Northeastern Brazil Marine Ecoregion
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The Northeastern Brazil marine ecoregion covers the coastal marine environment around the Northeast Region of Brazil. The
marine ecoregion A marine ecoregion is an ecoregion, or ecological region, of the oceans and seas identified and defined based on biogeographic characteristics. Introduction A more complete definition describes them as “Areas of relatively homogeneous species ...
extends from the mouth of the
Parnaíba River The Parnaíba River ( ) is a river in Brazil, which forms the border between the states of Maranhão and Piauí. Its main course is long and the Parnaíba River Basin covers .Ramos, T.P.A.; Ramos, R.T.C.; and Ramos, S.A.Q.A. (2014). Ichthyofaun ...
in the west around the eastern point of the Brazilian mainland and south to the
Bay of All Saints The Bay of All Saints (), also known as All Saints' Bay and Todos os Santos Bay, is the principal bay of the Brazilian state of Bahia, to which it gave its name. It sits on the Brazilian coast, eastern coast of Brazil, surrounding part of Bahia' ...
. The warm
South Equatorial Current The South Equatorial Current are ocean currents in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean that flow east-to-west between the equator and about 20 degrees south. In the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, it extends across the equator to about 5 degre ...
feeds warm tropical water into the region from the east. The Northeastern Brazil ecoregion is one of two coastal marine ecoregions (with the
Eastern Brazil marine ecoregion The Eastern Brazil marine ecoregion covers the coastal marine environment along the middle of the east coast of Brazil. The ecoregion extends south from the Bay of All Saints (about 15 degrees south latitude) to Cabo Frio (about 23 degrees south ...
) in the Tropical Southwest Atlantic marine province. It is thus part of the
Tropical Atlantic The Tropical Atlantic realm is one of twelve marine realms that cover the world's coastal seas and continental shelves.Spalding, Mark D., Helen E. Fox, Gerald R. Allen, Nick Davidson ''et al.'' "Marine Ecoregions of the World: A Bioregionalizati ...
realm.


Physical setting

The ecoregion reaches out into the
Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
for 200-250 miles from the coast, with narrowing in the middle where the Fernando de Noronha and Atol das Rocas marine ecoregion extends almost in to the shore. The ecoregion is bounded on the west at the mouth of the Parnaiba River and stretches for 1,000 coastal miles to the southeast, where the ecoregion transitions to the Northeast Brazil marine ecoregion at the Bay of All Saints. The bordering coast is low and flat, and characterized by mangrove forests, such those of the Rio Piranhas mangroves terrestrial ecoregion, and the flat plains of the
Zona da Mata The Zona da Mata (, "Forest Belt") is the narrow coastal plain between the Atlantic Ocean and the dry '' agreste'' and ''sertão'' regions in the northeastern Brazilian states of Maranhão, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alag ...
on the east coast. The major rivers feeding the Northeastern Brazil marine region include the Paraiba,
Jaguaribe Jaguaribe is a municipality in the state of Ceará in the Northeast region of Brazil. With an area of , of which is urban, it is located 244 km from Fortaleza, the state capital, and 1,495 km from Brasília, the federal capital. Its population in ...
,
Piranhas A piranha (, or ; ) is any of a number of freshwater fish species in the subfamily Serrasalminae, of the family Serrasalmidae, in the order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, floodplains, lakes and reservoirs. Although o ...
, Mamanguape, Paraiba do Norte,
Tracunhaém Tracunhaém is a city located in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. Located at 63 km from Recife, capital of the state of Pernambuco. Has an estimated ( IBGE 2020) population of 13,813 inhabitants. Geography * State - Pernambuco * Region ...
, Capibaribe, and São Francisco rivers. The continental shelf along this coast of Brazil does not extend far into the sea, typically dropping off onto the slope at about 30 miles. The deepest point in the ecoregion overall is , and the average is .


Currents and climate

The Atlantic
South Equatorial Current The South Equatorial Current are ocean currents in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean that flow east-to-west between the equator and about 20 degrees south. In the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, it extends across the equator to about 5 degre ...
(SEC) flows directly into the ecoregion from the East, bringing warm water from the
South Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
. As the SEC approaches the eastern point of Brazil at
Cape São Roque Cape São Roque ( Port. ''Cabo de São Roque'') or Cape St Roque is a cape that forms the northeastern tip of Brazil. Cape São Roque is located in the municipality of Maxaranguape, 51 km north of Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Nor ...
, it splits, with the
North Brazil Current The North Brazil Current (NBC) is a warm water ocean current that is part of the southwestern North Atlantic Gyre. It begins when the westward moving Atlantic South Equatorial Current splits in half and flows northwestward, following the coastline ...
(NBC) flowing along the coast to the north and west, and the
Brazil Current The Brazil Current is a warm water current that flows south along the Brazilian south coast to the mouth of the Río de la Plata. Description This current is caused by diversion of a portion of the Atlantic South Equatorial Current from where ...
flowing south along the eastern coast. The NBC flows at a rate averaging 26
Sverdrup In oceanography, the sverdrup (symbol: Sv) is a non- SI metric unit of volumetric flow rate, with equal to . It is equivalent to the SI derived unit cubic hectometer per second (symbol: hm3/s or hm3⋅s−1): is equal to . It is used almost ...
s (Sv), at a mean speed of . Surface temperatures range from .


Animals / Fish

On the coast, fishing is typically by artisal (subsistence and traditional) methods. The commercial fishery is centered on shrimp, lobster, and southern red snapper. Farther offshore are fisheries for tuna and Brazilian sardinella (''
Sardinella brasiliensis ''Sardinella brasiliensis'', (Brazilian sardinella or orangespot sardine) is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus ''Sardinella''. ''S. brasilensis'' are extremely hard to distinguish from ''Sardinella aurita'' and are combined in most stud ...
''). Volumes of catch have fallen to half of the peaks in the 1970s and 1980's due to overfishing.


Conservation status

Many of the terrestrial protected areas on the coast have marine components, such that about 13% of the ecoregion is protected, including: * Santa Isabel Biological Reserve. A coastal strip of sandbanks and mangroves.


References

{{refs Marine ecoregions Ecoregions of Brazil Tropical Atlantic