The Parazinho Biological Reserve ( pt, Reserva Biológica do Parazinho ) is a biological reserve in the state of

Amapá Amapá () is one of the 26 states of Brazil. It is in the northern region of Brazil. It is the second least populous state and the eighteenth largest by area. Located in the far northern part of the country, Amapá is bordered clockwise by Fr ...

, Brazil. It protects an island at the mouth of the Amazon River.

Location

The Parazinho Biological Reserve is in the municipality of

Macapá Macapá () is a city in Brazil with a population of 512,902 (2020 estimation). It is the capital of Amapá state in the country's North Region. It is located on the northern channel of the Amazon River near its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean. The c ...

, Amapá. It has an area of . It covers an island on the north shore of the mouth of the

Amazon River The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile. The headwaters of t ...

. The island formed in the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.58 million years ...

period, and is an example of an alluvial island. The terrain is flat with clay, silt and sand sediments deposited by the sea and the river.

Soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

is poor to moderate.

Environment

Vegetation is pioneer formations of dense tropical rainforest. The action of waves and tides often causes trees on the coast to fall. Vegetation includes medium-sized trees, shrubs, some palms, mangroves and reeds. The reserve supports a program for protecting Amazon turtles. It supports migratory bird species of the ''

Charadrius '' Charadrius '' is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds. The genus name ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. They are found throughout the world. Many ''Charadrius'' species a ...

'', ''

Calidris ''Calidris'' is a genus of Arctic-breeding, strongly migratory wading birds in the family Scolopacidae. These birds form huge mixed flocks on coasts and estuaries in winter. They are the typical "sandpipers", small to medium-sized, long-winged ...

'' and ''

Sterna ''Sterna'' is a genus of terns in the bird family Laridae. The genus used to encompass most "white" terns indiscriminately, but mtDNA sequence comparisons have recently determined that this arrangement is paraphyletic. It is now restricted to t ...

'' families, and of the

laughing gull The laughing gull (''Leucophaeus atricilla'') is a medium-sized gull of North and South America. Named for its laugh-like call, it is an opportunistic omnivore and scavenger. It breeds in large colonies mostly along the Atlantic coast of North Am ...

(''Leucophaeus atricilla'') and

lesser yellowlegs The lesser yellowlegs (''Tringa flavipes'') is a medium-sized shorebird. It breeds in the boreal forest region of North America. Taxonomy The lesser yellowlegs was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in ...

(''Tringa flavipes'') species.

History

The Parazinho Biological Reserve was created by state decree 005 of 21 January 1985 on Parazinho Island, in the

Bailique Archipelago Bailique is a district in the Brazilian municipality of Macapá, in the state of Amapá. Bailique is an archipelago of islands in the Amazon River. It consists of eight major islands. The district is limited to the north by the Araguari River, t ...

. It became part of the

Amapá Biodiversity Corridor The Amapá Biodiversity Corridor ( pt, Corredor de Biodiversidade do Amapá) is an ecological corridor in the state of Amapá, Brazil. It provides a degree of integrated management for conservation units and other areas covering over 70% of the ...

, created in 2003.

Notes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parazinho Biological Reserve Biological reserves of Brazil Protected areas of Amapá 1985 establishments in Brazil