União Biological Reserve ( ) is a strictly protected biological reserve in the state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil. It is home to a population of endangered

golden lion tamarin The golden lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus rosalia''; ), less commonly known as the golden lion marmoset, is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. Endemic to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the golden lion tamarin is a ...

Location

The União Biological Reserve covers parts of the municipalities of Casimiro de Abreu,

Macaé Macaé () is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro, 180 km northeast of the state capital. It is the birthplace of the 13th president of Brazil, Washington Luís. Geography Location Macaé is generally consider ...

and

Rio das Ostras Rio das Ostras () is a List of municipalities in Rio de Janeiro, municipality located in the States of Brazil, Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro. Its population is 156,491 (2022) and its area is 228 km². Beaches ...

in the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is in the Atlantic Forest biome, and covers . Altitude varies from . About 58% of the reserve covers the hilly coastal area, with small rounded hills. Another 40% is a more rugged region of ridges and escarpments. There are some small areas of flooded land. The reserve is drained by the basins of the

, São João and Ostras rivers. Average annual rainfall is . Temperatures range from with an average of . The reserve holds areas of marshland and coastal Atlantic Forest in good condition. An exotic

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

forest covers 8.6% of the area, and will be replaced by native species. 249 species of trees have been recorded. The

plumbeous kite The plumbeous kite (''Ictinia plumbea'') is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae that is resident in much of northern South America. It is migratory in the northern part of its range which extends north to Mexico. It feeds on insects which it ...

(Ictinia plumbea) visits via the reserve from September to January. The

(Leontopithecus rosalia) and

maned sloth The maned sloth (''Bradypus torquatus'') is a three-toed sloth that is native to South America. It is one of four species of three-toed sloths belonging to the suborder Xenarthra and are placental mammals. They are endemic to the Atlantic coasta ...

(Bradypus torquatus) are endemic.

Conservation

The União Biological Reserve was created on 22 April 1998 and is administered 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 a government agency under the administration of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment. It is nam ...

(ICMBio). The reserve is classed as

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 (strict nature reserve). The general purpose is to fully preserve biota and other natural attributes in the reserve without direct human interference. It was created to preserve a fragment of Atlantic Forest and the typical fauna that depends on it, in particular the golden lion tamarin. Protected species include: *

(Leontopithecus rosalia) *

(Bradypus torquatus) *

ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted Felidae, wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, ...

(Leopardus pardalis) *

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

(Puma concolor) *

red-browed amazon The red-browed amazon (''Amazona rhodocorytha'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is endemic to Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil. It has been considered a subspecies of the blue-cheeked amazon (''Amazona dufresniana''), but ...

(Amazoma rhodocorytha) *

white-necked hawk The white-necked hawk (''Buteogallus lacernulatus'') is a Vulnerable species of bird of prey in the subfamily Accipitrinae, the "true" hawks, of family Accipitridae. It is endemic to Brazil.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Clar ...

(Buteogallus lacernulatus) * black-headed berryeater (Carpornis melanocephala) * variegated tinamou (Crypturellus variegatus) * black-necked aracari (Pteroglossus aracari) * buffy-fronted seedeater (Sporophila frontalis) * Temminck's seedeater (Sporophila falcirostris) *

turquoise tanager The turquoise tanager (''Tangara mexicana'') is a medium-sized passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is a resident bird from Trinidad, much of Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela, and south to Bolivia. Despite its scientific name, it is ...

(Tangara mexicana) *

collared peccary The collared peccary (''Dicotyles tajacu'') is a peccary, a species of artiodactyl (even-toed) mammal in the family Peccary, Tayassuidae found in North America, North, Central America, Central, and South America. It is the only member of the gen ...

(Pecari tajacu) *

ochre-marked parakeet The ochre-marked parakeet (''Pyrrhura cruentata'') is a species of parrot native to Brazil. It is also known as blue-throated parakeet and red-eared conure in English and ''tiriba-grande'', ''tiriba'', ''cara-suja'' and ''fura-mato-grande'' in P ...

(Pyrrhura cruentata)

Notes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Uniao Biological Reserve 1998 establishments in Brazil Biological reserves of Brazil Protected areas of Rio de Janeiro (state) Protected areas established in 1998 Protected areas of the Atlantic Forest

Location

Conservation

Notes

See also

Sources