Northeastern Brazil restingas

Northeastern Brazil restingas
Restingas in Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Maranhão
Ecology
Realm	Neotropical
Biome	tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Borders	Amazon-Orinoco-Southern Caribbean mangroves Maranhão Babaçu forests, Caatinga
Geography
Area	9,709 km2 (3,749 sq mi)
Countries	Brazil
States	Maranhão Piauí, Ceara
Conservation
Conservation status	Critical/endangered
Protected	6,953 km² (72%)

The Northeastern Brazil restingas are an ecoregion of northeastern Brazil. Restingas are coastal forests which form on sandy, acidic, and nutrient-poor soils, and are characterized by medium-sized trees and shrubs adapted to the dry and nutrient-poor conditions found there.

Setting

The ecoregion covers an area of 9,709 square kilometers (3,749 sq mi) along the Atlantic coast of eastern Maranhão, Piauí, and western Ceará states. The ecoregion includes the Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, where patches of restinga are interspersed with some of the most extensive coastal dunes in the world.

Flora

The flora of the Northeastern Brazil restingas includes many species with affinities to the Amazon biome, which distinguishes them from the Atlantic Coast restingas of Brazil's eastern coast, whose flora is mostly derived from the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil.

External links

• "Northeastern Brazil restingas". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
• World Wildlife Fund, ed. (2001). "Northeastern Brazil restingas". WildWorld Ecoregion Profile. National Geographic Society. Archived from the original on 2010-03-08.