Rio Trombetas Biological Reserve ( pt, Reserva Biológica do Rio Trombetas) is a federally-administered biological reserve in the municipality of

Oriximiná Oriximiná is the westernmost and second-largest (by territorial area) municipality in the Brazilian state of Pará. It is also the fourth-largest in the country. Location The city lies on the Trombetas river, northwest of Óbidos. The city i ...

, Pará, Brazil. It covers a large area of

Amazon biome The Amazon biome ( pt, Bioma Amazônia) contains the Amazon rainforest, an area of tropical rainforest, and other ecoregions that cover most of the Amazon basin and some adjacent areas to the north and east. The biome contains blackwater and white ...

including rainforest, wetlands and water.

History

The reserve, which covers , was created on 21 September 1979. It is managed 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 objective is to fully preserve the biota and other natural attributes of the reserve without human interference except for recovery of degraded ecosystems and actions to preserve the natural balance, biological diversity and natural ecological processes. A specific objective is to ensure survival of the

Arrau turtle The Arrau turtle (''Podocnemis expansa''), also known as the South American river turtle, giant South American turtle, giant Amazon River turtle, Arrau sideneck turtle, Amazon River turtle or simply the Arrau, is the largest of the side-neck tu ...

(Podocnemis expansa) and other turtles, and to preserve a sample of the Amazon ecosystem. It adjoins the

Trombetas State Forest The Trombetas State Forest ( pt, Floresta Estadual do Trombetas) is a state forest in the state of Pará, Brazil. Location The Trombetas State Forest is divided between the municipalities of Oriximiná (87.91%), Óbidos (10.27%) and Alenquer ( ...

to the north, the Faro State Forest to the east and the

Saracá-Taquera National Forest The Saracá-Taquera National Forest ( pt, Floresta Nacional de Saracá-Taquera) is a national forest in the state of Pará, Brazil. Location The Saracá-Taquera National Forest is in the Amazon biome. It has an area of . It covers parts of the ...

to the south.

Environment

The reserve is in the Uatuma-Trombetas moist forests ecoregion. The landscape is rugged, with altitudes that range from . It contains exposed rock from an ancient

craton A craton (, , or ; from grc-gre, κράτος "strength") is an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere, which consists of Earth's two topmost layers, the crust and the uppermost mantle. Having often survived cycles of merging and ...

and sediments from the Amazon. Temperature ranges from with average temperature of . Annual rainfall is about . 86% of the reserve is covered by upland rainforests, 6% by flooding forests and 6.5% by water. The area is drained by the Acapu River and the Arrozal, Candieiro, Mungubal and Cabeceira Grande streams. Numerous lakes in the floodplain are permanently connected to the

Trombetas River The Trombetas is a large river on the northern side of the Amazon River. Course The Trombetas is long, and is navigable by 500 ton vessels for a stretch of . The Trombetas river gives birth to very many rivers, including the Anamu river. It is ...

, forming a large wetland. The diverse plant species include

manilkara huberi ''Manilkara huberi'', also known as masaranduba, níspero, and sapotilla, is a fruit bearing plant of the genus '' Manilkara'' of the family Sapotaceae. Geographical distribution ''Manilkara huberi'' is native to large parts of northern South Am ...

caryocar ''Caryocar'' (souari trees) is a genus of flowering plants, in the South American family Caryocaraceae described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1771. It is native primarily to South America with a few species extending into Central America and the Wes ...

dipteryx odorata ''Dipteryx odorata'' (commonly known as "cumaru", "kumaru", or "Brazilian teak") is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. The tree is native to Central America and northern South America and is semi-deciduous. Its seeds are kn ...

chrysophyllum ''Chrysophyllum'' is a group of trees in the Sapotaceae described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. The genus is native to tropical regions throughout the world, with the greatest number of species in northern South America. One species, '' C. oli ...

goupia glabra ''Goupia glabra'' (goupie or kabukalli; syn. ''G. paraensis, G. tomentosa'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Goupiaceae (formerly treated in the family Celastraceae). It is native to tropical South America, in northern Brazil, Co ...

copaiba Copaiba is a stimulant oleoresin obtained from the trunk of several pinnate-leaved South American leguminous trees (genus ''Copaifera''). The thick, transparent exudate varies in color from light gold to dark brown, depending on the ratio of resi ...

bertholletia excelsa The Brazil nut (''Bertholletia excelsa'') is a South American tree in the family Lecythidaceae, and it is also the name of the tree's commercially harvested edible seeds. It is one of the largest and longest-lived trees in the Amazon rainforest. ...

, anacardium giganteum and palms such as

attalea maripa ''Attalea maripa'', commonly called maripa palm is a palm native to tropical South America and Trinidad and Tobago. It grows up tall and can have leaves or fronds long. This plant has a yellow edible fruit which is oblong ovoid and cream. An e ...

oenocarpus bacaba ''Oenocarpus bacaba'' is an economically important monoecious fruiting palm native to South America and the Amazon Rainforest, which has edible fruits. This plant is cited in Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius. It can reach ...

and

astrocaryum vulgare ''Astrocaryum vulgare'' is a very spiny palm native to the Guianas and the Amazon. It is species which has greatly benefited from deforestation, as it cannot grow in undisturbed rainforest. In Brazil it is considered typical of Pará state in the ...

. Migratory bird species include

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

(pandion haliaetus), collared plover (charadrius collaris) and

large-billed tern The large-billed tern (''Phaetusa simplex'') is a species of tern in the family Laridae. It is placed the monotypic genus ''Phaetusa''. It is found in most of South America (east of the Andes and north of the Pampas). It has occurred as a vagrant ...

(phaetusa simplex). The glossy antshrike (sakesphorus luctuosus) is endemic.

Status

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 part ...

Ia. Since 2002 management of the Rio Trombetas Biological Reserve and the

, which is adjacent to the south, has been combined. The conservation unit is supported by the

Amazon Region Protected Areas Program The Amazon Region Protected Areas Program (ARPA; pt, Programa Áreas Protegidas da Amazônia) is a joint initiative sponsored by government and non-government agencies to expand protection of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Foundation The Amaz ...

. Protected species include

giant anteater The giant anteater (''Myrmecophaga tridactyla'') is an insectivorous mammal native to Central and South America. It is one of four living species of anteaters, of which it is the largest member. The only extant member of the genus ''Myrmecopha ...

(myrmecophaga tridactyla),

giant armadillo The giant armadillo (''Priodontes maximus''), colloquially ''tatu-canastra'', ''tatou'', ''ocarro'' or ''tatú carreta'', is the largest living species of armadillo (although their extinct relatives, the Glyptodontidae, glyptodonts, were much l ...

(priodontes maximus),

giant otter The giant otter or giant river otter (''Pteronura brasiliensis'') is a South American carnivorous mammal. It is the longest member of the weasel family, Mustelidae, a globally successful group of predators, reaching up to . Atypical of musteli ...

(pteronura brasiliensis) and

Amazonian manatee The Amazonian manatee (''Trichechus inunguis'') is a species of manatee that lives in the Amazon Basin in Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador. It has thin, wrinkled brownish or gray colored skin, with fine hairs scattered over its body and a whit ...

(trichechus inunguis).

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{Biological reserve (Brazil) 1979 establishments in Brazil Biological reserves of Brazil Protected areas of Pará Protected areas established in 1979