{"id":554424,"date":"2025-06-11T12:10:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T15:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=554424"},"modified":"2025-06-11T12:10:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T15:10:15","slug":"the-surprising-faces-of-the-caatinga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/the-surprising-faces-of-the-caatinga\/","title":{"rendered":"The surprising faces of the Caatinga"},"content":{"rendered":"

The dense, green forests surrounding the General Sampaio Mountains in Cear\u00e1 resemble the lush, green landscapes of the Amazon. In the interior of Para\u00edba, Bahia, and Minas Gerais, imposing trees, such as the barriguda, which are so large that it takes four adults with open arms to reach around their trunks, are present. The rocky, sparsely vegetated campos rupestres<\/em> of the Chapada Diamantina mountains resemble the Cerrado (a wooded savanna biome), although, like the other landscapes mentioned above, they are within the Caatinga (semiarid scrublands).<\/p>\n

Covering 10 states in northeastern Brazil and reaching southeastern Brazil, the Caatinga is traditionally used to describe arid regions, but in reality, it is colorful and diverse. A proposed reclassification described in a 59-page article in the New York Botanical Garden\u2019s specialist journal The Botanical Review<\/em> divides the Caatinga into 12 biogeographic subunits on the basis of an approach that considers the spatial distribution of endemic (exclusive) species, which is associated primarily with the soil type (see map<\/em>).<\/p>\n<\/div>

\n \n \n \n <\/picture>Alexandre Affonso\/Pesquisa FAPESP<\/span><\/div>
\n

\u201cThe Caatinga is actually many Caatingas,\u201d summarizes botanist Daniela Zappi, one of the authors of the paper. Zappi has been visiting rural northeastern Brazil since 1987, mainly in search of cacti, which she studied for her master’s degree, PhD, and much of her 23-year career at Kew Gardens, UK, before she returned to Brazil to work at two research institutions in Bel\u00e9m and Bras\u00edlia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Caatinga is home to jaguars, cougars, and tapirs, amidst landscapes of stunning beauty,\u201d adds biologist Marcelo Moro, leader of the study, who has been researching the region since his days as a biological science student at the Federal University of Cear\u00e1 (UFC). He began documenting the geographic distribution of plant and animal species in the biome during his PhD and postdoctoratal studies at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), with funding from FAPESP.<\/p>\n

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Eric Hunt \/ Wikimedia <\/span>Mimosa borboremae<\/em>, found only in the forests of the Borborema plateauEric Hunt \/ Wikimedia <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In August 2016, he returned to UFC to work as a lecturer. \u201cI realized that to map the entire region, we would need more people,\u201d he said. He was joined by two geographers who specialize in mapping species: Rubson Maia from UFC and Luis Costa from the State University of Montes Claros (UNIMONTES) in Minas Gerais. He also onboarded four botanists: Zappi, retired botanist Nigel Taylor of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Vivian Amorim of the Federal University of Cariri, and Luciano Queiroz from the State University of Feira de Santana in Bahia. Zappi and Taylor are experts in cacti; Amorim is an expert in asteraceae, a large botanical family with 32,000 species; and Queiroz is an expert in legumes, a family of 23,000 species.<\/p>\n

The group of botanists was tasked with delimiting the areas occupied by 328 plant species exclusive to the Caatinga. The cacti Cereus jamacaru<\/em> and Xiquexique gounellei<\/em> grow throughout the region but not in neighboring environments, whereas Tacinga mirim<\/em>, another cactus, is found only in Cear\u00e1. Borreria apodiensis<\/em>, a herb with small white flowers, is found only in Chapada do Apodi, on the border between the states of Rio Grande do Norte and Cear\u00e1, where many caves are present. A 20-centimeter spiny rat called Proechimys yonenagae<\/em> and at least 30 lizard species are exclusive to the dunes of the S\u00e3o Francisco River in northeastern Bahia.<\/p>\n

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Rafael M. R. Serra <\/span>Rodrigues’s four-fingered teiid (Procellosaurinus tetradactylus<\/em>), found in the S\u00e3o Francisco dunesRafael M. R. Serra <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The work by Moro and his team is based on a previous classification that describes eight ecoregions, formulated by zoologist Agnes Velloso of the nongovernmental organization called The Nature Conservancy Brasil (TNC Brasil), forestry engineer Frans Pareyn, and agronomist Everardo Sampaio, who are all from the Northeast Plants Association (APNE); this work was published as a book by APNE in 2002.<\/p>\n

