The Maranhão mangroves (in Portuguese: ''Reentrâncias Maranhenses'') is a

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

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 northern Brazil. It supports half of the shorebird population of the country. The combination of flat land, heavy rainfall and high tides causes the mangroves to extend up to inland, where they are interspersed with other rainforest species.

Location

The ecoregion covers and area of on the Atlantic coast of

Maranhão Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...

state. The ecoregion is part of the Guianan-Amazon Mangroves global ecoregion, which also contains the

Guianan mangroves The Guianan mangroves (NT1411) is a coastal ecoregion of southeastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil. The mangroves provide an important habitat for migrating birds that winter in the area. Large areas are intact, although t ...

, Amapá mangroves and Pará mangroves ecoregions. The land is flat and tides may be as high as in same places, so salt water may reach inland along the many estuaries and rivers for as far as . The ecoregion may be divided into eastern and western parts. The western part extends from the Pará boundary along the coast of western Maranhão state to the Baía de São Marcos. Here the coastline is made up of hundreds of islands and mudflats, made up of fine silt deposited by the Amazon River. The eastern part extends from the Baía de São Marcos along the eastern coast of Maranhão to the mouth of the

Parnaíba River The Parnaíba River ( pt, Rio Parnaíba) is a river in Brazil, which forms the border between the states of Maranhão and Piauí. Its main course is long and the Parnaíba River Basin covers .Ramos, T.P.A.; Ramos, R.T.C.; and Ramos, S.A.Q.A. (2 ...

. Here the coast is dominated by extensive sand dunes, interspersed with pockets of mangroves in bays and river mouths.

Climate

The ecoregion has a hot and humid.climate. Mean annual temperature is . Annual rainfall averages and may be as high as .

Flora

The ecoregion holds about 36% of all mangroves in Brazil. In the western part the mangroves cover the mudflats and islands along the coast and extend inland as far as along the many rivers, bays and estuaries. The heavy rainfall and inputs from many rivers in the region reduce salinity, so that palms (family Arecaceae) and freshwater macrophytes often grow with the mangroves. Towards the east of the ecoregion there are longer dry seasons and higher salinity, so the mangroves are less developed. The most common mangrove species is ''

Rhizophora mangle ''Rhizophora mangle'', the red mangrove, is distributed in estuarine ecosystems throughout the tropics. Its viviparous "seeds", in actuality called propagules, become fully mature plants before dropping off the parent tree. These are disperse ...

'', which is found nearest to the coast and grows to as high as . Other mangrove species are ''

Avicennia germinans ''Avicennia germinans'', the black mangrove, is a shrub or small tree growing up to 12 meters (39 feet) in the acanthus family, Acanthaceae. It grows in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, on both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, ...

'', ''

Avicennia schaueriana ''Avicennia'' is a genus of flowering plants currently placed in the bear's breeches family, Acanthaceae. It contains mangrove trees, which occur in the intertidal zones of estuarine areas and are characterized by its "pencil roots", which are ...

'', ''

Rhizophora racemosa ''Rhizophora racemosa'' is a species of mangrove tree in the family Rhizophoraceae. It has a patchy distribution on the Pacific coast of Central and South America, occurs in places on the Atlantic coast of that continent, and has a more widesprea ...

'', ''

Rhizophora harrisonii ''Rhizophora harrisonni'' is a species of plant in the family Rhizophoraceae. It can be found in Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, French Guiana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad, Tobago, and Venezuela. De ...

'', ''

Laguncularia racemosa ''Laguncularia racemosa'', the white mangrove, is a species of flowering plant in the leadwood tree family, Combretaceae. It is native to the coasts of western Africa from Senegal to Cameroon, the Atlantic Coast of the Americas from Bermuda an ...

'' and '' Conocarpus erectus''. Flora that grow on the margins of the mangroves include ''

Spartina alterniflora ''Sporobolus alterniflorus'', or synonymously known as ''Spartina alterniflora'', the smooth cordgrass, saltmarsh cordgrass, or salt-water cordgrass, is a perennial deciduous grass which is found in intertidal wetlands, especially estuarine salt ...

