The Federative Republic of Brazil stands out for its diversity of plant and animal species and for the variety of ecosystems and climates that can be found throughout its territory. This entry will talk a little about this country and then mention some species that make up the flora and fauna of Brazil.
Brazil
The Federative Republic of Brazil is the largest country in South America, the third in the American continent and the fifth on the planet, its surface is approximately 8,5 million square kilometers which allows it to be the nation with the most biodiversity in the entire world. world. Currently its capital is Brasilia, before that city it was Rio de Janeiro and before it was Salvador de Bahía.
It is made up of 26 states and the Federal District where more than 210 million people live, a small number if one takes into account its great extension. Inhabitants who officially speak Portuguese, although 180 indigenous languages are also spoken in different places, omitting the foreign languages that dominate certain important communities, such as German and Italian.
Its borders connect it with almost all the countries of South America, it delimits to the east with the Atlantic Ocean, to the north with French Guiana, with Suriname, with Guyana and with Venezuela; to the northwest is Colombia and to the west Peru and Bolivia are the countries with which it shares a border, in addition to Paraguay and Argentina to the southwest and Uruguay to the south.
Being a country so rich in natural landscapes, tourism is one of the most important activities in many of its regions, in fact, it is the first tourist option in South America and the second option in all of Latin America, only Mexico can surpass it. In this sense, they benefit from this activity to employ almost 2 million people in jobs that are directly and indirectly related to tourism.
It is an exporting nation of crude oil in large quantities, as well as Venezuela, as well as being a major producer of hydroelectric power. Sectors such as agriculture, mining and manufacturing are significantly developed, allowing their exports to increase each year and ranking ninth on the list of countries with the largest economy on the planet.
Regarding food, protein and mineral exports, Brazil produces and exports: Sugar cane, coffee, oranges, corn, pineapple, papaya, cassava, avocado, rice, grapes, apples, bananas, beans, carrots, Brazil nuts , strawberries, guavas, chicken, beef, pork, milk, eggs, iron, copper, manganese, gold, tin, niobium, nickel, amethyst, topaz, emerald, aquamarine, garnet, among other things.
Geography
Brazil, in addition to its land extension that connects it with the aforementioned Latin American nations, has several archipelagos as part of its territory, for example, Trinidad and Martín Vaz, San Pedro and San Pablo, Fernando de Noronha and Atolón de las Rocas.
It is possible to find a series of biomes throughout its territory, such as humid forests, xerophytic thickets, swamp forests, transitional forests, the coastal forest, the interior forest, the araucaria forest, the seasonal forest of Mato Grosso, the forest of the cocais, the Atlantic xerophytic forest, the Chiquitano forest, mangroves, restingas, pantales, várzeas, catingas, the Guiana savannah, the Uruguayan savannah and the mountain savannah.
As well as tepuyes, campinaranas and the Amazon and Guiana forests. All these biomes within their territory, which do not escape deforestation and the burning of trees that have been carried out for a long time for agricultural purposes. This clearly affects the ecosystems and puts them in danger, just as the Amazon is right now, where not only the ecosystems are in danger, but also the species that are found throughout that territory.
In this country you can see great mountains, high areas to the south of its territory, hills, plateaus and plains, mountain ranges and mountain ranges that can reach more than 1200 meters above sea level, such as the Sierra del Espinazo or the Sierra del Mar. The number of rivers is very large, many of them flow into the great Orinoco River, others go to the Amazon basin, thus being a complex system that covers its territory more extensively than in any other nation in the world.
The climate that supports Brazil's diverse flora and fauna can be broadly categorized into several subtypes: equatorial, torrid, hot at high altitude, subtropical, temperate, and semi-arid. A variety of microclimates can also be found in other areas. Of these, the equatorial climate predominates in much of the country (particularly in the north).
The average temperature is 25 C° and the frequency of precipitation varies in the center (where it is scarce), in the northeast (even more scarce) and in the south (where it is frequent), as well as having a warm climate in arid regions. It is possible to see how snow falls in the highest places, its highest point is Pica da Neblina. All this favors the diversity of flora and fauna in Brazil, which is concentrated throughout its territory, but especially in the Amazon, the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest.
