Around half of the tree species and 80% of the primates are unique (endemic)
to this hotspot. The spider monkey (or muriqui)
at
Carlos Botelho, the
red-tailed amazon
at
Pariquera-Abaixo, the
broad-snouted caiman
at
Ilha do Cardoso and the
tucuxi dolphin
in the coastal waters of
Paraty
and
Ilha Grande
are some examples for the variety of life forms in the Atlantic Rainforest.
The site provides also an important refuge for jaguar and puma,
the largest cats in the Western Hemisphere.
With more than 450 woody plant species/ hectare (100 x 100 m) in some spots, flora diversity
is larger than in the Amazon.
Its ecosystems, species composition and structure change with
altitude
soils, temperature and rainfall.
Whereas the
altitude fields
above 1.800 m, as in
Itatiaia
are dominated by grasslands, the
cloud forest
formation between 1.000 - 1.800 m is characterized by low mist forest,
such as the famous
araucaria
pine tree of
Campos do Jordão.
From 50 - 1.000 m occurs the
submontane
and
montane rainforest
with giant trees reaching 40 m in height, the
endemic palm tree
(
Euterpe Edulis) and many epiphytes, such as ferns, orchids and bromeliads.
At sea level (e.g.
Lagamar - Complex),
lowland rainforest
mixed with
pioneer formations such as
restinga,
mangrove and
caixetais
occur.
The
Speleological Province
Upper
Ribeira Valley /
Paranapiacaba, including the
state parks
PETAR,
Intervales and Jacupiranga
shelter the largest number of karst caves known to exist in Brazil (300) and the granitic massifs of
Serra dos Órgãos and
Marumbi
offer climbers some of the countries most challenging rock formations.
Additional to its natural beauty the Atlantic Rainforest
hides some significant cultural sites such as the historic gold trail at
Serra da Bocaina,
the pre-historic
sambaquis
at
Superagüi
and the
caiçara cultures
at
Juréia - Itatins,
Ilhabela or
Juatinga.