Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Biodiversity:
Nicole Galamb
Stockton University
March 2018
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BIODIVERSITY: TIJUCA NATIONAL PARK
Table of Contents
I. Title Page.………………………………………………………………………..1
III. Abstract…………………………………………………………………………..3
i. Reforestation……………………………………………………….4
V. Decomposition……………….……………………………………………….5
VI. Biodiversity…………………………………………………………………….6
i. Flora…………………………………………………………………...6
ii. Fauna…………………………………………………………………7
VII. Management…………………………………………………………………...8
i. Activities…………………………………………………………….8
VIII. Conclusion………………………………………………………………….….9
IX. References…………………………………………………………………….10
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BIODIVERSITY: TIJUCA NATIONAL PARK
Abstract
As part of the Atlantic Forest biome, Tijuca National Park includes a wide
range of flora and fauna diversity. It is located in Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil.
The National Park is a source of the city’s water supply and has one of its lowest air-
pollution levels. Tijuca National Park holds 3.5% of Rio de Janeiro’s area. The park is
divided into Tijuca Forest, Serra da Carioca, Pedra da Gávea/Pedra Bonita and
Pretos Forros/Covanca. Tijuca National Park is one of the world’s largest urban
parks and receives over 1.5 million visitors annually. The well-known rock
formations of Pedra Bonita and Serra da Carioca are two main tourist attractions for
visitors. With such intense popularity, the park withstands some major
environmental threats.
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BIODIVERSITY: TIJUCA NATIONAL PARK
Tijuca National Park was declared a National Park February 8th, 1961. The
park was discovered by the Indians, they stayed close to the shorelines and caused
little to no impact on the forest; so much so that individuals have little evidence of
them even residing in the forest. This informational determines the Indians using
the environment in an efficient way without depleting and over using it’s natural
resources.
In the beginning of the 19th century the coffee industry was thriving in Rio de
Janeiro. This was due to the exchange of foreign endeavors. From the sixteenth to
the nineteenth century, Rio de Janeiro tropical forests were submerged into the
forests environment by intense land use and deforestation, resulted in water issue
within the city’s water supply. More than a hundred coffee plantations were located
Reforestation
By the end of the nineteenth century, Emperor D. Pedro the second and
Manuel Gomes Archer put in efforts to pursue a flora restoration project. From the
years 1861 to 1888 an estimated 130,000 seeds were planted in the area. These
plants included, native and exotic tree species such as, palms, bamboos, cedro rosa,
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jacaranda, jacqueira, and eucalyptus. The efforts to begin a fauna restoration started
This project reintroduced one reptile species, twenty-five bird species, and
seven mammal species. The total number of these animals is as followed, five
snakes, nine hundred and fourteen birds, and fifty-eight mammals. Both restoration
projects resulted in positive succession making the Tijuca National Park a mature
increase with the parks overall succession within it’s ecosystem. This was the first
progressing with its secession over time; this was due to secondary succession.
Today the forest represents regeneration; this is due the planting of species as well
as the parks secondary succession with species that reach twenty to twenty-five
meters high.
Decomposition
The vegetation of the National Park plays a key role in the survival of the
wildlife of the area, which includes insects, and birds that occupy the area. The soil
of the forest provides the main nutrient reservoir that assures self-sustainability.
This includes all the botanical support of logs, cauli, stems branches, fruits, flowers
and main leaves as well as animals including carcasses and feces. The cycle of life
continues as
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arthropods, worms, vermin, protozoa, yeasts and bacteria decompose these animals.
Such organisms live within the first five centimeters of the soil. Decomposition plays
oxygenation agent with the soil, which in ten increases the infiltration of rainfall.
The city of Rio de Janeiro has one of the lowest air pollution levels because of the
Biodiversity
Tijuca National Park is diverse within its plant and animal species. The park
biodiversity. Deforestation within the area has led to habitat loss and or
biodiversity loss. Another threat to Tijucas National Parks biodiversity is, water
saturation, this can cause landslides within the soil and loss of biodiversity.
Flora
considered as a whole. Around 55,000 species of flora are found in the Brazilian
Amazon Forest. Although Tijuca National Park is considered the smallest National
Park in Brazil, Tijuca holds the highest number of threatened plant species with a
total number of sixty-seven. The total number represents 16% of all threatened
species in the region of Rio de Janeiro. Not only does the park hold threatened
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species, it also is categorized into three best-suited classifications for that species.
Seven species are classified as critically endangered, forty endangered, and twenty
are vulnerable. There is a protection program put in place that protects eleven
species that do not occur in any other protected area. The flora of Brazil also
includes edible fruits, many of which can only be found in the rainforests. These
include acai, cupuaçu as well as guaraná. The flora within Tijuca National Park is
logging. All of which are causing many species to grow scarce, some are now
categorized as extinct.
Fauna
Invertebrate are a large part of the parks fauna. Today, there currently are 40
the Arachnid group (spiders), 358 species have been studied. The vertebrate fauna
species such as amphibious and birds. Large mammals are represented as Capuchin
monkey, coati, and cottontail rabbit, bush dog, raccoon, sloth and hedgehogs. Bats
among Tijuca Natiional Park have been through many research studies, this is due to
the park occupying forty-seven of the seventy-four species accounted for in the
State of Rio de Janeiro. There are 226 species of birds, ten of which are considered
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Management
park managers, whose job is to create and maintain a suitable plan on reducing
urban impacts on the park while promoting a social environmental balance. Other
Actives
Provided below is a list of the activities put forth in the efforts to maintain
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Conclusion
The Tijuca National Park has faced threats, such as the presence of invasive
trails. These threats have been occurring patterns since the expectation of the coffee
plantations. Since then, biodiversity in the National Park has decreased with species
being extinct and habitat loss. Management plans are put in place to allow for a
better ecosystem. Since then, positive change has occurred within the National park
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References:
Tijuca National Park, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil." Brazilian Journal of Biology 75.4
Meyer, Amelia. "Brazil.org.za." Brazil Flora. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 4 Mar. 2017.
"Urban Forests and the Conservation of Threatened Plant Species: The Case of the
Tijuca National Park, Brazil." 12.2 (2014): 170-73. Science Direct. Web.
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