The new division of the Caatinga used international nomenclature for delimiting areas of endemism (from largest to smallest: kingdom, region, domain, province, and district), which was made official in July 2008 by the Journal of Biogeography<\/em> (see detailed definitions in the online version of this report<\/em>). According to this classification, the entire Caatinga is considered a biogeographic domain. The three largest units are provinces and subprovinces: the Chapada Diamantina Mountains and two caatinga subtypes (written here in lowercase because they are a part of the Caatinga): stricto sensu<\/em> and sandy.<\/p>\n

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Rubson Maia <\/span>Trees growing in a hole in the sedimentary terrain of Irec\u00ea, BahiaRubson Maia <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Stricto sensu caatinga, meaning \u201cin a strict sense\u201d in Latin, is located on land composed of crystalline (volcanic) rocks and stony and moderately fertile soil. It has three subdivisions (biogeographical districts) of its own\u2014the North and South Sertaneja Depressions and the Borborema District\u2014each with its own communities of animals and plants, although they are neighbors. The palm tree Syagrus cearensis<\/em> and the lizard Tropidurus jaguaribanus<\/em>, for example, can be found only in the North Sertaneja Depression; the shrub Holoregmia viscida <\/em>and the legume Tabaroa caatingicola<\/em> grow only in the South Sertaneja Depression; and the cactus Pilosocereus chrysostele<\/em> and the lilac-flowered herb Mimosa borboremae<\/em> live only in the Borborema District.<\/p>\n

The second major unit of the Caatinga, the sandy caatinga, comprises a terrain of sedimentary rocks that give rise to nutrient-poor sandy soils. It is further divided into four subunits, each with its own species. The Cearanthes fuscoviolacea<\/em> bulb is endemic to the Ibiapaba-Piau\u00ed district; the Araripe manakin (Antilophia bokermanni<\/em>), a small and colorful bird, lives only in the rainforests of Araripe; and the Scriptosaura catimbau<\/em> lizard is typical of the Tucano-Jatob\u00e1 district and generally lives underground. The rodent Trinomys yonenagae<\/em>, the lizards Procellosaurinus tetradactylus<\/em> and Eurolophosaurus divaricatus<\/em>, and the snakes Typhlops yonenagae <\/em>and T. amoipira<\/em> live only in the sands of the S\u00e3o Francisco dunes.<\/p>\n

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Nina Wen\u00f3li \/ iNaturalist <\/span>Lear’s macaw (Anodorhynchus leari<\/em>), typical of the Brazilian semiarid Caatinga biomeNina Wen\u00f3li \/ iNaturalist <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In both the stricto sensu<\/em> and sandy caatingas, plants have adapted to the dry climate: many species lose their leaves at the beginning of the long dry season and quickly regrow them as soon as the first rains fall. They are also home to species found in the Atlantic Forest, the Cerrado, and dry areas of the Pantanal, such as the Anadenanthera colubrina<\/em>, Piptadenia retusa<\/em>, and Astronium urundeuva<\/em> trees. \u201cThere are also small enclaves of dry forest in the Cerrado and the Atlantic Forest,\u201d says Moro. According to him, dry forests in Bolivia, Venezuela, and Colombia also have species in common with the Caatinga in Brazil.<\/p>\n

The province of Chapada Diamantina, which is part of the domain of the Caatinga, comprises high-altitude areas of Bahia, with Caatinga vegetation, tropical forests, savannas, and campos rupestres<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Marcelo Moro<\/span>Preserved forest in Itapaj\u00e9, Cear\u00e1Marcelo Moro<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Another group of units comprising three more districts\u2014Potiguar, Irec\u00ea, and Perua\u00e7u\u2014where there are many limestone outcrops (exposed rocks), cave networks, and animals about which little is known\u2014were not distinguishable from one another on previous maps. Some of these caves are within the Cavernas do Perua\u00e7u National Park.<\/p>\n

Afinal unit is isolated in the north, near the coast. Dubbed the Caatinga Coastline, it is home to plant species typical of the biome, as well as to the Cerrado and the Amazon, owing to higher levels of rainfall on the coast than further inland.<\/p>\n

Moro and his team are mapping the enclaves of rainforests in highlands in the middle of the Caatinga, known as high-altitude swamps, where there are plant and animal species that are also found in the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest, as well as others that are endemic. Their plan is to finish the mapping process next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout knowing the conditions under which a species occurs in a given location, it is not possible to recover a degraded area, because the first question is ‘which species do we need to plant?\u2019\u201d explains UNICAMP biologist Fernando Martins, who did not participate in the research but has been studying the Caatinga for 30 years and was Moro’s doctoral and postdoctoral advisor.<\/p>\n

