Mata Atlântica

Brazil Travel / Mata Atlântica – The location of the lowland altitudinal zone in the tropical seasonal rainforest ecosystems depends on latitude. In the Atlantic Rainforest South-East Reserves ( > 24° ) it is located between 5 and 30 m above sea level. The vegetation of this zone is called lowland rainforest (floresta pluvial de terras baixas / de planície).

It is restricted to the coastal plains dating back to the quaternary period. Most of them are formed by sediments of marine and fluvial-marine origins, having as their more noteworthy features the occurrence on flat terrains with somewhat poorly developed soils, quite susceptible to inundations consequent upon the rising of the ground water during the rainier seasons.

It is often associated to pioneer formation ecosystems such as restinga, mangrove or caxetal. The lowland rainforest is about 25 m tall with a shrubby substratum usually formed by three more more sharply defined strata: an arboreal one, with specimens that rarely grow higher than 10 - 12 m, a brushy one with up to 5 m and a herbaceous one with specimens that grow rarely above 2,5 m besides many epiphytous species and woody creeping plants (lianes). Characteristic species of this altitudinal zone divided by layers (stratums) are:

Upper arboreal stratum (canopy):
guanandi (Callophyllum brasilense), figueira-miúda (Ficus Organensis), canela (Ocotea pulchella, Ocotea tristis, Nectandra oppositifolia), baga-de-macaco (Pouteria beaurepairei), guamirins and cambuis (myrtaceae)

Lower arboreal stratum: ( < 10 m)
palmito-juçara (euterpe edulis), guapurunga (Malierea tomentosa), guamirim-de-folha-pontuda (Marlierea reitzii), guamirim-vermelho (Myrcia racemosa).

Brushy stratum: ( < 5m )
guaricanas (Geonoma spp.), pastos de anta e grandiúvas (Psychotria spp., Coccocypselum spp., Cephaelis spp.) caetês (Heliconia velloziana, Calathea spp., Ctenanthe spp.), Poaceae (Ichmanthus spp., Panicum spp.), Bromeliaceae (Nidularium innonanthus spp., Panicum spp.).

Inferior stratum - herbaceous: ( 2,5 m )
rubiaceae, caetê (helicônia), poaceae, bromeliaceae.