Caatinga is a type of vegetation, and an ecoregion characterized by this vegetation in the northeastern part of Brazil. An ecoregion ( ecological region) sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or " |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld The name "Caatinga" is a Tupi word meaning "white forest" or "white vegetation" (kaa = forest, vegetation, tínga = white). It covers between 700,000 km² and 1,000,000 km² (depending on the source), over 10% of the Brazil's territory.
Caatinga is a xeric shrubland and thorn forest, which consists primarily of small, thorny trees that shed their leaves seasonally. Cacti, thick-stemmed plants, thorny brush, and arid-adapted grasses make up the ground layer. Many annual plants grow, flower, and die during the brief rainy season.
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Setting
Caatinga covers the northeast portion of Brazil. It is located between 3°S 45°W and 17°S 35°W, extending across eight states of Brazil: Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, and parts of Minas Gerais. Piauí (piaw'i is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country Ceará (siaˈɾa is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast Rio Grande do Norte (lit "Large River of the North" xiu ˈgɾɐ̃di du ˈnɔxti is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part Paraíba (paɾaˈiba is one of the states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast where lies the easternmost Pernambuco (pɛxnɐ̃ˈbuku is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country Alagoas (AL (alaˈgoajs is a small state in northeastern Brazil lying between the states of Pernambuco and Sergipe; touching the state Sergipe (sɛxˈʒipi (originally Sergipe D'El-Rey) is the smallest state of Brazil, located on the northeastern Atlantic coast of the Bahia (baˈia is one of the 26 States of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast Minas Gerais is one of the 26 states of Brazil, the second most populous and fourth largest by area in the federation The Caatinga includes several enclaves of humid tropical forest, known as the Caatinga enclaves moist forests. The Caatinga enclaves moist forests are a tropical moist forest Ecoregion of northeastern Brazil which forms a series of discontinuous island-like enclaves in the
The Caatinga is bounded by the Maranhão Babaçu forests to the northwest, the Atlantic dry forests and the Cerrado savannas to the west and southwest, the humid Atlantic forests along the Atlantic coast to the east, and by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and northeast. The Maranhão Babaçu forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest Ecoregion of north-central Brazil. The Atlantic dry forests are a tropical dry forest Ecoregion of eastern Brazil. The Cerrado ( English: "closed" or "inaccessible" is a vast Tropical savanna Ecoregion of Brazil. The Atlantic Forest ( Mata Atlântica in Portuguese) is a region of tropical and subtropical moist forest, tropical dry forest, tropical
Caatinga is pronounced 'ca-tin-gaa'. The Caatinga is a very dry place in Brazil. Despite its semi-arid climate, it's inhabited by about 15 million people. There are little drinkable water sources and harvesting gets difficult because of the irregular pluviosity. Droughts occur frequently in Caatinga.
However, many critics have said the poor life of most inhabitants of Caatinga is more due to the lack (or insufficient existence) of public politics and irrigation projects in this region, argueeing that most of the region has agricultural or touristical potential. In fact, there are many successful agricultural lands that became productive after being irrigated, especially in the regions near to the São Francisco river valley[1] . Irrigation policies are, however, concentrating land and water in the hands of major companies, while the small farmers who depend on agriculture for their basic subsistence are not profiting as much from it. Critics of the government's irrigation plans believe the current irrigation policies are centralizing the property of water, while endangering long-term survival by draining the existing water resources. One of the alternatives they propose is a de-centralized system of small local water cisterns and tanks to catch rain water during the rainy season and conserve it for use during the dry season. In this way, interference with the natural flow of rivers would be avoided and water would no longer be a power-factor used by politics and industry.
