Pirapitinga Ecological Station () is an ecological station in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, on an island in the lake formed by the

Três Marias Dam The Três Marias Dam, also known as Bernardo Mascarenhas, is an embankment dam on the São Francisco River near Três Marias in Minas Gerais, Brazil. It was constructed for hydroelectric power production and flood control. The dam was completed in ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

Location

The reserve has an area of in the

cerrado The Cerrado () is a vast ecoregion of Tropics, tropical savanna in central Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Paraná ...

biome. It was created on 20 July 1987. It is managed by the

Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation The Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation ( Portuguese: ''Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade'', ICMBio) is a government agency under the administration of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment. It is nam ...

. It is located in the municipality of

Morada Nova de Minas Morada Nova de Minas is a Brazil, Brazilian Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the north of the Federative units of Brazil, state of Minas Gerais. As of 2020 the population was 8,910 in a total area of 2,085 km2. It became a municipal ...

in the state of Minas Gerais. When the reservoir of the Três Marias Dam was filled in 1962 the station purchased the island that was formed when the reservoir was full. It has an area of about and a perimeter of . The lake is above sea level. The highest point is above lake level. Average annual rainfall is . Temperature ranges from , with average of . Vegetation includes trees up to high, with scattered Mata Mesofílica species among the Savannah species. There are distinct layers of savannah vegetation: grasses, shrubs up to , trees from and trees over . Endemic fauna include curl-crested jay (Cyanocorax cristatellus),

peach-fronted parakeet The peach-fronted parakeet (''Eupsittula aurea''), known as the peach-fronted conure in aviculture, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil ...

(Eupsittula aurea), shrike-like tanager (Neothraupis fasciata),

white-eared puffbird The white-eared puffbird (''Nystalus chacuru'') is a species of bird in the Bucconidae family, the puffbirds. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Peru, where it inhabits tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, tropical ...

(Nystalus chacuru) and

red-bellied macaw The red-bellied macaw (''Orthopsittaca manilatus''), also known as ''Guacamaya manilata'', is a medium-sized, mostly green parrot, a member of a group of large Neotropical parrots known as macaws. It is the largest of what are commonly called " m ...

(Orthopsittaca manilatus).

Conservation

The Ecological Station is a "strict nature reserve" under

IUCN protected area category IUCN protected area categories, or IUCN protected area management categories, are categories used to classify protected areas in a system developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The enlisting of such areas is part ...

Ia. It was created to protect the environment and support basic and applied ecological research and education in conservation. The station is a habitat for the near threatened

maned wolf The maned wolf (''Chrysocyon brachyurus'') is a large canine of South America. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, and Paraguay, and is almost extinct in Uruguay. Its markings resemble those of a red fox, but it is neither a fox nor ...

and the

giant anteater The giant anteater (''Myrmecophaga tridactyla'') is an Insectivore, insectivorous mammal native to Central America, Central and South America. It is the largest of the four living species of anteaters, which are classified with sloths in the or ...

References

Sources

* * * {{Ecological station (Brazil) 1987 establishments in Brazil Ecological stations of Brazil Protected areas of Minas Gerais Protected areas established in 1987 Cerrado