Atlantic Forest of Brazil (Mata Atlântica) by: Yessica Herrera
Why is my Ecosystem Endangered?
The Atlantic Forest of Brazil (Mata Atlántica) is located in Brazil where it extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the north to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south, and inland as far as Paraguay and the Misiones Province of Argentina, where the region is known as Selva Misionera. It is one of the most diverse and biologically rich forests in the world, however it is also one of the most threatened ecosystem, with only around 8% of its original cover remaining. The threats that the ecosystem possesses are many, but they vary for the reason that the forest extends across four countries, thus this leads for a wide-variety of forest types, as well as the different areas to have different threats. The primary threats that are affecting this ecosystem are: illegal logging and the extractive activities of valuable timber species, land conversion to pasture, agriculture and forest plantations, and the expansion of urban areas and suburban developments. These reasons not only threaten the Atlantic Forest of Brazil's biological diversity, but rather it threatens the poor traditional rural communities who's lives are linked to the conservation and sustainable use of the natural resources.
Furthermore, about 88% of the original forest habitat has been lost and replaced by human-modified landscapes including pastures, croplands, and urban areas. Deforestation plays a big role because it continues on an annual rate of .5% and up to 2.9% in urban areas. Human activities such as logging causes an increase in debris along forest floors that make the forest susceptible to fires which is very dangerous because it will affect the resources that the animals need in order to survive. This forest is vulnerable towards fire because it never had experienced a fire before, therefore it would affect the ecosystem drastically including the fact that it will affect all living organism within that environment. Since Paraguay is connected to this forest, the soy production that they produce turns out to be the biggest threat that put that ecosystem endangered. Moreover, there are habitat losses due to hunting and the trade in of wildlife also threaten the lives of many species. Hunting animals is just another factor that is added on why the Atlantic Forest in Brazil is endangered. Why, because hunting animals leads to the loss of species to which some depend on one another. Also, there are many animals that have been going extinct for the reason that if we don't stop and take action for the wrongdoing, then we will definitely lose the Mata Atlântica in Brazil.
Videos
General History
Description: Land Area- approximately 1,233,875 square kilometers, originally to 99,944 square kilometers today. The Atlantic Forest is one of the most diverse and biologically rich forest in the world. It stretches from the Northeastern part of Brazil and Northern Argentina and Southeastern Paraguay. However in the Northeastern part of Brazil, it occupies a thin coastal strip not exceeding 40 miles in width, while in the South it extends from the coast to as far as 200 miles. The Human Population- is approximately 126 million people who live in Southeastern Brazil.
Evolutional History: It was the first environment that the Portuguese colonizers encountered over 500 years ago when it was thought to have a lot/ or have had an area of 1,000,000 to 1,500,000 km squared and stretching an unknown distance in land. Not only that, but the destruction of the forest started in the 1500s when the Portuguese first arrived on Brazil's shores, Why, because wood exportation, especially of the valuable (but now nearly vanished) Brazil wood, began as soon as did the deforestation for cattle and sugar pantaloons.
Biotic Community
Biodiversity:
Biodiversity in my ecosystem remains remarkably rich in biodiversity and endemic species, many of them threatened with extinction. Approximately 40 percent of its vascular plants and up 60 percent of its vertebrates are endemic species meaning that you can't find them nowhere else in the world. The threatened species in Brazil contains over 140 terrestrial mammal species found in the Atlantic Forest. Nearly 250 species of amphibians, birds, and mammals have become extinct due to the result of human activity in the past 400 years. Over 11,000 species of plants and animals are considered threatened today in the forest. over 52% of the tree species and 92% of the amphibians are endemic to this area. It harbors around 20,000 of species of plants with 450 trees being found. New sp dies are being found despite the little forest remaining.
Species Evenness, Species Richness, or both:
My ecosystem does display species diversity and species richness because there are different types of animals and plants that live there in the ecosystem. Also, there are species that are a community due to the many organisms that there is. Brazil as a whole in the world's leader in primate diversity with 77 species and subspecies identified to date. Not only that, but the forest structure of the Atlantic Forest of Brazil contains multiple canopies that support an extremely rich vegetation mix, which is why there is a diversity of ferns (plants).
