The Private Reserve of Natural Heritage (RPPN) of University of Santa Cruz do Sul (Unisc) is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

created in 2009, through Ordinance nº 16, of March 18, having an area of 221,39 hectares, being nowadays one of the largest protected area of this category ( RPPN) in

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 ...

state,

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 ...

. This preservation area is within the

Atlantic Forest The Atlantic Forest ( pt, Mata Atlântica) is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and th ...

Biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

and the predominant vegetation is the

seasonal A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

Location

The Private Reserve of Natural Heritage (RPPN) of University of Santa Cruz do Sul is located in

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Sinimbu Sinimbu is a municipality in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, 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 ...

state,

, distant about 48 km north of municipality of

Santa Cruz do Sul Santa Cruz do Sul () is a city in central Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The city has an estimate 131,000 inhabitants as of 2020 and sits about 150 km (93 miles) from the capital city of the state, Porto Alegre. The city enjoys a high standard ...

. Unfortunately it is the only RPPN present in the highlands

scarp Scarp may refer to: Landforms and geology * Cliff, a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure * Escarpment, a steep slope or long rock that occurs from erosion or faulting and separates two relatively level areas of differing elevatio ...

region in this state, although the creation of Preservation Areas in this region in order to protect the last primary forest fragments of this region had been suggested years ago.

Characteristics

Created in 2009 and having an area of 221.39 hectares, the Reserve is within an

ecotone An ecotone is a transition area between two biological communities, where two communities meet and integrate. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and gras ...

between the

and the Araucaria moist forest. Altitude vary from 150 m eastwards, at the

Pardinho river The Pardinho River is a river located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and ...

riverbed A stream bed or streambed is the bottom of a stream or river (bathymetry) or the physical confine of the normal water flow (channel). The lateral confines or channel margins are known as the stream banks or river banks, during all but flood st ...

and 650 m at hilltops. The reserve is within the

, having a

predominantly

secondary Secondary may refer to: Science and nature * Secondary emission, of particles ** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products * The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...

once the former residents used a good part of the local's natural resources by removing vegetation and livestock practice. Less impacted areas were left on hillsides due to its topographic conditions.

Research

Despite being created only in 2009, research activities began in 2006 resulting quali-quantitative publications about the local and regional fauna and flora: - Mammalian fauna of medium and large size. - Avifauna - Trees

Flora

Until 2010, 149

native species In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

and 11 exotic species of trees were found in the area and surroundings, where, among the exotic species, five are considered

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

and need urgent control measures. The arboreal vegetation is characterized by presenting species from the

and from the Araucaria moist forest. The reserve is home for 12

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

according to the lists of Threatened Species of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazilian Endangered Species and

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Red List: ''

Araucaria angustifolia ''Araucaria angustifolia'', the Paraná pine, Brazilian pine or candelabra tree (, or ), is a critically endangered species in the conifer genus '' Araucaria''. Although the common names in various languages refer to the species as a "pine", it d ...

'' (Bertol.) Kuntze, ''

Gochnatia polymorpha ''Gochnatia polymorpha'', the candeia or cambará, is a South American tree species in the family Asteraceae, native to Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=n ...

'' (Less.) Cabrera, ''

Maytenus aquifolium ''Maytenus aquifolium'', the espinheira-santa, is an endemic tree (sometimes shrub) species endemic to the Atlantic Forest biome in southeastern Brazil. Distribution It is native to the regions of Sudeste − in Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and ...

'' Mart., ''

Dicksonia sellowiana ''Dicksonia sellowiana'', the xaxim, or samambaiaçu or imperial samambaiaçu, is an arborescent fern in the family Dicksoniaceae, native to the tropical Americas. Distribution The fern is native to Southern Mexico, Central America, and South A ...

'' Hook, '' Albizia edwallii'' (Hoehne) Barneby & J.Grimes, ''

Myrocarpus frondosus ''Myrocarpus frondosus'', the ibirá-payé, incienso, cabreúva or qu, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed ...

