Serra dos Três Irmãos Ecological Station ( pt, Estação Ecológica da Serra dos Três Irmãos) is an ecological station in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. It is a strictly protected conservation unit that preserves an area of Amazon rainforest with exceptional biodiversity.

History

The Serra dos Três Irmãos State Ecological Station was created on 28 March 1990 with an area of about . Some land was taken from the Rio Vermelho State Forest. An act of 30 June 2004 gave preliminary approval for implementation of the ecological station. A law of 30 June 2010 reduced the area to , when part was incorporated in the expansion of the

Mapinguari National Park Mapinguari National Park ( pt, Parque Nacional Mapinguari) is a national park in the states of Rondônia and Amazonas, Brazil. It covers a large area of Amazon rainforest. The boundaries have been adjusted several times. Location The Mapingu ...

. On 13 September 2011 the area was further reduced to to make way for part of the reservoir of the

Santo Antônio Dam The Santo Antônio Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Madeira River southwest of Porto Velho in the state of Rondônia, Brazil. The dam's run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station have 50 turbines each rated at 71.6 MW resulting in a total inst ...

Location

The Serra dos Três Irmãos Ecological Station is in the municipality of

Porto Velho Porto Velho (, ''Old Port'') is the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondônia, in the upper Amazon River basin, and a Catholic Metropolitan Archbishopric. The population is 548,952 people (as of the IBGE 2021 estimation). Located on the border of ...

, Rondônia. It is in the north west of the state on the left bank of the

Madeira River The Madeira River ( pt, Rio Madeira, link=no ) is a major waterway in South America. It is estimated to be in length, while the Madeira-Mamoré is estimated near or in length depending on the measuring party and their methods. The Madeira is ...

. It is largely surrounded by the Mapinguari National Park. It is in the Amazon biome. The ESEC contains 19% dense rainforest, 44% open rainforest and 37% savannah-rainforest contact. There are two support bases on the banks of the Karipunas and São Lourenço streams. The conservation unit is in the lower western Amazon plateau, with elevations from . About 240 species of tree have been identified in two small surveys.

Conservation

The ecological station is managed by the State Department of Environmental Development. The terms of reference for the management plan was published on 31 December 2014, although the plan had not been formally approved. As an ecological station the unit has the purpose of preserving nature and supporting scientific research. It is publicly owned. Public visits are allowed for educational purposes and for scientific research, subject to approval by the responsible agency. The conservation unit is supported by the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program.

Fauna

The Madeira River, a major tributary of the Amazon River, plays a basic role in zoogeography of mammals, particularly primates and rodents. Several species that occur north of the river (left bank) do not occur to the south. These include the

night monkey Night monkeys, also known as owl monkeys or douroucoulis (), are nocturnal New World monkeys of the genus ''Aotus'', the only member of the family Aotidae (). The genus comprises eleven species which are found across Panama and much of South Am ...

(Aotus cf. nigriceps),

white-fronted capuchin White-fronted capuchin can refer to any of a number of species of gracile capuchin monkey which used to be considered as the single species ''Cebus albifrons''. White-fronted capuchins are found in seven different countries in South America: Bo ...

(Cebus albifrons), Hershkovitz's titi (Callicebus dubius), white-lipped tamarin (Saguinus labiatus),

black-capped squirrel monkey The black-capped squirrel monkey (''Saimiri boliviensis'') is a species of New-World monkey native to the upper Amazon basin in Bolivia, western Brazil and eastern Peru. They weigh between 365 and 1135 grams and measure, from the head to the b ...

(Saimiri boliviensis) and the rodent

green acouchi The green acouchi (''Myoprocta pratti'') is a species of rodent in the acouchi genus, part of the family Dasyproctidae. It is found in western Amazon biome, Amazonia, west of the Rios Rio Negro (Amazon), Negro and Madeira River, Madeira, in north ...

(Myoprocta pratti). A total of 24 species of mammals were recorded during a rapid ecological assessment, including 9 primates. The brown woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha) is found in large numbers. During environmental assessment studies for the upper Madeira River hydroelectric projects 27 species were seen, including 9 primates, five forms of squirrel, two of

common agouti The agouti (, ) or common agouti is any of several rodent species of the genus ''Dasyprocta''. They are native to Middle America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles. Some species have also been introduced else ...

(Dasyprocta), two deer, ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), a

mustelidae The Mustelidae (; from Latin ''mustela'', weasel) are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids () are a diverse group and form the largest family in th ...

and three rodents. Four of the species were unidentified, indicating exceptional biodiversity and the need for further research.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Serra dos Tres Irmaos Ecological Station Ecological stations of Brazil Protected areas of Rondônia Protected areas established in 1990 1990 establishments in Brazil