name="bio">[http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/atlantic_forest/pages/conservation.aspx Biodiversity Hotspots - Atlantic Forest - Conservation Action] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323223759/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/Hotspots/atlantic_forest/pages/conservation.aspx |date=March 23, 2012 }}. ''Biodiversity Hotspots'' - Home. 03 Oct. 2011.</ref> One organization, called BirdLife International, uses its research to preserve the area's bird biodiversity and teach people about sustainable natural resource use.<ref name="bio" />

Some organizations receive grants from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund if they abide by its rules.<ref name="bio" /> 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 a corridor, which will be known as the Central Biodiversity Corridor, in the Atlantic Forest and one in the Amazon.<ref name="bio" /> 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.<ref>[https://www.bndes.gov.br/SiteBNDES/bndes/bndes_pt/Areas_de_Atuacao/Meio_Ambiente/Mata_Atlantica/index.html Iniciativa BNDES Mata Atlântica]</ref> In order to preserve diversity, the state of São Paulo has created 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.<ref>[https://www.wwf.org.br/informacoes/english/?27046/So-Paulo-expands-Atlantic-Forest-protection-coverage São Paulo Expands Atlantic Forest Protection Coverage]. WWF Brasil. 03 Oct. 2011.</ref> 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.<ref>[https://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/southamerica/brazil/placesweprotect/atlantic-forest.xml About the Atlantic Forest in Brazil]. Nature Conservancy | Protecting Nature, Preserving Life. 03 Oct. 2011.</ref> The Amazon Institute 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 the original ecosystem restored by 2050.<ref>[https://www.pactomataatlantica.org.br Pact for Atlantic Forest Restoration]</ref>

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.

==Ecoregions==

[[File:Curitiba waterfall.jpg|thumb|Atlantic forest in Curitiba (Brazil)]] [[File:Reserva Biológica Estadual do Aguaí X Cleiton Dias Teixeira (02);.jpg|thumb|''Myiornis auricularis'' in the Atlantic forest of the state biological reserve of Aguaí]] Terrestrial ecoregions within the Atlantic Forest Biome include: ;Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests * Alto Paraná Atlantic forests * Araucaria moist forests * Atlantic Coast restingas * Bahia coastal forests * Bahia interior forests * Caatinga enclaves moist forests * Pernambuco coastal forests * Pernambuco interior forests * Serra do Mar coastal forests

;Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests * Atlantic dry forests

;Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands * Campos rupestres

;Mangrove forests * Bahia mangroves * Ilha Grande mangroves * Rio Piranhas mangroves * Rio São Francisco mangroves

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} * {{cite journal|last1=Saporetti-Junior|first1=Amilcar Walter|last2=Schaefer|first2=Carlos Ernesto G. Reynaud|last3=de Souza|first3=Agostinho Lopes|last4=Soares|first4=Michellia Pereira|last5=Araújo|first5=Dorothy Sue Dunn|last6=Meira-Neto|first6=João Augusto Alves|title=Influence of Soil Physical Properties on Plants of the Mussununga Ecosystem, Brazil|journal=Folia Geobotanica|date=21 September 2011|volume=47|issue=1|pages=29–39|doi=10.1007/s12224-011-9106-9|s2cid=17406247 |ref={{harvid|Saporetti-Junior et al|2011}}}} {{refend}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20180819020049/http://www.atlanticforest.org/ official '''Atlantic Forest Foundation''' website] – preservation of the Atlantic Forest organization. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100702223313/http://www.nature.org/wherewework/southamerica/brazil/work/art5080.html The Nature Conservancy: Atlantic Forest biome] – ''with photos''. * [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/892 UNESCO World Heritage Site: Discovery Coast Atlantic Forest Reserves] * [https://rainforests.mongabay.com/mata-atlantica/mata-atlantica.html Mongabay: Mata Atlántica] * [https://github.com/LEEClab/ATLANTIC-limits/blob/master/README.md ATLANTIC forest boundaries in shapefile] * [https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/inside-rebirth-south-americas-atlantic-forest The United Nations Environment Programme]

01 Category:Ecoregions of Brazil Category:Ecoregions of Argentina Category:Forests of Brazil Category:Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Category:Subtropical rainforests Category:Neotropical ecoregions Category:Natural regions of South America Category:Geography of Uruguay Category:Regions of Brazil Category:Regions of South America Category:World Heritage Sites in Brazil