Although their regions have a great diversity and a very important natural heritage or cease to be affected by human activities such as agriculture, livestock, mining, urban development that involves the construction of roads for transportation in the midst of ecosystems, overfishing, pollution in all forms, the arrival of invasive species, the extraction of hydrocarbons such as natural gas and crude oil and of course, the climate change recorded throughout the planet.
Many of the ecosystems mentioned have been altered by all these activities, in addition to that, the trade in specimens of animals in danger of extinction in the world , as well as exotic species that can only be found in Brazil, was not mentioned .
Flora and fauna of Brazil
In Brazil there are more than 50.000 plant species known so far, the largest number of mammals in the world, as well as the greatest variety and number of fish, as for mammals, only the known primates add up to 244 species. The number of birds places it as the third country with the most diversity of animals of this class, the fourth country in terms of reptiles and the second in relation to amphibians.
Only a small part of Brazil's biodiversity will be shown in the following sections, since the number of microorganisms, mammals, fish, amphibians, birds, reptiles, and plants is large in each of those classifications, taking into account that the quantities handled only include the described species, without approximating or making estimates that include unknown species, in addition to the fact that new species have not stopped appearing, as explorations and studies continue.
Flora
Regarding the flora, a series of biomes and regions were mentioned where a large part of the country's flora is concentrated, such as the Amazon, the Cerrado, the Atlantic Forest, but in addition to these there are shrubby strata such as the Caatinga where they are found. many species. Likewise, in the pantanal and the pampa, which is where there are large areas, various types of vegetation can be found.
Some species that make up the flora of this nation include the ipê de Varagem tree, the carnauba wax palm, the cashew tree, and the passionflower, among others. Other species that can be mentioned are:
brazilwood tree
Caesalpinia echinata , or pernambuco, is the national tree of Brazil. It can grow to between 10 and 15 meters tall, with a straight trunk covered in thorns. The bark is a dark ash color, and when cut, the wood is orange with reddish tones. This wood is quite dense and therefore does not float. It was once sold as a red dye used for coloring velvet and violins. In addition, it has yellow flowers and brown seeds.
Due to the demand for velvet that was seen during the Renaissance, this species was cut down excessively for a long time, so that the reduction in pernambuco specimens was very serious to the point of keeping it today on the list of plant species that are is in danger of extinction. Even so, the trade of the wood of this species is not yet prohibited in the market.
red angelim
This is one of the tallest species in the world, they are giant trees that exceed 70 meters, it was found in very large areas of the Amazon that were near the Jari River in the state of Amapá in northeast Brazil. Currently they remain almost intact, although several fires have considerably affected the Amazon.
If you compare these trees called Dinizia excelsa, you will see that they surpass in height the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, which only reaches 38 meters, yet they do not surpass the Statue of Liberty in the United States, which measures 93 meters.
Rubber
The rubber tree, or Ficus elastica, native to India and Indonesia, is also found in Brazil. It can grow up to 30 meters tall and has a trunk up to 2 meters in diameter. Its large leaves accompany the flowers, which are enclosed in syconia, and its fruit, a fig, can measure up to 1 centimeter.
Cupuacu
Cupuaçu is a tree found in northern Brazil, southern Venezuela, Peru, and Bolivia. Its scientific name is Theobroma grandiflorum. It is used to make white chocolate, butter and oils for cosmetic products or synthetic lubricants, juices, ice cream, liquor, nectars, jams, sweets, among other things.
This plant can reach 13 meters in height with a trunk of 5 to 9 meters in diameter and resist temperatures ranging from 22 C° to 27 C°, typical of a humid tropical forest climate, they require shade to grow correctly.
Amazon water lily
Also called Victoria amazonica or Victoria regia , this large water lily is found in Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, and other South American countries. It has white leaves and stems that can reach up to 8 meters in length and 40 centimeters in diameter. Indigenous people extract juice from the roots, which is used as a black hair dye.
melocactus
Several of the forty species of the genus Melocactus can be found in Brazil. They are also distributed in El Salvador, Venezuela, and other Central and South American countries. In Cuba, for example, eleven species have been found so far. These plants, although slow to grow and difficult to cultivate, are found in many parts of the state of Bahia, Brazil.
