The Parazinho Biological Reserve () is a

biological reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

in the state of

Amapá Amapá (; ) is one of the 26 federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil. It is in the North Region, Brazil, North Region of Brazil. It is Federative units of Brazil#List, the second-least populous state and the eighteenth-largest state by area ...

, Brazil. It protects an island at the mouth of the Amazon River.

Location

The Parazinho Biological Reserve is in the municipality of

Macapá Macapá () is a city in Brazil with a population of 512,902 (2020 estimate), and is the capital of Amapá state in the country's North Region, Brazil, North Region, located on the northern channel of the Amazon Delta near its mouth on the Atlant ...

, Amapá. It has an area of . It covers an island on the north shore of the mouth of the Amazon River. The island formed in the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

period, and is an example of an alluvial island. The terrain is flat with clay, silt and sand sediments deposited by the sea and the river.

Soil fertility Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality.

is poor to moderate.

Environment

Vegetation is pioneer formations of dense tropical rainforest. The action of waves and tides often causes trees on the coast to fall. Vegetation includes medium-sized trees, shrubs, some palms, mangroves and reeds. The reserve supports a program for protecting Amazon turtles. It supports migratory bird species of the ''

Charadrius ''Charadrius'' is a genus of plovers, a group of wading birds. The genus name ''Charadrius'' is a Late Latin word for a yellowish bird mentioned in the fourth-century Vulgate. They are found throughout the world. Many ''Charadrius'' species are ...

'', ''

Calidris ''Calidris'' is a genus of Arctic-breeding, strongly migratory wading birds in the family Scolopacidae. These birds form huge mixed flocks on coasts and estuaries in winter. Migratory shorebirds are shown to have decline in reproductive traits ...

'' and ''

Sterna ''Sterna'' is a genus of terns in the bird family Laridae. The genus used to encompass most "white" terns indiscriminately, but mtDNA sequence comparisons have determined that this arrangement was paraphyletic. It is now restricted to the typi ...

'' families, and of the

laughing gull The laughing seagull (''Leucophaeus atricilla'') is a medium-sized gull of North America, North and South America. Named for its laugh-like call, it is an opportunistic omnivore and scavenger. It breeds in large colonies mostly along the Atlantic ...

(''Leucophaeus atricilla'') and

lesser yellowlegs The lesser yellowlegs (''Tringa flavipes'') is a medium-sized shorebird. It breeds in the boreal forest region of North America. Taxonomy The lesser yellowlegs was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in ...

(''Tringa flavipes'') species.

History

The Parazinho Biological Reserve was created by state decree 005 of 21 January 1985 on Parazinho Island, in the Bailique Archipelago. It became part of the

Amapá Biodiversity Corridor The Amapá Biodiversity Corridor () is an ecological corridor in the state of Amapá, Brazil. It provides a degree of integrated management for conservation units and other areas covering over 70% of the state. Organization The project to esta ...

, created in 2003.

Notes

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parazinho Biological Reserve Biological reserves of Brazil Protected areas of Amapá 1985 establishments in Brazil