Climate
The Caatinga has only two distinguishable seasons. These are the winter, when it is very hot and dry, and the summer when it is hot and rainy. Winter is one of the four Seasons of Temperate zones Calculated astronomically, it begins on the Solstice and ends on the Equinox Summer is one of the four Temperate Seasons Summer marks the warmest time of year with the longest days During the dry winter periods there is no foliage or undergrowth. In Botany, a leaf is an above-ground Plant organ specialized for Photosynthesis. The vegetation is very dry and the roots begin to protrude through the surface of the stony soil. They do this in order to absorb water before it is evaporated. All leaves fall off the trees to reduce transpiration, thus lessening the amount of water that is lost in the dry season. Transpiration is the Evaporation of water from the aerial parts of Plants especially leaves but also stems Flowers and Roots During the peak periods of drought the Caatinga's soil can reach temperatures of up to 60 °C. With all the foliage and undergrowth dead during the drought periods and all the trees having no leaves the Caatinga has a yellow-grey, desert-like look.
The drought usually ends in December or January, when the rainy season starts. Immediately after the first rains, the grey, desert-like landscape starts to transform and becomes completely green within a few days. Small plants start growing in the now moist soil and trees grow back their green leaves. At this time, the rivers that were mostly dry during the past 6 or 7 months, start to fill up and the streams begin to flow again.
Flora
The Caatinga can be separated by vegetation types into eight different areas. The Caatinga forest has deciduous tropic broadleaved trees. The forest canopy covers about 60% of the ground. This type of vegetation is present in wetter areas with more rainfall. The arborescent area is an area mainly of shrubs with some trees with less than 60% coverage. A shrub or Bush is a horticultural rather than strictly botanical category of Woody plant, distinguished from a Tree A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or Aborescent-shrubby closed Caatinga is forest with closed shrub and tree coverage less than 60%. Aborescent-shrubby open Caatinga is similar but with more shrubs and cacti. A cactus (plural cacti) is any member of the Spine plant family Cactaceae, native to the Americas In the shrubby closed Caatinga scrub is more common. The shrubby open Caatinga areas occur on shallow soils and rocky outcrops; this area contains trees, cacti and bromeliads. The Caatinga savanna is areas with some trees and some scrub. A savanna or savannah is a Tropical or Subtropical Grassland or Woodland Ecosystem. The rocky Caatinga savanna contains less than 10% coverage of tropical scrub; these plants are protruding from cracks in rocks and pavements. People use many plant species from the Caatinga region. Palms are very important to the economy in northeast Brazil. Arecaceae or Palmae (also known by the name Palmaceae, which is taxonomically invalid or commonly palm tree) the palm family is a family of Flowering People from this area are greatly dependent on extraction from babassu, carnaúba, tucúm and macaúba, from which lauric and oleic oils are made from. Attalea speciosa ( Babassu, Babassu palm, Babaçu, Cusi; Syn Orbignya phalerata, Orbignya martiana Copernicia prunifera or the carnauba palm or carnaubeira palm is a Species of Palm tree native to northeastern Brazil Many trees are also used for lumber in this area, including these species: Anadenanthera macrocarpa, Ziziphus joazeiro, Amburana cearensis, Astronium fraxinifolium, Astronium urundeuva, Tabebuia impetiginosa, Tabebuia caraiba, and Schinopsis brasiliensis, Cedrela odorata, Dalbergia variabilis, Didymopanax morototoni and Pithecellobium polycephalum. Description Anadenanthera colubrina ( Vell) Brenan Var cebil ( Griseb UserPolbot. --> Amburana cearensis (Portuguese common names ambaúrana amburana amburana de cheiro angelim baru cabocla Astronium fraxinifolium ( Goncalo alves) is a timber tree which is native to Amazon Rainforest, Atlantic Forest, Caatinga, and Myracrodruon urundeuva (Portuguese Common names aroeira-do-sertão urundeúva aroeira preta urindeúva arindeúva Syn Tabebuia impetiginosa, Pink Ipê or Pink Lapacho is a native Bignoniaceae tree of America, distributed from northern Mexico south Tabebuia aurea is a species of Tabebuia native to South America in Suriname, Brazil, eastern Bolivia, Cedrela odorata ( Spanish cedar, Mexican cedar, Cigar-box cedar, Cedro-cheiroso) is a Monoecious semi- Deciduous Schefflera morototoni ( Yagrumo macho; Syn Didymopanax morototoni ( Aubl Some plants are also used for medical purposes. Also, plant experts have said to have found a new cacti called the Columna Chollang. The plant is said to be pink with black thorns in a small ball shape. It is found in foliage in the hotter parts of the caatinga. It has been said that, different from man, Caatinga vegetation has adapted itself completely to its conditions. While man is trying to fight against the yearly recurring system of about 5 months of rain followed by 7 months of drought, nature has learned to cohabit with it. The idea of fighting the yearly "rain-drought" system by irrigation has been compared to the idea of Scandinavans fighting the yearly snow season (in which nothing grows, just like in the Caatinga's dry season) by promoting Global Warming. Some people believe that the best solution for human life in the Caatinga should be in finding smart ways of cohabiting with the "rain-drought system" instead of fighting drought through irrigation. Caatinga vegetation's enormous creativity in finding solutions for the regular lack of water can serve as an example to man, they believe.