They have pink and magenta flowers, as well as lilac fruits very similar to peppers or chili peppers. They require a well-draining substrate for healthy growth, as well as direct sunlight and a little shade during the summer.
monkey pot
These plants, which are part of Brazil's flora and fauna, belong to the genus Lecythis and have large fruits called "monkey pots" or "monkey coconuts." They are used by indigenous people to store spices and are also sold as handicrafts.
butia palm
The palm trees are found especially in the center-east of Brazil, they are very similar to other palm groves found in the south, but these are endemic to the phytogeographic province of the cerrado, which can reach five meters in height and their trunks measure between 20 or 30 centimeters in diameter, its scientific name is Butia capitata and it can also be found in the state of Bahia and Minas Gerais.
Sapucainha
This tree is endemic to this country, so it could not fail to be mentioned when talking about the flora and fauna of Brazil, it has helical-shaped leaves and large fruits that are currently eaten by people and animals, in terms of its seeds, these are used to extract the sapucaínha oil that is applied to people who have leprosy as a treatment.
Fauna
There has been much discussion about the great variety of biomes found in this country, meaning that the sheer number of habitats favors the survival of animals typical of Brazil, some of which are truly endemic . This gives it immense ecological importance, not only because of the number of ecosystems but also because of the sheer number of species that inhabit its lands, totaling approximately four million species from all kingdoms combined.
For a better organization, some species of the flora and fauna of Brazil will be presented, organized in the following classifications. It is important to note that these lists do not cover even half of the species that fall into each of the classes mentioned.
Marine animals
- Pink dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)
- river otter (Pteronura brasiliensis)
- Starfish
- sand lizard (Liolaemus lutzae)
- Tiburones - Sharks
- catfish
- leather turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)
- Piranhas
- junk seafood
- Jellyfish
- Caimans such as the black caiman (Melanosuchus niger)
- Five species of sea turtles
- spotty sea urchin
- More than 400 species of fish, of which 35 are in danger of extinction.
Birds
The number of birds in Brazil is a fact that has been of interest to many media, it is possible to estimate at least 1920 species that cover 60% of the species found in all of South America, 277 of them are endemic to this nation, 120 they seem to migrate and visit the country at certain times, 66 of them occasionally visit Brazil. Of the bird species that are part of the flora and fauna of Brazil, a little more than 10% are in danger of extinction, that is, more than 200 species.
- jacutinga (Bored jacutinga)
- Pathos
- Swans
- grebes
- Flamencos
- Hyacinth Macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus)
- great rhea
- penguins
- herons
- pelicans
- Águilas
- yellow woodpecker (Celeus flavus subflavus)
- american vultures
- Hawks
- Cranks
- Cerrado bat (Lonchophylla dekeyseri)
- Macaw or blue arara (Cyanopsitta spixii)
- Rhea
- scarlet macaw
- Brazilian Ruby Hummingbird
- Amazon Kingfisher
- Parrots
- Redfish
- red thrush
- white bearded manakin
- yellow headed parrot
- Jandaya Parakeet
- Chestnut-eared Aracari Toucan
- I play Toucan (Ramphastos played)
Mammals
- Guara wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus)
- black cxiu (satan chiropotes)
- ocelots
- Northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus)
- golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia)
- amazon jaguar
- bush dog
- Anteater
- crab-eating fox
- Puma yagouaroundi
- pygmy marmoset
- Tatu ball (Tolypeutes tricinctus)
- Brazilian Tapir
- Jaguar (Panthera onca)
- Capuchin monkey
- maned wolf
- bald uacari (cacajao hosomi)
- Capybara
- Lazy
- opossums
- Three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes tricinctus)
reptiles
- leaf toad (Proceratophrys sanctaritae)
- common anaconda (Eunectes murinus)
- Boa constrictor
- Arrowhead Frog (Adelphobates castaneoticus)
- Dumb rattlesnake (Lachesis mutates)
As for insects, there is a very large variety of spiders throughout Brazil, for example, the white-knee tarantulas found in northern Brazil or the salmon-pink tarantula ( Lasiodora Parahybana ) found in the northeast.