Interspecific Competition: The meaning of interspecific competition is when members of two or more species interact to gain access to the same limited resources. In this case, the Tapir and the Muriqui (Woolly Spider Monkey) are considered to go through the phase of interspecific competition for the reason that they are both competing for food or for living space within their environment. The Tapir has a diet that consists of fruits, berries, leaves, and of soft vegetation. Whereas the Muriqui or Woolly Spider Monkey has a diet that consists of leaves, fruits, soft vegetation, seeds, flowers, and insects. Therefore, this shows how both of these species depend on the same resource in order for them to live thus leading for them to compete on whether who gets more food as opposed to the other specie who gets less than the other since there is a limited amount. Many animals in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil go through interspecific competition against two or more species in order to survive in the environment.
Predation: As seen on the pictures above, predation is when a member of one species (predator) feeds directly on all or part of another species (prey). Most of the predators and prey relationships can drive evolution to which it can drive evolution, thus creating an important and interesting relationship. The animal on the top is called a Maned Wolf, while the animal on the bottom is known to be a hare, which both live in Mata Atlântica in Brazil. The Maned Wolf is the predator that hunts in the middle of the day to kill a small mammal such as the Hare because that's the diet that the wolf depends on. Without its prey, the predator can probably survive with the other food types it eats, but its prey is the most important food resource that it needs. Furthermore, the wolf might have competition with other animals regarding the fruits and plants it eats, so basically this animal would have to rely on its prey. This is a way on how both the predator and prey evolve together, especially since the prey is part of the predator's environment that eventually leads for both species to have a relationship with one another.
Parasitism: Parasitism is when an organism (parasite) feeds on the body of, or energy used by another organism (host). An example that demonstrates this relationship would have to be the Short-Eared Dog of Brazil and a fungi called Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani. Why, because this type of fungi feeds of the short-eared dog in order to spread its pores. This type of fungi has been known to be called as "Zombie Fungus" because the fungus seems to cause its host to bite hard into the substance that it's standing on so that it can stably grow. Parasitism is the relationship that they both share because the fungi is the one thing that takes over the animals mind, until it dies.
Mutualism: There are many species that go through mutualism which is the interaction that benefits both species by providing each other with a needed resources like both of these species on the images above. An example that shows the relationship of mutualism is a bird called Manakin's, and a plant called Melastomataceae. Both of these species help one another for the reason that the Manakin's get to eat from the plants, and in return the Manakin gets to spread the seeds of the plant, thus benefiting the animal and the plant. Mutualistic interactions are very important in a terrestrial ecosystem since plants rely on species like this most of the time.
Commensalism: Commensalism is an interaction that benefits one species, however it has little or no effect on the other. It is also the association between two organisms in which one will end up benefited, meanwhile the other derives no benefit as well as no harm. The images above illustrate commensalism by having the Black Faced Lion Tamarin interact with the trees by the Black Faced Lion Tamarin using the trees to habitat on them, to hang from it, to eat the leaves of the tree, and to simply protect themselves from any other animal who will try to hunt it down. Moreover, this leads to no harm on the trees because it is being used in a mannered way without the Tamarin's hurting it, therefore this shows a relationship of commensalism. Many other species go through commensalism, and the Atlantic Forest of Brazil has thousands of species that go through this.
Resource Partitioning: Resource partitioning is when species develop specialized traits that allows them to use the shared resources in different ways rather than using in a similar way. The species that have a relationship like this would have to be the Brazilian Merganser and the Red-Tailed Parrot. The reason why they have a relationship of resource partitioning is because they both divide their niche to avoid any competition for the resources that they have, as well as using the shared resources in different ways. Both species live in lowlands in the forest, inhabit in streams or river, and they both feed on fruits, flowers insects, and seeds. However, both of these species used their food resources in distinct ways because the Brazilian Merganser uses its food resource to feed its family, thus saving some for itself. As for the Red-Tailed Parrot, it eats all of its food since they breed for a very long time until the babies are born. Overall, this shows a relationship of resource partitioning amongst these animals.
