União Biological Reserve ( pt, Reserva biológica União ) is a strictly protected biological reserve in the state of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil. It is home to a population of endangered

golden lion tamarin The golden lion tamarin (''Leontopithecus rosalia'', pt, mico-leão-dourado , ), also known as the golden marmoset, is a small New World monkey of the family Callitrichidae. Native to the Atlantic coastal forests of Brazil, the golden lion t ...

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. Location Macaé is generally considered to be th ...

and

Rio das Ostras Rio das Ostras (, ) is a municipality located in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. The municipality has been suffering from environmental impacts due to the pollution of beaches, rivers and lagoons due to lack of basic sanitation and environm ...

in the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is in 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, 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 over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

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 coast ...

(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 the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment's administrative arm."Brazilian Federal Law 11.516/2007 (Por ...

(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 par ...

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 wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Two subspecies are recognized. It is native to the southwes ...

(Leopardus pardalis) *

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

(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''), bu ...

(Amazoma rhodocorytha) *

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

(Buteogallus lacernulatus) *

black-headed berryeater The black-headed berryeater (''Carpornis melanocephala'') is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is endemic to Brazil. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss. Identifi ...

(Carpornis melanocephala) *

variegated tinamou The variegated tinamou (''Crypturellus variegatus'') a type of tinamou commonly found in moist forest lowlands in subtropical and tropical regions of northern South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere ...

(Crypturellus variegatus) * black-necked aracari (Pteroglossus aracari) * buffy-fronted seedeater (Sporophila frontalis) *

Temminck's seedeater Temminck's seedeater (''Sporophila falcirostris'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is found in eastern South America, mainly in far northeastern Argentina and along the southeastern Brazilian coastline. Its natural habitats are ...

(Sporophila falcirostris) * turquoise tanager (Tangara mexicana) *

collared peccary The collared peccary (''Dicotyles tajacu'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed) mammal in the family Tayassuidae found in North, Central, and South America. It is the only member of the genus ''Dicotyles''. They are commonly referred to as ' ...

(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