Ibirapuitã Biological Reserve ( pt, Reserva Biológica de Ibirapuitã) is a state-operated biological reserve in the State of

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 st ...

, Brazil.

History

The reserve was created by decree Nº 31.788 of 27 June 1982. It has an area of and lies in the municipality of

Alegrete Alegrete is a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul located in southern Brazil. Its medium altitude is . Its estimated population in 2020 was 73,028 inhabitants and the total area is (the largest municipality of the State and of Southern Brazil). It ...

in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. The reserve lies in the

pampas 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 ...

biome.

Status

As of 2009 the State Biological Reserve was 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 part ...

Ia. The reserve is in the west of the state on the banks of the lbirapuitã River. It is the only area of full protection to preserve the native grasslands and riparian forest that are home to the

black howler The black howler (''Alouatta caraya'') or black-and-gold howler, is among the largest New World monkeys and a member of the ''Alouatta'' genus. The black howler is distributed in areas of South America such as Paraguay, southern Brazil, eastern ...

(Alouatta caraya). The area is mostly covered by grass species, with a few espinilho (

Vachellia caven ''Vachellia caven'' (Roman cassie, , aromo criollo, caven, , , espinillo, espinillo de baado, espino, espino maulino) is an ornamental tree in the family Fabaceae. ''Vachellia caven'' is native to Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Urugua ...

) and aroeira-pretas (

Myracrodruon urundeuva ''Myracrodruon urundeuva'' (Portuguese common names: aroeira-do-sertão, aroeira preta, urundeúva, urindeúva, arindeúva) is a timber tree, which is often used for beekeeping. This plant is native to Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay, and ...

). Riparian vegetation includes angico-vermelho ( Anadenanthera colubrina ), camboim ( Myrciaria delicatula), embira (

Daphnopsis ''Daphnopsis'' is a plant genus in the family Thymelaeaceae. There are 50 to 65 species distributed in the Neotropics. They are shrubs and small trees with tubular or bell-shaped flowers. Individuals are dioecious, with male and female flowers p ...

) and espinheira-santa ( Maytenus ilicifolia). A new rodent species has been found in the reserve, a

tuco-tuco A tuco-tuco is a neotropical rodent in the family Ctenomyidae.Parada, A., G. D’Elia, C.J. Bidau, and E.P. Lessa. 2011. Species Groups and the Evolutionary Diversification of Tuco-Tucos, genus ''Ctenomys'' (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae). ''Journal of M ...

that forms underground galleries.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibirapuita Biological Reserve 1982 establishments in Brazil Biological reserves of Brazil Protected areas of Rio Grande do Sul Protected areas established in 1982