Population in Ecosystem: In the Atlantic Forest of Brazil has a diverse populations of many different species as well as plants. This ecosystem has nearly 250 species that include amphibians, birds, and mammals that have come to be extinct or in danger of actually being extinct. This forest accounts for 70% of Brazil's population and about 80% of its domestic gross product. About 40% of the vascular plants, and 60 % of its vertebrates are endemic species to which it means that the population is somewhat big. Also, this ecosystem contains more than 140 terrestrial mammal species that have been found in the forest, has 35 species that are listed as threatened species, and there are 11,000 species of plants and animals in this forest. As you can tell, the population kept growing because there were a lot of plants as well as various species.
A story of a species that overshot the Carrying Capacity in Mata Atlântica: link below
Abiotic Features
As you can tell by this picture, the Atlantic Forest is going through primary and secondary succession. Primary Succession occurs in an area that is barren or lifeless, the soil is absent at the beginning of the first succession and the environment is not suitable to sustain normal life forms, there is no humus in the beginning as the soil is absent, the reproductive structures or propagules of any previous community are absent, and the pioneer community will come from the outside as often in a barren rock. Secondary Succession occurs in an area that has been cleared recently or previously inhabited, the soil is present at the beginning of secondary succession with some organisms, the humus is present from the very beginning by the decomposition of previous occupants, the reproductive structures of the previous occupants are available in the area, and it is a gradual establishment of biotic communities in places containing soil or bottom sediment.
With these images, you can see how the Atlantic Forest of Brazil entered through the phases of Primary and Secondary Succession because in the pictures, it specifically shows how the area started of with no soil or sediments to help the plants grow in order for the place to become an ecosystem that the animals can call a community. However, as the area presented a little bit of soil, organisms that were being present, and herbs or low grasses growing, then the environment of the area started to show how it was going through secondary succession. As it was going through the second phase, more of the trees were sprouting, the soil was moist, thus causing the environment to be naturally disturbed, and for that is the reason why the Atlantic Forest went through secondary succession.
The type of biome that the Mata Atlântica has is that of a Terrestrial biome because this forest consists of the following biome categories: Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and scrublands, and last but not least is the Mangrove forest. The Atlantic Forest region includes forests of several variations like the: Restinga which is a forest type that grows on stabilized coastal dunes, tropical moist forests which are forests that receive more than 2000 mm of rain a year so it includes the Lowland Tropical Moist Forests, Submontane Tropical Moist Forest and Montane Tropical Moist Forest, Tabuleiro Forests that are found over very moist clay soils and the Tabuleiro Savannas occur over faster-draining sand rolls, the Seasonal Forests or Atlantic Dry Forest to which these forests are lower in stature, more open, with high abundance of deciduous trees and lower diversity when compared to other forests, and finally, the Montane Moist Forests are higher altitude wet forests that are across mountains and plateaus of Brazil. The Atlantic Forest of Brazil is different in so many ways to the point where it extends to be a tropical rainforest since the trade winds tend to produce precipitation throughout the winter. Also, there are parts in that forest that receive more rainfall between the months of May and August than during the summer.
This ecosystem is not a place that people familiarize with because it isn't a well known environment that many know about. Finding fresh or salt water rivers, streams, or any other system was very difficult since ecosystems like this are hardly known in the internet or not a lot of people have heard of such ecosystem that is endangered. For example, I did find one system which was The Paraná River that is formed by the connection of the Grande and Paranaíba rivers in South-Central Brazil. This river flows into Rio de la Plata in Argentina since the Atlantic Forest connects with Argentina somewhat. This river is freshwater for the ecosystem, whereas this river lies completely within the Brazilian Territory. You will also see a picture of the Itaipu Reservoir that's also fresh water in a stream form, thus this leads to waterfalls that have exceptional levels of fresh water biodiversity. There were no salt water systems that I could possibly find, however at least we know that our ecosystems receives fresh water to grow into the environment that it is right now.
