SOUTHEAST BRAZIL - Brazil - page 103

Mata Atlântica
The Atlantic coastal forest, or Mata
Atlântica, is one of the best bird-
watching sites in the world, with
950 resident species, almost 200
of which are endemic. It once
covered the lowlands and coastal
mountains from Rio Grande do
Norte to Rio Grande do Sul.
Today, less than 5 percent
remains, concentrated mainly in Rio
de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, São Paulo,

and Paraná. Its proximity to the
Atlantic blesses it with heavy
rainfall. The vegetation is thick with
epiphytic plants, and the forest is
particularly rich in breathtaking
orchid species. There are many rare
mammals too, including the most
endangered primate in the world,
the woolly spider monkey, as well
as several striking species of uniquely
colored marmosets and tamarins.

Black
jacobin

Epiphytes
are plants
encrusting every
available nook
and cranny of
the larger trees,
drawing mois-
ture directly
from air.

Vegetation at
the water's
edge tends to
consist of
fast-growing
species that
quickly
replenish
their numbers
after floods.

"2!:),

Clearwater
streams cut
across the
thick forest,
which receives
heavy rainfall,
especially in
the Southeast.

LOCATOR MAP

Mata Atlântica

BIODIVERSITY
Mata Atlântica is one of the world's most biodiverse regions,
with some 20,000 plant species, 40 percent of which are endemic,
and one of the highest numbers of threatened or endangered
vertebrates in the world.

The cattleya orchid ,
the world's most
famous orchid
genus, was discov-
ered by Englishman
William Cattley
in 1818.

The seven-colored tanager
is one of the local
species listed as
endangered
or threatened
by CITES.

The woolly
monkey ,
among South
America's
largest primate,
can weigh
more than
13 lb (6 kg).

The golden
lion tamarin ,
one of the three
lion tamarin
species, lives on
a few islands
and in the
Atlantic forest.

Ocelots , the third largest of Brazil's
eight indigenous big cats, are most
abundant in southern São Paulo.