Fauna
The Caatinga is home to several endemic species of birds, including Lear's Macaw or Indigo Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), Spix's Macaw or Little Blue Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii), and Moustached Woodcreeper (Xiphocolaptes falcirostris). This is a list of Plants found in the wild in Caatinga Vegetation of Brazil. The Lear's Macaw ( Anodorhynchus leari) also known as the Indigo Macaw, is a rare Brazilian Parrot with a highly restricted range The Spix's Macaw ( Cyanopsitta spixii) is the only member of the Parrot genus Cyanopsitta. UserPolbot. -->The Moustached Woodcreeper ( Xiphocolaptes falcirostris) is a species of Bird in the
People
Around 15 million people live in the Caatinga region[2], and are regarded as belonging the poorest inhabitants of Brazil. A very large part of the population depends on agricultural or forest industries for over half of their income. Harvesting of the caraiba woodland for lumber has reduced its size. This reduction may have contributed to the endangerment of the Spix's Macaw.
Agriculture
In some places the Caatinga has very fertile soils. Inhabitants plant fruits in the fertile soil to process and eat, sell and export. The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context and the term is not synonymous in Food preparation and Biology. Some regions are being irrigated, most notably the São Francisco River. For other uses see São Francisco (disambiguation The São Francisco River is a river in Brazil with a length of 3160 kilometres While this is very good news for some farmers, it has also had serious consequences for people who have always depended on the natural flow of the river. Big dams have brought an end to the high tides in the rainy season, which used to spread fertile mud over the fields creating a rich ground that could be used for agriculture during the dry season. Also, salinization of the soil is becoming a threat since big parts of the land are irrigated with saline water, thus sterilizing the soil. The irrigated farms along the São Francisco River are currently exporting grapes, papayas and melons. For the Tokyo University supercomputer see Gravity Pipe. GRAPE, or GRA phics P rogramming E nvironment is The papaya (from Carib via Spanish) is the Fruit of the Plant Carica papaya, in the genus Carica. Melon is a term used for various members of the Cucurbitaceae family with fleshy fruit
Having and using all these resources has some negatives. Intensive agriculture, along with excessive grazing by cattle and goats is affecting the population structure of some of the more important plant and animal species. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family The domestic goat ( Capra aegagrus hircus) is a subspecies of goat Domesticated from the Wild goat of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe Deforesting for industrial uses like fuel and charcoal destroys the vegetation. Fuel is any material that is burned or altered in order to obtain energy Charcoal' is the blackish residue consisting of impure Carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from Animal and Vegetation The combination of drought and misuse of the land are becoming a major threat. If these practices continue at the current rate, desertification maybe unavoidable.
See also
References
External links
- Caatinga (World Wildlife Fund)
- IBAMA
- Brazil Nature
- Caatinga: Brazilian national heritage threatened
- Birds of the Caatinga The Avifauna of the Interior of Ceará, Brazil
Dictionary
caatinga
-noun
- A sparse, thorny wooded area of northeastern Brazil containing drought-resistant trees.
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