![Biomes of Brazil](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Biomes_of_Brazil.png)
According to
IBGE
The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics ( pt, Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística; IBGE) is the agency responsible for official collection of statistical, geographic, cartographic, geodetic and environmental information ...
(2004),
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
has its territory occupied by six terrestrial
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 ...
s and one marine
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 ...
.
Terminology
The term "
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 ...
" has several meanings. In a narrow sense (e.g., Whittaker, 1975; Coutinho, 2006), used in literature, it names physio-functionally defined small-scale areas, habitat types or ecosystem types. Although it includes both the plants and the animals and microorganisms of a community, in practice, it is defined by the climate and physiognomy or general appearance of the plants of the community.
In the broad sense, adopted by Joly et al. (1978) and the IBGE (2016), biome can be understood as a synonym of "biogeographic province" (e.g., Rizzini, 1963, Eiten 1977, Cabrera and Willink 1980, the term "floristic province" or "phytogeographic" is used when considering plant species only), or as an approximate synonym of "morphoclimatic and phytogeographical domain" (Ab'Sáber, 1967, 2003).
In this broad sense, the "Projeto Radam" (Veloso et al., 1973) applies the term "phytoecological region", and IBGE (2012) adopts the term "floristic region".
However, the term "region" must be understood, in this case, in the generalist sense of "area". The terms "region" and "province" have specific traditional meanings in phytogeography: regions are areas characterized by endemic families, and provinces are areas characterized by endemic genera and species.
In the case of the 'domains' of Ab'Sáber (1967, 2003), the defined area is characterized by the predominance of certain geomorphological and climatic characteristics, and also by a certain predominant floristic province (vegetative type). However, there is no uniformity: enclaves from other provinces, characteristics of other domains, may occur within this area.
Terrestrial biomes
Amazônia
The
Amazon Forest
The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...
is the largest forest formation on the planet, conditioned by the humid equatorial climate. It is equivalent to 35% of the forest areas of the planet. It has a wide variety of plant formations. Most of Brazil is covered by the Amazon's forest areas and this number is around 60% and within that there is about 55,000 different species of plants populating it.
Cerrado
The
Cerrado
The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are t ...
presents diverse regions, ranging from clean fields devoid of woody vegetation to
cerradão
Cerradão is a type of dry forest found in Brazil, associated with the cerrado savanna ecoregion.
Structure
Cerradão is a drought-resistant ("xerophitic") type of forest, with relatively sparse and slender trees.
It includes species that are fou ...
, a dense tree formation. Its climate is particularly striking, presenting two well-defined seasons. The Cerrado is made up of grasslands, Savannahs and dry forests. It is the second largest biome behind the Amazon in South America. It covers around 21% of territory in Brazil and is located in the highlands of central Brazil.
Mata Atlântica
The
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 th ...
is composed of a series of ecosystems with very different structures and composition of flowers, as well as the climatic characteristics of the region where it occurs, having as a common element the exposure to the humid winds that blow from the ocean.
Caatinga
The
Caatinga
Caatinga (, ) is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (''caa'' = forest, v ...
has dry soils and its vegetation is formed by palm trees, such as buriti, oiticica, babassu and carnauba. Much of its northeastern part suffers a high risk of desertification due to the degradation of vegetation cover and soil. Caatinga is located in the Northeast part of South America and covers about 12% of the region.
Pampa
The
Pampa
The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazil ...
is characterized by the amount of herbaceous species and several typologies of the country, composing in some regions, environments integrated with the
Araucária forest. The flat plains of the Gaucho plains and plateaus and the soft-wavy reliefs are colonized by pioneering species that form an open savanna vegetation.
Pantanal
The
Pantanal
The Pantanal () is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and the world's largest flooded grasslands. It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but it extends into Mato Grosso and p ...
is an alluvial plain influenced by rivers that drain the basin of the Upper Paraguay, where it develops a fauna and flora of rare beauty and abundance. This ecosystem is formed by largely sandy terrains, covered by different physiognomies due to the variety of microregions and flood regimes.
Marine biome
The Brazilian marine biome is located on the "Marine Zone of Brazil", the continental shelf biotope, and presents several ecosystems.
The Brazilian Coastal Zone has as distinctive aspects in its long extension through different biomes that arrive until the coast, the biome of the
Amazônia
The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...
, the biome of the
Caatinga
Caatinga (, ) is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (''caa'' = forest, v ...
and bioma of the
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 th ...
. These biomes with wide variety of species and ecosystems, cover more than 8,500 km of coastline.
See also
*
Geography of Brazil
The country of Brazil occupies roughly half of South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil covers a total area of which includes of land and of water. The highest point in Brazil is Pico da Neblina at . Brazil is bordered by the countr ...
*
Environmental issues in Brazil
Environmental issues in Brazil include deforestation, illegal wildlife trade, illegal poaching, air, land degradation, and water pollution caused by mining activities, wetland degradation, pesticide use and severe oil spills, among others. As the ...
References
External links
Governo Federal MMA{Dead link, date=June 2019 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes PORTALBio » Biodiversidade brasileira » Biomas brasileiros
Biomas Brasileiros
Invivo Environment
Cerrado BiomeCerrado Biome
Biomes
Terrestrial biomes