The Chauás Ecological Station () is an ecological station in the state of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

, Brazil. It protects an area of lagoons and marshes in the Atlantic Forest biome, and is home to several endangered species. It is strictly protected, and is not open to the public.

Location

The Chauás Ecological Station (ESEC) is in the municipality of

Iguape Iguape is a municipality located into the Ribeira Valley in the southern portion of the state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Brazil. The population is 30,989 (2020 estimate) in an area of , making it the largest municipality area in São Paulo ...

, São Paulo. It has an area of . Governor Paulo Egidio Martins issued decree 12.327 on 26 September 1978 to transfer an area of vacant land in Iguape to the State Secretariat of Agriculture. The Chauás Ecological Station was created by decree 26.719 of 6 February 1987 in this area of vacant land. The reserve is strictly protected and is not open to tourists. The ESEC covers part of the Iguape-Cananéia lagoon complex in the extreme south of the state of São Paulo. The Momuna and Covuçu rivers run through the ESEC, which is in the

Ribeira de Iguape River The Ribeira de Iguape River (), or simply the Ribeira River (), is a river of Paraná (state), Paraná and São Paulo (state), São Paulo states in southeastern Brazil. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Iguape. The river is home to several end ...

basin. It consists of periodically flooded plains, flood plains, and small terra firma terraces. There is some higher land in the north end. The ESEC is part of the

Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve The Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve, or Mata Atlântica Biosphere Reserve (MABR, ), is a biosphere reserve covering remnants of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, including fully protected and sustainable use conservation units and buffer zones. It ...

. It is part of the Lagamar Mosaic:

Flora

The thousands of kilometers of mangroves that extend to

Paranaguá Paranaguá (Tupi language, Tupi, 'Great Round Sea') is a city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. Founded in 1648, it is Paraná's oldest city. It is known for the Port of Paranaguá, which serves as both the sea link for Curitiba, ...

in the state of

Paraná Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city * Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province In Brazil *Paraná (state), a state ...

are important breeding grounds for South Atlantic marine life. The forests of the slopes and coastal plains hold a great diversity of species. Vegetation is typical broad leaf forest of the coastal plain and marshes. It is mostly covered with high ''

restinga Restingas () are a distinct type of coastal tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest in eastern Brazil. They form on sandy, acidic, and nutrient-poor soils, and are characterized by medium-sized trees and shrubs adapted to the drier and n ...

'' forest, rich in ''

Bromeliaceae The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and one in tropical west Africa, ...

'' and ''

Araceae The Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe (or leaf-like bract). Also ...

''. There is also dense alluvial rainforest of the Atlantic Forest biome including ''

Tabebuia cassinoides ''Tabebuia cassinoides'' (Portuguese common name ''caixeta'') is a tree native to Central and South America. It is used as a timber tree to make pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protecti ...

'',

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

s and

epiphyte An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

s. The ''caxeta'' (''

'') grows on the banks of the Momuna River. This tree, which grows in the flooded areas, has softwood that is used to make pencils and shoes, and is threatened by predatory logging. The palmito ''

Euterpe edulis ''Euterpe edulis'', commonly known as juçara, jussara (an archaic alternative spelling), açaí-do-sul or palmiteiro, is a palm species in the genus ''Euterpe''. It is now predominantly used for hearts of palm. It is closely related to the aça� ...

'' is also threatened.

Fauna

The dark water rivers are home to freshwater turtles and the

broad-snouted caiman The broad-snouted caiman (''Caiman latirostris'') is a crocodilian in the family Alligatoridae found in eastern and central South America, including the Pantanal habitat of Bolivia, Southeast Brazil, and Paraguay, as well as northern Argentina an ...

(''Caiman latirostris''). Mammals such as the

neotropical otter The neotropical otter or neotropical river otter (''Lontra longicaudis'') is a near-threatened (per the IUCN) otter species found in freshwater systems from Mexico and Central America through mainland South America, as well as the island of Trini ...

(''Lontra longicaudis'') and

capybara The capybara or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris'') is the largest living rodent, native to South America. It is a member of the genus '' Hydrochoerus''. The only other extant member is the lesser capybara (''Hydrochoerus isthmi ...

live in the wetlands. The

cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

(''Puma concolor'') is also present. 220 species of birds have been identified. These include

blue manakin The blue manakin or swallow-tailed manakin (''Chiroxiphia caudata'') is a small species of bird in the family Pipridae. It is found mainly in the Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and far north-eastern Argentina. Its typi ...

(''Chiroxiphia caudata''),

yellow-legged tinamou The yellow-legged tinamou (''Crypturellus noctivagus'') is a species of tinamou found in wooded and shrubland, shrubby habitats in tropical and subtropical eastern Brazil.Clements, J (2007) This superficially quail-like bird has a grey-brown plu ...

(''Crypturellus noctivagus''),

spot-winged wood quail The spot-winged wood quail (''Odontophorus capueira'') is a species of bird in the family Odontophoridae. It is found in Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, and formerly in Uruguay. In Portuguese and Spanish the bird is called uru (Corcovado Urú).

(''Odontophorus capueira''),

southern tamandua The southern tamandua (''Tamandua tetradactyla''), also called the collared anteater or lesser anteater, is a species of anteater from South America and the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. It is a solitary animal found in many habitats, from ...

(''Tamandua tetradactyla''). Birds typical of the freshwater marshes include wren-like rushbird (''Phleocryptes melanops'') and orange-breasted thornbird (''Phacellodomus ferrugineigula''). Threatened bird species include the

red-browed amazon The red-browed amazon (''Amazona rhodocorytha'') is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is endemic to Atlantic Forest in eastern Brazil. It has been considered a subspecies of the blue-cheeked amazon (''Amazona dufresniana''), but ...

(''Amazona rhodocorytha''),

red-tailed amazon The red-tailed amazon (''Amazona brasiliensis''), also known as the red-tailed parrot, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is native to the Serra do Mar coastal forests. The bird has been threatened by habitat loss and capture for ...

(''Amazona brasiliensis''),

aracari An aracari or araçari ( , , ) is any of the medium-sized toucans that, together with the saffron toucanet, make up the genus ''Pteroglossus''. They are brightly plumaged and have enormous, contrastingly patterned bills. These birds are reside ...

and

solitary tinamou The solitary tinamou (''Tinamus solitarius'') is a species of paleognath ground bird. This species is native to Atlantic forest of eastern Brazil. Taxonomy All tinamou are from the family Tinamidae, and in the larger scheme are also ratites. U ...

(''Tinamus solitarius'').

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chauas Ecological Station Ecological stations of Brazil Protected areas of São Paulo (state) 1987 establishments in Brazil Protected areas established in 1987 Protected areas of the Atlantic Forest