Alto Paraná Atlantic Forests
The Alto Paraná Atlantic forests, also known as the Paraná-Paraíba interior forests, is an ecoregion of the tropical moist forests biome, and the South American Atlantic Forest biome. It is located in southern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and eastern Paraguay. Geography The Alto Paraná Atlantic forests are an interior extension of the coastal forests, extending across the southern portion of the Brazilian Highlands. The ecoregion extends from the mouth of the Paraíba do Sul River eastward along the Paraíba valley lying behind the coastal Serra do Mar, and further eastward and northward along the basin of the Paraná River and its tributaries, forming a complex mosaic with the surrounding ecoregions. ;States, provinces, and departments The ecoregion covers portions of the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, the Argentine province of Misiones, and the Paraguayan departments of Alt ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Iguaçu National Park
Iguaçu National Park () is a national park in Paraná State, Brazil. It comprises a total area of and a length of about , of which are natural borders by bodies of water and the Argentine and Brazilian sides together comprise around . Iguaçu National Park was created by federal decree nr. 1035 of January 10, 1939, and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986. The park is managed by Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). The park shares a border with Iguazú National Park in Argentina one of the world's largest waterfalls, extending over some . It is home to many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, among them the giant otter and the giant anteater. The clouds of spray produced by the waterfall are conducive to the growth of lush vegetation. History The Iguaçu National Park owes its name to the fact it includes an important area of the Iguazu River (Portuguese: Rio Iguaçu). Approximately of the length of the river makes up the Iguaçu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paraná (state)
Paraná () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, in the south of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the province of Misiones, Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraguay, with the Paraná River as its western boundary line. It is subdivided into 399 municipalities, and its capital is the city of Curitiba. Other major cities are Londrina, Maringá, Ponta Grossa, Cascavel, São José dos Pinhais and Foz do Iguaçu. The state is home to 5.4% of the Brazilian population and has 6.2% of the Brazilian GDP. Crossed by the Tropic of Capricorn, Paraná has what is left of the araucaria forest, one of the most important subtropical forests in the world. At the border with Argentina is the National Park of Iguaçu, considered by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. At only from there, at the border with Paraguay, the largest dam in the world was built, the Hidroelétrica de Itaipu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Serra Do Mar
The Serra do Mar (, Portuguese for ''Sea's Ridge'' or ''Sea Ridge'') is a 1,500 km long system of mountain ranges and escarpments in Southeastern Brazil. Geography The Serra do Mar runs parallel to the Atlantic Ocean coast from the state of Espírito Santo to southern Santa Catarina,Angulo, R. J., G. C. Lessa, M. C. de Souza (2009). ''The Holocene Barrier Systems of Paranaguá and Northern Santa Catarina Coasts, Southern Brazil.'' Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences 107: 135-176. although some literature includes the Serra Geral in the Serra do Mar, in which case the range would extend to northeastern Rio Grande do Sul. The main escarpment forms the boundary between the sea-level littoral and the inland plateau (''planalto''), which has a mean altitude of . This escarpment is part of the Great Escarpment that runs along much of the eastern coast of Brazil south from the city of Salvador, Bahia. Mountain ranges The mountain ranges are discontinuous in several places and are ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paraíba Do Sul River
Paraíba (Tupi: ''pa'ra a'íba''; ) is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and it is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Paraíba is the third most densely populated state of the Northeast; João Pessoa, the sea-bordered state capital, and Campina Grande, in the interior, rank among the fifteen-largest municipalities in the Northeast of Brazil. The state is home to 1.9% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.9% of the Brazilian GDP. Paraíba is most populated along the Atlantic coast, which extends as far as Ponta do Seixas, the easternmost point of the Americas. The state is a tourist and industrial hotspot; it is known for its cultural heritage, amenable climate and geographical features, ranging from the seaside beaches to the Borborema Plateau. It is named after the Paraíba river. Some of the most notable Brazilian writers and poets are from Paraíba like ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brazilian Highlands
The Brazilian Highlands or Brazilian Plateau ( pt, Planalto Brasileiro) are an extensive geographical region, covering most of the eastern, southern and central portions of Brazil, in all approximately half of the country's land area, or some 4,500,000 km2 (1,930,511 sq mi). In addition, the vast majority of Brazil's population (190,755,799; ''2010 census'') lives in the highlands or on the narrow coastal region immediately adjacent to it. Ancient basaltic lava flows gave birth to much of the region. However, the time of dramatic geophysical activity is long past, as there is now no seismic or volcanic activity. Erosion has also played a large part in shaping the Highlands, forming extensive sedimentary deposits and wearing down the mountains. The Brazilian Highlands are recognized for the great diversity to be found there: within the region there are several different biomes, vastly different climatic conditions, many types of soil, and thousands of animal and plant specie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Atlantic Forest
The Atlantic Forest ( pt, 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. 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 was thought to have had an area of , 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 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Biome
A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader term than habitat and can comprise a variety of habitats. While a biome can cover large areas, a microbiome is a mix of organisms that coexist in a defined space on a much smaller scale. For example, the human microbiome is the collection of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms that are present on or in a human body. A biota is the total collection of organisms of a geographic region or a time period, from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet and whole-timescale spatiotemporal scales. The biotas of the Earth make up the biosphere. Etymology The term was suggested in 1916 by Clements, originally as a synonym for '' biotic community'' of Möbius (1877). Later, it gained its c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tropical And Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Description TSMF is generally found in large, discontinuous patches centered on the equatorial belt and between the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, TSMF are characterized by low variability in annual temperature and high levels of rainfall of more than annually. Forest composition is dominated by evergreen and semi-deciduous tree species. These trees number in the thousands and contribute to the highest levels of species diversity in any terrestrial major habitat type. In general, biodiversity is highest in the forest canopy. The canopy can be divided into five layers: overstory canopy with emergent crowns, a medium layer of canopy, lower canopy, shrub level, and finally understory. These forests are home to more species than any other terrestrial ecosystem: Half of the world's sp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Terrestrial Ecoregion
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) 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 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). Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches. Firstly, no single bio-geographic framework is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible. Sec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Misiones Province
Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes Province of Argentina to the southwest. This was an early area of Roman Catholic missionary activity by the Society of Jesus in what was then called the Province of Paraguay, beginning in the early 17th century. In 1984 the ruins of four mission sites in Argentina were designated World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. History Indigenous peoples of various tribes lived in the area of the future province for thousands of years. At the time of European encounter, it was occupied by the Kaingang and Xokleng tribes, later followed by the Guarani tribe. The first European to visit the region, Sebastian Cabot, discovered Apipé Falls while navigating the Paraná River in December 1527. In 1541 Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca reached the Iguazú ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rio Grande Do Sul
Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian states by area, ninth largest by area. Located in the southernmost part of the country, Rio Grande do Sul is bordered clockwise by Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, the Uruguayan Departments of Uruguay, departments of Rocha Department, Rocha, Treinta y Tres Department, Treinta y Tres, Cerro Largo Department, Cerro Largo, Rivera Department, Rivera and Artigas Department, Artigas to the south and southwest, and the Argentina, Argentine Provinces of Argentina, provinces of Corrientes Province, Corrientes and Misiones Province, Misiones to the west and northwest. The capital and largest city is Porto Alegre. The state has the highest life expectancy in Brazil, and the crime rate i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |