The Atlantic Forest

- The ethnoecology of Caiçara metapopulations (Atlantic Forest, Brazil): ecological concepts and questions

Originally, Brazilian Atlantic Forests covered 1.1 million km², or 12% of the land surface of the country [3]. The Atlantic Forest remnants, currently about 7.5%, are an important area of endemism in Brazil [4], being composed of two major vegetation types: the Atlantic Rain Forest, located at low to medium elevations along the coast, and the semi-deciduous forest, located at elevations > 600 m in the interior [5]. The highest mean rainfall in the Atlantic Forest is found at the seaward side of the Serra do Mar, up to 3,600 mm [3].

In five centuries of occupation, the exploitation of the Atlantic Forest included pau brazil (Ceasalpina echinata), heart of palm (Euterpe edulis), xaxim (Cyathea sp.), and cultivation of sugar cane, coffee and cocoa (this last in Bahia State)[6]. The Atlantic Forest was cleared especially for timber, firewood, charcoal, agriculture, cattle ranching, and the construction of cities [5].