The Bahia coastal forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest

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 ...

of eastern

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 ...

, part of the larger Atlantic Forest region.

Setting

The Bahia coastal forests occupy a belt approximately wide along the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast of eastern Brazil, in the states of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest b ...

and

Espirito Santo ''Espirito'' (Brazilian for "Spirit") is the second album by Lawson Rollins. Rollins composed all of the music and co-produced the album with Persian-American musician and producer Shahin Shahida (of Shahin & Sepehr) and multi-platinum producer Do ...

. The

Itapicuru River The Itapicuru River is a river in Bahia state of eastern Brazil. The Itapicuru rises in the northern part of the state, and flows east to empty into the Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, w ...

forms the northern boundary of the ecoregion, which extends south to near the

Itapemirim River The Itapemirim River is a river of Espírito Santo state in eastern Brazil. See also *List of rivers of Espírito Santo List of rivers in Espírito Santo (Brazilian State). The list is arranged by drainage basin from north to south, with respec ...

. The ecoregion is bounded on the east by the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and the enclaves of the Atlantic Coast restingas forests and Bahia mangroves. To the west, the forests transition to the drier Bahia interior forests. The forests cover Tertiary sedimentary plateaus extending from near the seacoast westward to the lower slopes of the

Serra da Mantiqueira The Mantiqueira Mountains (Portuguese: ''Serra da Mantiqueira iterally: Mantiqueira Mountains Chain') are a mountain range in Southeastern Brazil, with parts in the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. It rises abruptly from the ...

. The prevalent soils are tropical nutrient-poor yellow-red latosol and

podzol In soil science, podzols are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathland, which is often a construct of ...

Climate

The ecoregion has a

tropical climate Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) or higher in the cool ...

with annual rainfall ranging from 1,200 to 1,800 mm, evenly distributed throughout the year. The southern portion of the ecoregion may experience a dry period from May through September.

Flora

The four-tiered Atlantic evergreen moist forests are the predominant vegetation type.

Fauna

Endangered mammals in the ecoregion include the

maned three-toed sloth The maned sloth (''Bradypus torquatus'') is a three-toed sloth that is native to South America. It is one of four species of three-toed sloths belonging to the suborder Xenarthra and are placental mammals. They are endemic to the Atlantic coasta ...

(''Bradypus torquatus'') and

golden-headed lion tamarin The golden-headed lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus chrysomelas''), also the golden-headed tamarin, is a lion tamarin endemic to Brazil. It is found only in the lowland and premontane tropical forest fragments in the state of Bahia, and therefore i ...

(''Leontopithecus chrysomelas'').

Conservation and threats

Less than 5% of the original forest cover remains intact. Protected areas in the ecoregion include

Sooretama Biological Reserve Sooretama Biological Reserve ( pt, Reserva Biológica de Sooretama is a biological reserve in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. History The area at present occupied by the reserve consists of two areas; one of was formerly the Parque de Re ...

and Linhares Forest Reserve.

References

* * {{Clear Atlantic Forest Neotropical tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Ecoregions of Brazil * . Forests of Brazil Geography of Bahia