'' on the seaward side and ''

Hibiscus tiliaceus ''Hibiscus tiliaceus'', commonly known as the sea hibiscus or coast cottonwood, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae, with a pantropical distribution along coastlines. It has also been introduced to Florida and New Zea ...

'' and '' Acrostichum aureum'' on the landward side and dry patches within the mangroves. Flora that grow with the mangroves due to the low salinity include '' Dalbergia brownei'', '' Rhabdadenia biflora'', '' Montrichardia arborescens'', ''

Mora oleifera Mora may refer to: People * Mora (surname) Places Sweden * Mora, Säter, Sweden * Mora, Sweden, the seat of Mora Municipality * Mora Municipality, Sweden United States * Mora, Louisiana, an unincorporated community * Mora, Minnesota, a city * ...

'',

açaí palm The açaí palm (, , from Nheengatu ''asai''), '' Euterpe oleracea,'' is a species of palm tree (Arecaceae) cultivated for its fruit (açaí berries, or simply açaí), hearts of palm (a vegetable), leaves, and trunk wood. Global demand for t ...

(''Euterpe oleracea'') and ''

Attalea speciosa ''Attalea speciosa'', the babassu, babassu palm, ''babaçu, or cusi'', is a palm native to the Amazon Rainforest region in South America. The babassu palm is the predominant species in the Maranhão Babaçu forests of Maranhão and Piauí state ...

''.

Fauna

The Maranhão mangroves are home to half the total population of shorebirds in Brazil, and 7% of all shorebirds in South America. They are also important areas for feeding and breeding for herons (family Ardeidae) and

roseate spoonbill The roseate spoonbill (''Platalea ajaja'') is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae. It is a resident breeder in both South and North America. Taxonomy The roseate spoonbill is sometimes placed in its own ...

s (''Platalea ajaja''). Rare and endangered species include

scarlet ibis The scarlet ibis (''Eudocimus ruber'') is a species of ibis in the bird family Threskiornithidae. It inhabits tropical South America and part of the Caribbean. In form, it resembles most of the other twenty-seven extant species of ibis, but it ...

(''Eudocimus ruber''),

wattled jacana The wattled jacana (''Jacana jacana'') is a wader which is a resident breeder from western Panama and Trinidad south through most of South America east of the Andes. Breeding The wattled jacana lays four black-marked brown eggs in a floating n ...

(''Jacana jacana''),

tucuxi The tucuxi (''Sotalia fluviatilis''), alternatively known in Peru ''bufeo gris'' or ''bufeo negro'', is a species of freshwater dolphin found in the rivers of the Amazon basin. The word ''tucuxi'' is derived from the Tupi language word ''tuchu ...

(''Sotalia fluviatilis''),

West Indian manatee The West Indian manatee (''Trichechus manatus''), also known as the North American manatee, is a large, aquatic mammal native to warm coastal areas of the Caribbean, from the eastern US to northern Brazil. Living alone or in herds, it feeds on un ...

(''Trichechus manatus'') and several species of

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

that use the mangroves as a breeding area.

Status

The

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

gives the ecoregion the status of "Vulnerable". It is inaccessible and has a low human population, so is mostly intact. The mangroves are used by many artisanal fishermen for subsistence crab collection. The mangrove wood is used for fuel, housing and boats, and tannin from the bark is used as a dye. In some areas mangroves have been replaced by rice fields or used for urban development. Commercial over-fishing, industrial waste and pollution from gold mining are concerns. Protected areas include the Bacanga State Park and the

Lençóis Maranhenses National Park Lençóis Maranhenses National Park (''Parque Nacional dos Lençóis Maranhenses'') is a national park in Maranhão state in northeastern Brazil, just east of the Baía de São José. Protected on June 2, 1981, the park includes of coastline, ...

, a

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar site, Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on W ...

wetland of international importance and a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maranhao Mangroves Ecoregions of Brazil Mangrove ecoregions Neotropical ecoregions Amazon biome