Gurupi Biological Reserve ( pt, Reserva Biológica do Gurupi) is a biological reserve in the State of Maranhão, in

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 ...

Location

The Gurupi Biological Reserve covers parts of the municipalities of Centro Novo do Maranhão and Bom Jardim in the state of Maranhão. It has an area of . Elevations range from above sea level. The reserve covers parts of the watersheds of the Gurupí and Pindaré rivers. Average annual rainfall is . Temperatures range from with an average of . The vegetation is dense Amazon rainforest within the Centro de Endemismos Belém ecoregion, and is rich in species of flora.

History

The Gurupi Biological Reserve was created on 12 January 1988. The reserve is administered by the

Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (Portuguese: ''Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade'', ICMBio) is the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm."Brazilian Federal Law 11.516/2007 (Por ...

. The Biological Reserve is a "strict nature reserve" under

IUCN protected area category IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is par ...

Ia. The purpose is full preservation of biota and other natural attributes without human intervention. Specifically the reserve maintains a representative sample of the Amazon rainforest in Maranhão. The reserve is supported by the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program. The proposed

South Amazon Ecological Corridor The South Amazon Ecological Corridor ( pt, Corredor Sul da Amazônia) is a proposed ecological corridor connecting conservation units and indigenous territories in the southeast of the Amazon rainforest of Brazil. Background The first version o ...

would link the reserve to other protected areas and indigenous territories in the region.

Status

Studies with plants, butterflies and birds classify this biological reserve as one of the 12 pleistocenic refuges in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. It has lost more than half of its forest due to logging since its creation. Protected species are

Kaapori capuchin The Kaapori capuchin (''Cebus kaapori''), also known as the Ka'apor capuchin, is a species of frugivorous, gracile capuchin endemic to the Brazilian Amazon. Their geographical home range is relatively small and is within the most densely populat ...

(''Cebus kaapori''),

oncilla The oncilla (''Leopardus tigrinus''), also known as the northern tiger cat, little spotted cat, and tigrillo, is a small spotted cat ranging from Central America to central Brazil. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, and the popul ...

(''Leopardus tigrinus''), ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis''), jaguar (''Panthera onca''),

Belem curassow The Belem curassow (''Crax fasciolata pinima'') is a highly endangered subspecies of curassow endemic to Brazil. It is known as the Mytunxî in the Tupi language, the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List and BirdLife Internatio ...

(''Crax pinima''),

Amazonian barred woodcreeper The Amazonian barred woodcreeper (''Dendrocolaptes certhia'') is a species of bird in the Dendrocolaptinae subfamily, the woodcreepers. The northern barred woodcreeper (''D. sanctithomae'') was formerly included in this species. The Amazonian ba ...

(''Dendrocolaptes certhia''),

black-spotted bare-eye The black-spotted bare-eye (''Phlegopsis nigromaculata'') is a species of insectivore passerine bird in the antbird family Thamnophilidae. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropic ...

(''Phlegopsis nigromaculata''),

red-necked aracari The red-necked aracari or red-necked araçari (''Pteroglossus bitorquatus'') is a near-passerine bird in the toucan family Ramphastidae. It is found in Bolivia and Brazil. Taxonomy and systematics The International Ornithological Committee (I ...

(''Pteroglossus bitorquatus''), dark-winged trumpeter (''Psophia viridis'') and

pearly parakeet The pearly parakeet (''Pyrrhura lepida''), more commonly known as the pearly conure in aviculture, is a species of parrot that is endemic to east Amazonian forests in Brazil.Collar, N. J. (1997). Pearly Parakeet (Pyrrhura lepida). Pp. 440 i ...

(''Pyrrhura lepida'').

References

Sources

* * * * * {{Biological reserve (Brazil) 1988 establishments in Brazil Biological reserves of Brazil Protected areas of Maranhão Protected areas established in 1988