Atlantic Forest
A biodiverse rainforest along Brazil's coast, heavily deforested.
The Atlantic Forest (Portuguese: Mata Atlântica) is a moist broadleaf forest extending 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 it is known as the Missionary rainforest (Spanish: Selva Misionera). It was the first environment encountered by Portuguese colonists over 500 years ago, when it covered an estimated 1,000,000–1,500,000 km², making it the third largest rainforest on the planet at that time, behind the Amazon and the Congo Basin rainforests. The Atlantic Forest is characterized by high biodiversity and endemism, with over 85% of its original area deforested, threatening many species with extinction.
Quick Facts
- Native Name
- Mata Atlântica
- Native Lang
- pt
- Country
- Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay
- Area
- 1315460 km2
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Atlantic Forest has undergone great changes across the last two epochs. During glacial periods in the Pleistocene, it shrank to extremely small fragmented refugia in sheltered gullies, separated by dry forests or semi-deserts known as caatingas. Humans first interacted with the forest around 12,000–13,000 years ago, based on the earliest widely accepted archaeological evidence. Early human hunting likely caused the first mass extinctions of large mammals in the region. Indigenous groups in the Holocene used slash-and-burn agriculture, transforming biological corridors into food resources, and researchers estimate that Indigenous land management shaped a notable but smaller proportion of the forest landscape by the time of European contact circa 1500 CE.
Reader's Guide
The Atlantic Forest is significant as one of the world's most biodiverse and threatened ecosystems. Despite having only 28% of native vegetation cover remaining, it remains extraordinarily lush, with approximately 40% of its vascular plants and up to 60% of its vertebrates endemic. Over 11,000 species of plants and animals are considered threatened today, and nearly 250 species of amphibians, birds, and mammals have become extinct due to human activity in the past 400 years. The forest harbors around 20,000 species of plants, with almost 450 tree species found in just one hectare in some locations. It is one of the best studied tropical ecosystems, with over 3000 tree species, 98 bat species, 94 large or medium-sized mammal species, over 2000 epiphyte species, 26 primate species, 528 amphibian species, 124 small mammal species, and over 800 bird species recorded. Human impact has greatly reduced the forest size, with almost 88% of original habitat lost and replaced by pastures, croplands, and urban areas. Deforestation continues at an annual rate of 0.5% and up to 2.9% in urban areas. Conservation efforts are critical to protect the remaining fragments and the endemic species they harbor.
Did You Know?
- The Atlantic Forest was the third largest rainforest on the planet when Portuguese colonists arrived, behind the Amazon and the Congo Basin rainforests.
- Over 85% of the original Atlantic Forest area has been deforested.
- Between 1990 and 2006, over a thousand new flowering plants were discovered in the Atlantic Forest.
- The golden lion tamarin's threatened existence sparked global interest in the Atlantic Forest in 1970.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Atlantic Forest (Mata Atlântica)?
It is a moist broadleaf forest biome that stretches along Brazil's Atlantic coastline, reaching from Rio Grande do Norte in the northeast all the way down to Rio Grande do Sul in the south. The forest also pushes inland into Paraguay and Argentina's Misiones Province, where it goes by the name Missionary rainforest.
How much of the original Atlantic Forest is left today?
Only about 28 percent of its native vegetation still stands, meaning more than 85 percent of the original cover has been lost. At its historical peak the biome spanned roughly one to 1.5 million square kilometers, ranking it as the third-largest rainforest on Earth behind the Amazon and the Congo Basin.
Which countries does the Atlantic Forest cover, and what share does each hold?
Brazil contains about 92 percent of the biome's total area, while Paraguay accounts for roughly 6 percent and Argentina for the remaining 2 percent. The forest's inland extension into those two countries is what gives it the additional name Selva Misionera in Spanish-speaking regions.
Why is the Atlantic Forest considered so important ecologically?
It packs an extraordinary variety of habitats into one biome, including seasonal moist and dry broadleaf tropical forests, mangrove swamps, subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands. This mosaic supports a dense web of plant and animal life, many of it endemic to the region and found nowhere else on the planet.
What happened to the Atlantic Forest after European colonizers arrived?
Portuguese settlers first encountered the forest more than 500 years ago, and centuries of clearing for agriculture, timber, and urban expansion have since stripped away the overwhelming majority of its original extent. Even now the remaining vegetation continues to shrink at roughly 0.5 percent per year, climbing to as much as 2.9 percent in heavily urbanized zones.
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