Geological Structures: The region has undergone drastic changes of the land cover ever since the Portuguese colonized the area. There are different things that one itself could look at in the map such as: the rock outcrop, water, arable land, urban area (middle density), urban area (low density), highland pasture, mangrove, pasture, bare soil, wetland, forest (advanced), forest (intermediate), forest (initial), and lastly, it is the river network. The images displayed above help explain the geological structure that the Atlantic Forest of Brazil went through to become an ecosystem. This forest has had mountains, grow from the ecosystem for the reason that it is a biome that consists of tropical forest where theres a lot of mountains, trees, rocks, and much more in order for species to survive.
Issues/Solutions
Significant Issues:
A primary significant issue that affects my ecosystem would have to be Deforestation. Many of the species and people depend on the forests for various resources such as food, clothing, fresh water, shelter, medicine, and so forth. Now a days, deforestation has played a big role in many ecosystem's just like mine, therefore this issue jeopardizes the benefits that we have. For example, deforestation comes in many forms like fires, clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching and developmennt, unsustainable logging for timber, and degradation due to the climate change that occurs within the ecosystem. Due to this, people get their livelihoods impacted and it also threatens a wide range of plants and animal species. Deforestation is a major concern in forests like these because these forests are home to much of the world's biodiversity. Most of the forest has been gone in the last 50 years to which it is changing the ecosystem drastically in many different ways. The habitats of the animals are affected by the fires because their homes get destroyed in the process of the fires, and most of these animals depend on this enriched ecosystem. These fires don't just only alter the structure and composition of the forest, instead it can open forests to invasive species, threaten biological diversity, alter water cycles and soil fertility, and destroy the livelihood of the people in or around the area.
People or Organizations:
- The Nature Conservancy
- WWF
- Brazilian Natural World Heritage Sites Program
- Central Biodiversity Corridor
- SOS Mata Atlântica
- REGUA
- World Land Trust
These organizations are helping to stop the cause on why the Atlantic Forest of Brazil is endangered. They are proposing ideas as to how we can save the ecosystem that is affecting the livelihoods of the people, as well as the animals. They want people to take these ideas into action and set it forth so that others can learn from this and educate themselves on how we can make a difference on an ecosystem. They are making an impact, because some organizations have had solutions for the past 15 years, and have already set it in motion. The only thing left to do, is to get the attention of others, and actually convince others that saving this ecosystem will benefits the lives of those the live within that environment.
Solutions:
- Raise awareness through environmental education
- Expand protected areas
- Increase forest protection
- Develop incentives and sustainable alternatives to help alleviate poverty
- Find ways to secure the water supply as well as trying to prevent soil erosion, and climate regulation
- Establish habitat corridors'
- Donate money to the organizations that are available
- The implementations of Water Producer Programs
- Help plant trees
Biographical Information: "Meet the Activist"
Hello, my name is Yessica Herrera. I am a 12th grader who is currently attending Valley Academy of Arts and Sciences. I am someone who enjoys nature and the beauty that it has to offer for everyone. This is the reason as to why I am involved in the Environmental Action Club. I like to show my passion towards the environment through the club that I'm involved with, because it allows me to accomplish certain things that will help the ecosystem. However, I am someone who enjoys school, who enjoys to play sports, and someone who likes to make differences in the world. Overall, these are the primary facts that highlight who I am as a person, and I hope you enjoy a little piece of me.
Bibliography:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_lion_tamarin
- http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/southamerica/brazil/placesweprotect/atlantic-forest.xml
- http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/atlantic_forests.cfm
- http://www.worldlandtrust.org/projects/brazil
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar - a generalists/ predator
- http://www.arkive.org/eco-regions/atlantic-forest/
- http://rainforests.mongabay.com/mata-atlantica/mata-atlantica.html
- http://www.lerf.eco.br/img/publicacoes/Robinson%20et%20al%202015.pdf - for primary and secondary succession
- www.arkive.org/northern-muriqui/brachyteles-hypoxanthus/
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapir
- http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/profiles/mammals/wolf_maned/
- http://thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/birds/Anseriformes/Anatidae/Mergus-octosetaceus
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Forest
- http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1679-62252014000400683
- http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/parana_rivers_streams.cfm
- http://www.basin-info.net/river-basins/mata-atlantica-do-rio-macacu-brazil/natural-environment
- http://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/deforestation
- http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/tapir/