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Domingos Cardoso <\/span>Cacti and other plants in Irec\u00ea, BahiaDomingos Cardoso <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cFurthermore,\u201d he continues, \u201cthere are species able to live together and others that cannot due to competition. Species living in similar habitats can live together since competitive exclusion has already occurred. By associating species with regions of similar environments, a lot of essential information is obtained both in the theory of biology and in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martins was pleased to see that the shapefiles (layers) of the map, which each identify the different types of environment within the Caatinga, were published digitally via open access, allowing any researcher to associate the data they collect with distinct areas. \u201cThis is very important to improve our understanding not only of how it was possible for such a diverse and regionalized biota to evolve in such a harsh environment but also of how to conserve this biodiversity and establish new conservation units capable of protecting the biota from climate change,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The biologist Marcela Cruz Moreira, advised by Martins during her master’s degree, compared species of angiosperms (flowering plants) from crystalline and sedimentary terrain in the Caatinga. The initial hypothesis was that sedimentary terrains, where the soil is deeper and better able to retain water, would house very different species. However, that was not the case. \u201cCrystalline terrains, which we thought would be more selective, support a wider range of species than sedimentary ones, which might suggest the existence of highly complex evolutionary processes,\u201d says Martins.<\/p>\n

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Marcelo Moro<\/span>Forests growing on the hillside and surrounding the inselbergs of Quixad\u00e1, Cear\u00e1Marcelo Moro<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Marcelo Tabarelli, an ecologist from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), says, \u201cThe new study offers a more accurate view of the Caatinga, until now considered a single entity, although we who visit it know that it is not. This type of division, on the basis of the physical characteristics of the environment, should work well for plants, but I do not know if it will also apply to other taxonomic groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brazilian geographer Jos\u00e9 Maria Cardoso da Silva, from the University of Miami, noted, \u201cThe big question today is how much of the Caatinga\u2019s patterns of endemism are the result of human pressure in the region.\u201d Abandoned or current agricultural and pasture areas cover 89% of the biome\u2014a stark contrast to what it must have been like thousands of years ago, with the same climate and soil conditions but before human occupation, according to studies led by biologist Helder Araujo of the Federal University of Para\u00edba (UFPB), published in Scientific Reports<\/em> in October 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeforestation has been widespread since the sixteenth century, especially in the east, in the North and South Depressions, and in the Borborema District,\u201d says Araujo. \u201cA lot of riparian forest has also been lost, and it is now rare alongside rivers like the S\u00e3o Francisco.\u201d The main conservation units in the region are located in sandy caatinga, such as the Serra da Capivara National Park, the Raso da Catarina Ecological Station, and the Araripe-Apodi National Forest, which offer examples of some of the original environments of the Caatinga.<\/p>\n

Published in October 2024<\/p>\n

Projects
\n1.<\/strong> Analysis of the phylogenetic structure of plant communities in the Caatinga phytogeographic domain (n\u00b0 13\/15280-9<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Postdoctoral Fellowship; Supervisor <\/strong>Fernando Roberto Martins (UNICAMP); Beneficiary<\/strong> Marcelo Freire Moro; Investment<\/strong> R$241,517.63.
\n2.<\/strong> Phytogeographic meta-analysis of the Caatinga biome (n\u00ba 09\/14266-7<\/a>); Grant Mechanism<\/strong> Doctoral Fellowship; Supervisor <\/strong>Fernando Roberto Martins (UNICAMP); Beneficiary<\/strong> Marcelo Freire Moro; Investment<\/strong> R$159,684.61.<\/p>\n

Scientific articles
\n<\/strong>EBACH, M. C. et al<\/em>. International code of area nomenclature<\/a>. Journal of Biogeography<\/strong>. Vol. 35, no. 7. pp. 1153\u20137. July 14, 2008.
\nMORO, M. F. et al<\/em>. Biogeographical districts of the Caatinga dominion: A proposal based on geomorphology and endemism<\/a>. The Botanical Review. <\/strong>In press.<\/p>\n

Book
\n<\/strong>VELLOSO, A. L. et al. <\/em>Ecorregi\u00f5es propostas para o bioma Caatinga<\/strong><\/a>. Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Plantas do Nordeste. The Nature Conservancy do Brasil. 2002.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The diversity of landscapes underpins the proposed new classification of semiarid environments","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":554445,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5968],"class_list":["post-554424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554424"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":554718,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554424\/revisions\/554718"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554424"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=554424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}