Bahia mangroves | |
---|---|
Ecology | |
Realm | Neotropical |
Biome | mangroves |
Borders | |
Geography | |
Area | 2,100 km2 (810 sq mi) |
Country | Brazil |
States | |
Conservation | |
Conservation status | Critical/endangered |
The Bahia mangroves is a tropical ecoregion of the mangroves biome, and the South American Atlantic Forest biome, located in Northeastern Brazil. Its conservation status is considered to be critical/endangered due to global climate change and other factors. [1]
The Bahia mangrove habitats occupy minor bays, estuaries, and river inlets along the coast from Recôncavo on Todos os Santos Bay in Bahia State; [2] north to the Doce River in Espírito Santo State. [3]
The total ecoregion comprises 2,100 square kilometers (800 square miles) of shallow coastal waters and land. [1]
Mangrove tree species include typical Atlantic Ocean tropical mangrove species, the red mangrove ( Rhizophora mangle ) of the Rhizophoraceae, the black mangrove ( Avicennia germinans ) of the Acanthaceae, and the white mangrove ( Laguncularia racemosa ) of the Combretaceae family. [1]
Benthic macrofauna are an important basis underlying the ecological functioning of coastal food webs in the Bahia mangroves ecoregion. [4] Mangroves provide habitat for juvenile fishes and crustacea. [1] The Mangrave crab (Ucides cordatus) is particularly important as an economic and subsistence resource and as a bioindicator of environmental pollution. [5]
The ecoregion is home to five species of sea turtle: the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), green turtle (Chelonia mydas), leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), and olive turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea). [1] All of these are endangered. [6]
Both local and migratory birds utilize the Bahia mangroves. The mangroves provide homes to the black-hooded antwren (Myrmotherula urosticta), Bahia tapaculo (Scytalopus psychopompus) and Dubois' seed-eater (Sporophila falcirostris). Bahia mangroves provide nesting sites for the great egret (Casmerodius albus), little blue heron (Florida caerulea), and snowy egret (Egretta thula). The semipalmated plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) and whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) migrate to the area where they are found between September and April. [1]
Mangrove ecosystems can naturally absorb amounts of carbon dioxide comparable to the Amazon rainforest, making them a valuable resource in countering global climate change. [7]
Global climate change is leading to rising sea levels and to rising water temperatures, which in turn threaten crabs, oysters and other creatures in the Bahia mangroves' food chain. Water levels are observed to have risen 20-30 centimeters in the past 100 years, along the coast of Bahia state. While many plants in the mangrove ecosystem are fairly resilient, other marine life is less so. Crabs, for example, depend on a narrow range of water temperature and acidity. [7]
Traditional hand-catching methods for Mangrave crabs that have developed in local communities in Brazil attempt to maintain the crab population at a subsistence level. The population is under threat in part due to predatory techniques of tangle-netting that are being introduced by members of marginalized groups entering the Bahia mangroves and exploiting them for survival. [5]
Clearing of the mangrove forests for development is also a significant conservation threat. [8] Approximately 4% of mangroves worldwide were estimated to be lost between 1980 and 2005. [9] Brazilian mangroves are threatened by coastal urban sprawl, and by managed aquiculture enterprises, such as shrimp farms in Salinas da Margarida. [10] [11]
In 2019 the worst oil spill in Brazilian history polluted more than 2,400 km (1,500 mi) of Brazilian coastline, including parts of Abrolhos Marine National Park and areas of Bahia mangroves and coral reefs. Such areas are considered "particularly vulnerable to damage" and extremely difficult to clean. [12] [13]
All mangroves in Brazil are legally designated as "permanent protection zones" or ‘Areas of Permanent Protection’(APPs) in 2002. An attempt was made to rescind this protection in September 2020 by Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, the National Environmental Council, and the Brazilian government of Jair Bolsonaro. [14] The attempt was blocked by a Brazilian Federal court judge who ruled that repeal of the protections would violate "the constitutional right to an ecologically balanced environment". [15]
The Atlantic Forest 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 the Misiones Province of Argentina, where the region is known as Selva Misionera.
The Serra do Mar coastal forests is an ecoregion of the tropical moist forests biome. It is part of the Atlantic Forest of eastern South America. This ecoregion has an outstanding biodiversity consisting of flora, mammals, birds, and herpetofauna.
The Alto Paraná Atlantic forests, also known as the Paraná-Paraíba interior forests, is an ecoregion of the tropical moist forests biome, and the South American Atlantic Forest biome. It is located in southern Brazil, northeastern Argentina, and eastern Paraguay.
