n of the area has caused reduced the biodiversity. There are still 112 mammals recorded such as the lowland paca, agouti, Brazilian porcupine, spiny rats, and hog-nosed skunks. Around 268 bird species have been recorded as well.
About half of this ecoregion is covered by secondary forest and degraded pasture. No large protected areas exist here. Severe deforestation during the past 70 years has eliminated most of the original moist forest, and only remnant patches remain. The babassu palm continues to proliferate on deforested sites, which are in great supply as human activities such as agriculture and ranching require cleared land.
The remnants of natural savanna and forest vegetation are threatened by strong demand for land for large-scale intensive production operations, such as cattle-ranching and sugar cane plantation. Introduced grasses for pasture such as Hyparrhenia rufa compete with native savanna species. All these factors increase the stress on the original moist forest habitat and lead to further fragmentation of the ecosystem.
The priority conservation actions for the next decade are to: 1) introduce more natural resource based, sustainable cattle ranching and agriculture practices; 2) promote restoration of degraded areas; and 3) create protected areas within the remaining fragments of moist forests.
1. Sears, R. 2018. Eastern and Southern flank of the Amazon basin in Brazil. https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0139 Accessed November 17, 2018.
2. Anderson, A. B., P. H. May, and M. J. Balick. 1991. The Subsidy from Nature: Palm forests, peasantry, and development on an Amazon frontier. Columbia University Press, New York.
3. Anderson, A. B. 1983. People and the Palm Forest: Biology and utilization of babassu palms in Maranhão, Brazil. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC.
4. Veiga, L.M., Silva Jr., J.S., Ferrari, S.F. & Rylands, A.B. 2008. Chiropotes satanas. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T39956A10297662. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T39956A10297662.en. Accessed November 17, 2018.