Alto Paraná Atlantic forests

Alto Paraná Atlantic Forests
Aerial view of Iguaçu National Park, Brazil.
Ecology
Biome	Atlantic Forest
Borders	Araucaria moist forests, Chaco, Cerrado and Serra do Mar coastal forests
Bird species	586
Mammal species	213
Geography
Area	471,204 km2 (181,933 sq mi)
Countries	Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay
States	São Paulo (state), Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Minas Gerais, Goiás, Rio Grande do Sul and Misiones Province
Conservation
Habitat loss	94.0%
Protected	2.83%

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.

Geography

The Alto Paraná Atlantic forests are an interior extension of the coastal forests, extending across the southern portion of the Brazilian Highlands. The ecoregion extends from the mouth of the Paraíba do Sul River eastward along the Paraíba valley lying behind the coastal Serra do Mar, and further eastward and northward along the basin of the Paraná River and its tributaries, forming a complex mosaic with the surrounding ecoregions.

Alto Paraná Atlantic forests ecoregion (within yellow line).

Glaucous macaw, an extinct endemic species formerly of this ecoregion.

States, provinces, and departments

The ecoregion covers portions of the Brazilian states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul, the Argentinian province of Misiones, and the Paraguayan departments of Alto Paraná, Amambay, Caaguazu, Caazapa, Canindeyú, Concepción, Guairá, and Itapúa.

Adjacent ecoregions

The Cerrado lie to the north and east (in São Paulo), entwining with the Paraná-Paraíba forests in a complex mosaic. The Serra do Mar coastal forests lie to the south, on the Atlantic side of the Serra do Mar range. The Alto Paraná Atlantic forests wrap around the north, east, and south of the Araucaria moist forests, which cover a higher-elevation portion of the plateau in Paraná, Santa Catarina, and northern Rio Grande do Sul states. The Uruguayan savanna lies to the south, and to the west lie the Southern Cone Mesopotamian savanna and the Humid Chaco in Argentina and Paraguay, respectively.

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is subtropical, with 1,200 to 1,600 millimetres (47 to 63 in) of rainfall per year. The winter dry season extends from April to September.

Flora

The main vegetation type is semi-deciduous forests, akin to the other interior forest ecoregions of the Atlantic forests. Approximately 40% of the trees lose their leaves during the winter dry season.

See also

• List of plants of Atlantic Forest vegetation of Brazil
• Ecoregions of the Atlantic Forest biome