'' Allemão, ''

Cedrela fissilis ''Cedrela fissilis'' is a species of tree in the family Meliaceae. It is native to Central and South America, where it is distributed from Costa Rica to Argentina.Myrcianthes pungens'' (O.Berg) D.Legrand, ''

Podocarpus lambertii ''Podocarpus lambertii'' is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is found in Argentina and Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South Am ...

'' Klotzsch ex Endl., '' Rudgea parquioides''(Cham.) Müll.Arg., ''

Picramnia parvifolia ''Picramnia parvifolia'', the cedrinho, is a tree species that occurs in Brazil (in ''Cerrado'' and ''Atlantic Forest''), in the regions Sudeste (in São Paulo and Minas Gerais states) and Sul ( Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul sta ...

'' Engl. and ''

Picrasma crenata ''Picrasma crenata'', the ''pau-amargo'', ''pau-tenente'' or ''tenente-josé'', is a tree species that belongs to the family Simaroubaceae. It occurs in Brazil (in Atlantic Forest), in the regions Nordeste (in Bahia state), Sudeste (in Minas Ge ...

'' (Vell.) Engl. In a survey located in a one-hectare plot in a slope in the area, 1,063 individuals belonging to 69 species were found.

Fauna

Mammals

Until the year 2009, 16 species of wild mammals were registered in the area, which eight are

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

: '' Alouatta guariba clamitans'', '' Cebus nigritus'', ''

Eira barbara The tayra (''Eira barbara'') is an omnivorous animal from the weasel family, native to the Americas. It is the only species in the genus ''Eira''. Tayras are also known as the ''tolomuco'' or ''perico ligero'' in Central America, ''motete'' in ...

'', ''

Nasua nasua The South American coati (''Nasua nasua''), also known as the ring-tailed coati, is a coati species and a member of the raccoon family (Procyonidae), found in the tropical and subtropical parts of South America. An adult generally weighs from a ...

'', ''

Leopardus wiedii The margay (''Leopardus wiedii'') is a small wild cat native to Central and South America. A solitary and nocturnal cat, it lives mainly in primary evergreen and deciduous forest. Until the 1990s, margays were hunted illegally for the wildlife ...

'' '' Chironectes minimus'', ''

Lontra longicaudis The Neotropical otter or Neotropical river otter (''Lontra longicaudis'') is an otter species found in Mexico, Central America, South America, and the island of Trinidad. It is physically similar to the northern and southern river otter, which ...

'' and ''

Cuniculus paca The lowland paca (''Cuniculus paca''), also known as the spotted paca, is a large rodent found in tropical and sub-tropical America, from east-central Mexico to northern Argentina, and has been introduced to Cuba and Algeria. The animal is calle ...

''. Domestic animals were also found in the area and control suggestions were proposed in order to ensure the survival and a sobrevivência and viability of local wildlife populations .

Avifauna

Were found 169 birds species, being most part forest species and 44 are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

. Five species are in extinction risk for the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: '' Odontophorus capueira'', '' Patagioenas cayennensis'', '' Triclaria malachitacea'', '' Grallaria varia'' and ''

Amazona pretrei The red-spectacled amazon (''Amazona pretrei'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowla ...

'' (the latter is globally threatened), among other rare or "

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

" species, as well as species typically found in seasonal forests and in higher parts of the highlands showing that the area is an

between the seasonal deciduous forest and the Araucaria moist forest.

Ecotourism and Environmental education

Activities of ecotourism and environmental education are also realized in the area, where three different tracks are available between the forest, having different difficulty levels. In the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 the RPPN received special visits of students and docents from Biology and Geoecology courses from Germany universities of Tübingen and Rottenburg.

References

{{Reflist Private natural heritage reserves of Brazil Protected areas of Rio Grande do Sul Forests of Brazil Protected areas of the Atlantic Forest