The Northeastern Brazil restingas are an ecoregion of northeastern Brazil. Restingas are coastal forests which form along coastal sand dunes in Brazil. The soils are typically sandy, acidic, and nutrient-poor, and are characterized by medium-sized trees and shrubs adapted to local conditions. Restingas have aspects of mangroves, caatingas, wetlands, and moist forests, often forming along wind-driven sand dunes. The Northeast Brazil restingas are the most northerly of the forest type in Brazil.
The Pernambuco coastal forests is an ecoregion of the Tropical moist broadleaf forests Biome, and the South American Atlantic Forest biome. It is located in northeastern Brazil.
The Bahia interior forests is an ecoregion of eastern Brazil. It is part of the larger Atlantic forests biome complex, and lies between the Bahia coastal forests and the dry shrublands and savannas of Brazil's interior.
The Bahia coastal forests are a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of eastern Brazil, part of the larger Atlantic Forest region.
Caatinga is a type of semi-arid tropical vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in interior northeastern Brazil. The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" . The Caatinga is a xeric shrubland and thorn forest, which consists primarily of small, thorny trees that shed their leaves seasonally. Cacti, thick-stemmed plants, thorny brush, and arid-adapted grasses make up the ground layer. Most vegetation experiences a brief burst of activity during the three-month long rainy season.
Madagascar mangroves are a coastal ecoregion in the mangrove forest biome found on the west coast of Madagascar. They are included in the WWF's Global 200 list of most outstanding ecoregions.
The Cassurubá Extractive Reserve is an extractive reserve in the state of Bahia, Brazil.
The Marajó várzea (NT0138) is an ecoregion of seasonally and tidally flooded várzea forest in the Amazon biome. It covers a region of sedimentary islands and floodplains at the mouth of the Amazon that is flooded twice daily as the ocean tides push the river waters onto the land. The flooded forests provide food for a wide variety of fruit-eating fish, aquatic mammals, birds and other fauna. It has no protected areas and is threatened by cattle and water-buffalo ranching, logging and fruit plantations.
The Amazon–Orinoco–Southern Caribbean mangroves (NT1401) is an ecoregion along the coasts of Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil.
The Amapá mangroves (NT1402) is an ecoregion along the Atlantic coast of the state of Amapá in Brazil. The low coastal plain has been formed from recent sedimentation, including sediments deposited by the rivers and sediments carried northward from the mouth of the Amazon River by strong currents and deposited by the tides. The extensive mangroves grow on the newly formed coastal mudflats and along the edges of estuaries. They merge into freshwater várzea flooded forests further inland. The ecoregion is generally well-preserved, although excessive extraction of natural resources including timber and shrimps is a concern.
The Pará mangroves (NT1427) is an ecoregion along the Atlantic coast of the state of Pará in Brazil. They constitute the western extension of the Maranhão mangroves ecoregion. The mangroves are relatively intact, although they are under some pressure from agriculture and logging.
The South American Pacific mangroves, or Panama Bight mangroves, is an ecoregion along the Pacific coast of Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
The Belizean reef mangroves ecoregion covers the mangrove habitats along the islands and cayes of the Belize Barrier Reef. This ecoregion is distinct from the mainland Belizean Coast mangroves ecoregion, and may be considered a sub-unit of the overall Mesoamerican Gulf-Caribbean mangroves ecoregion.
The Ilha Grande mangroves ecoregion covers a series of disconnected salt-water and brackish mangrove forests along the southeastern coast of Brazil on the South Atlantic Ocean. The ecoregion is defined as covering the mangroves found between the Paraíba do Sul River in the north to Florianópolis in the south. This coastal region is the most densely population region of Brazil, and many of the mangroves are in close proximity to ports and industrial cities. A number of ecological reserves have been established to protect the high biodiversity of the mangroves, recognizing their importance to migratory birds, and as nursery habitat for juvenile fish, crabs, shrimp, and mollusks.
The Rio Sao Francisco mangroves ecoregion covers series of mangrove forests along the Atlantic Ocean coast of eastern Brazil, from the outskirts of Maceió southwards to just south of Salvador, Bahia. This ecoregion has high biodiversity, as it lies in different sub-climate zones, with a dry season in the north but not in the south.
The Eastern Brazil marine ecoregion covers the coastal marine environment along the middle of the east coast of Brazil. The ecoregion extends south from the Bay of All Saints to Cabo Frio just east of the city of Rio de Janeiro. The Brazil Current enters from the east, feeding warm subtropical water to the south along the coast. The influence of the tropical waters leaves the ecoregion relatively oligotrophic. The Eastern Brazil ecoregion is one of two coastal marine ecoregions in the Tropical Southwest Atlantic marine province. It is thus part of the Tropical Atlantic realm. .