Caatingais a Brazilian biome that has a semi-arid local weather, vegetation with few leaves and tailored to dry intervals, along with nice biodiversity.
This biome is present in areas of Northeast Brazil, within the states of Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia and a part of Minas Gerais. This complete space covers roughly 844 thousand km2,or 11% of the Brazilian territory.
The identify Caatinga means “white forest” in Tupi-Guarani. This identify refers back to the predominant colour of the vegetation in the course of the dry season, when nearly all vegetation lose their leaves to scale back transpiration and keep away from the lack of saved water. In winter, because of the prevalence of rain, the inexperienced leaves and flowers sprout once more.
Regardless of its ecological significance, it’s estimated that 40,000 km2ofthe Caatinga have already been remodeled into nearly desert, which is defined by the chopping of vegetation to function firewood and insufficient soil administration.
Vegetation
The caatinga vegetation is a kind of vegetation tailored to the aridity of the soil and the shortage of water within the area. Relying on the pure circumstances of the areas through which they’re discovered, they current totally different traits.
When soil moisture circumstances are extra favorable, the caatinga resembles the forest, the place timber such because the juazeiro, also referred to as joá, or orange tree of the cowboy, the aroeira and the baraúna are discovered.
In drier areas, with shallow, stony soil, the caatinga is lowered to shrubs and decrease, tortuous vegetation, leaving the soil partially uncovered.
In drier areas, cacti additionally seem, such because the facheiro, the mandacaru, the xique-xique, which function meals for animals in the course of the dry season, and the bromeliads (macambira).
Some palm timber and the juazeiro, which have very deep roots to soak up water from the soil, don’t lose their leaves.
Different vegetation have a physiological mechanism, xeromorphism, the manufacturing of a wax that coats their leaves, which causes them to lose much less water by way of transpiration. An instance is the carnauba tree, often called the “tree of life” or tree of windfall, as all the pieces from it may be used.
Most species have thorns, which leads the area’s cowboys to put on leather-based clothes for cover.
Learn additionally about Flora of Caatinga .
Fauna
The Caatinga is residence to numerous species of Brazilian fauna, equivalent to mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, together with the agouti, the opossum, the cavy, the brown deer, the armadillo, wild cats, the white-winged monkey, and quite a lot of bugs, that are of nice significance to the biome.
Among the many species that inhabit the caatinga and are threatened with extinction, we are able to point out the blue macaw , the large anteater , the enormous armadillo, the bush canine, the grey eagle, the maned wolf , amongst others.
Discover out extra, learn additionally:
- Traits of Caatinga
- Caatinga Animals
- Caatinga Local weather
Threats
As is the case in lots of different biomes, the Caatinga additionally suffers from a collection of threats that compromise the conservation of its biodiversity, one in every of these dangers being animal trafficking .
Among the many important actions liable for the destruction of the Caatinga are: deforestation, burning, exploitation of pure assets and adjustments in land use.
Federal environmental businesses estimate that greater than 46% of the Caatinga space has already been deforested. It’s price noting that many species are endemic to this biome, that’s, they solely happen there. Due to this fact, one strategy to forestall the disappearance of species is to create new conservation items within the space.
Curiosity
“Caatinga Day” has been celebrated since 2003, on April 28. This date represents the beginning of ecologist João Vasconcelos Sobrinho (1908-1989), a pioneer within the research of the biome.
See extra about:
- What’s a biome?
- Wilderness
- Brazilian biomes
- Workouts on Brazilian biomes
- Geography of Brazil
- Vegetation of Brazil
- Workouts on Morphoclimatic Domains (with reply key)
- São Francisco River Basin