The Private Reserve of Natural Heritage (RPPN) of University of Santa Cruz do Sul (Unisc) is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

created in 2009, through Ordinance nº 16, of March 18, having an area of 221,39 hectares, being nowadays one of the largest protected area of this category ( RPPN) in

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, ; ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative units of Brazil#List, fifth-most populous state and the List of Brazilian s ...

state,

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 ...

. This preservation area is within the Atlantic Forest

Biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

and the predominant vegetation is the

seasonal A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flo ...

Location

The Private Reserve of Natural Heritage (RPPN) of University of Santa Cruz do Sul is located in

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Sinimbu in

state,

, distant about 48 km north of municipality of

Santa Cruz do Sul Santa Cruz do Sul () is a Municipalities of Brazil, Brazilian municipality located in the central region of the States of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul, approximately from Porto Alegre. According to estimates by the Brazilian Institute of ...

. Unfortunately it is the only RPPN present in the

highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

scarp region in this state, although the creation of Preservation Areas in this region in order to protect the last

primary forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...

fragments of this region had been suggested years ago.

Characteristics

Created in 2009 and having an area of 221.39 hectares, the Reserve is within an

ecotone An ecotone is a transitional area between two plant communities, where these meet and integrate. Examples include areas between grassland and forest, estuaries and lagoon, freshwater and sea water etc. An ecotone may be narrow or wide, and it ma ...

between the

and the

Araucaria moist forest The Araucaria moist forests, officially classified as mixed ombrophilous forest (Portuguese: "Floresta Ombrófila Mista") in Brazil, are a montane subtropical moist forest ecoregion. The forest ecosystem is located in southern and in few areas of ...

. Altitude vary from 150 m eastwards, at the Pardinho river's

riverbed A streambed or stream bed is the bottom of a stream or river and is confined within a Stream channel, channel or the Bank (geography), banks of the waterway. Usually, the bed does not contain terrestrial (land) vegetation and instead supports d ...

and 650 m at hilltops. The reserve is within the Atlantic Forest

, having a

predominantly secondary once the former residents used a good part of the local's natural resources by removing vegetation and livestock practice. Less impacted areas were left on hillsides due to its topographic conditions.

Research

Despite being created only in 2009, research activities began in 2006 resulting quali-quantitative publications about the local and regional fauna and flora: - Mammalian fauna of medium and large size. - Avifauna -

Trees In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only p ...

Flora

Until 2010, 149

native species In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equi ...

and 11

exotic species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

of trees were found in the area and surroundings, where, among the exotic species, five are considered

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

and need urgent control measures. The arboreal vegetation is characterized by presenting species from the

and from the

. The reserve is home for 12

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

according to the lists of Threatened Species of Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazilian Endangered Species and

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological sp ...

: ''

Araucaria angustifolia ''Araucaria angustifolia'', the Paraná pine, Brazilian pine or candelabra tree (, or ), is a critically endangered species in the Pinophyta, conifer genus ''Araucaria''. Although the common names in various languages refer to the species as a " ...

'' (Bertol.) Kuntze, '' Gochnatia polymorpha'' (Less.) Cabrera, ''

Maytenus aquifolium ''Maytenus aquifolium'', the espinheira-santa, is an endemic tree (sometimes shrub) species endemic to the Atlantic Forest biome in southeastern Brazil. Distribution It is native to the regions of Sudeste − in Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro an ...

'' Mart., '' Dicksonia sellowiana'' Hook, '' Albizia edwallii'' (Hoehne) Barneby & J.Grimes, ''

Myrocarpus frondosus ''Myrocarpus frondosus'', the ibirá-payé, incienso, cabreúva or qu, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed ...

'' Allemão, ''

Cedrela fissilis ''Cedrela fissilis'' is a species of tree in the family Meliaceae. It is native to Central and South America, where it is distributed from Costa Rica to Argentina.Myrcianthes pungens'' (O.Berg) D.Legrand, '' Podocarpus lambertii'' Klotzsch ex Endl., '' Rudgea parquioides''(Cham.) Müll.Arg., '' Picramnia parvifolia'' Engl. and '' Picrasma crenata'' (Vell.) Engl. In a survey located in a one-hectare plot in a slope in the area, 1,063 individuals belonging to 69 species were found.

Fauna

Mammals

Until the year 2009, 16 species of wild mammals were registered in the area, which eight are

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

: '' Alouatta guariba clamitans'', '' Cebus nigritus'', '' Eira barbara'', ''

Nasua nasua The South American coati (''Nasua nasua''), also known as the ring-tailed coati or brown-nosed coati, is a coati species and a member of the raccoon family (Procyonidae), found in the tropical and subtropical parts of South America. An adult gen ...

'', '' Leopardus wiedii'' '' Chironectes minimus'', ''

Lontra longicaudis 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 ...

'' and ''

Cuniculus paca The lowland paca (''Cuniculus paca''), also known as the spotted paca, is a large rodent found in tropical and sub-tropical America, from east-central Mexico to northern Argentina, and has been introduced to Cuba and Algeria. The animal is call ...

''. Domestic animals were also found in the area and control suggestions were proposed in order to ensure the survival and a sobrevivência and viability of local wildlife populations .

Avifauna

Were found 169 birds species, being most part forest species and 44 are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

of Atlantic Forest. Five species are in extinction risk for the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil: '' Odontophorus capueira'', '' Patagioenas cayennensis'', '' Triclaria malachitacea'', '' Grallaria varia'' and '' Amazona pretrei'' (the latter is globally threatened), among other rare or "

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

" species, as well as species typically found in seasonal forests and in higher parts of the highlands showing that the area is an

between the seasonal deciduous forest and the Araucaria moist forest.

Ecotourism and Environmental education

Activities of ecotourism and environmental education are also realized in the area, where three different tracks are available between the forest, having different difficulty levels. In the years 2007, 2008 and 2009 the RPPN received special visits of students and docents from Biology and Geoecology courses from Germany universities of Tübingen and Rottenburg.

References

{{Reflist Private natural heritage reserves of Brazil Protected areas of Rio Grande do Sul Forests of Brazil Protected areas of the Atlantic Forest