Atlantic Forest News

South America’s Atlantic Forest was once home to an “exuberant … megadiverse” swath of animal and plant life, according to ecologist Juliano Bogoni. But in a paper published in the…

A team of researchers has pinpointed new areas for conservation in the rainforests of the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest by looking back in time to find the spots that…

A new study finds that putting a price on carbon could drastically reduce the amount of deforestation in the tropics by 2050: $20 per metric ton (about $18/short ton) could…

GUAPIRUVU, Brazil – To reach Guapiruvu one has to drive 20 kilometers (12 miles) on a gravel road. The first houses are big, solid, holiday homes for the wealthy people…

Large forest carnivores rely on expanses of natural vegetation and enough prey to survive. Misiones province of northeastern Argentina has some of the larger remaining tracts of Atlantic Forest, but…

SAO PAULO, Brazil - On May 29 the NGO SOS Mata Atlântica and the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais released their annual report on the Atlantic Forest with some worrying…

CORREGO GRANDE, Brazil - The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is the most threatened biome in Brazil and has been subjected to the harsh consequences of human development. But despite having lost…

Forest conversion for agriculture in Colombia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Over 62 million hectares (240,000 square miles) of forest across Latin America — an area roughly the size of…

The cryptic treehunter lives the in highly threatened Atlantic forest, but researchers hold out hope that more might be found. The cryptic treehunter (Cichlocolaptes mazarbarnetti). Photoart by Rolf Grantsau. In…

Researchers devise new method to track soy consumption Rainforest fragments in a sea of soyfields in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. Sitting down at my favorite restaurant…

One of the female reintroduced agoutis with a radio collar. Photo by: Rui Salaverry. When one thinks of Rio de Janeiro, one usually doesn't think: rainforest. However, in the heart…

The Bahian mouse-colored tapaculo has only just been discovered by scientists in the heavily logged Atlantic Forest of southeast Brazil -- and it’s already believed to be endangered. Given the…

Scientists have long known that forest fragments are not the same ecologically as intact forest landscapes. When forests are slashed into fragments, winds dry out the edges leading to dying…

Brazil can protect and restore Mata Atlântica for 6.5 percent of what it spends on agricultural subsidies Want to save the world's most imperiled biodiversity hotspot? You just need a…

Green under siege: world's biodiversity hotspots 85 percent impacted With only 3.5 percent intact vegetation left in the Atlantic Forest, it is the world's most imperiled biodiversity hotspot. This is…

The brown howler monkey (Alouatta guariba clamitans) is listed as Critically Endangered in Argentina, where a small number persist in the northeastern portion of the country. Although habitat loss and…

In November this year, the world was greeted by the dismaying news that deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon jumped 28% in the past year. The year 2013 also holds the…

The thin-spined porcupine, also known as the bristle-spined rat, is a truly distinct animal: a sort of cross between New World porcupines and spiny rats with genetic research showing it…

As a family, cats are some of the most well-studied animals on Earth, but that doesn't mean these adept carnivores don't continue to surprise us. Scientists have announced today the…

The world's species are in worse trouble than widely-assumed, according to a new paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), which reevaluates how scientists estimate extinction…

Landlocked in the navel of South America, the forests, wetlands and savannahs of Paraguay boast rich biodiversity and endemic species, yet the unique landscapes of Paraguay also face increasing threats,…

The Brazilian government offers tax relief to landowners who set aside areas for preservation. While this has expanded the system of private ecological reserves considerably, the Brazilian government currently lacks…

The extinction of large, fruit-eating birds in fragments of Brazil's Atlantic rainforest has caused palm trees to produce smaller seeds over the past century, impacting forest ecology, finds a study…

A new species of forcepfly named Austromerope brasiliensis, was recently discovered in Brazil and described in the open access journal Zoo Keys. This is the first discovery of forcepfly in…

Scientists in Brazil have described a new species of tree-dwelling porcupine in the country's most endangered ecosystems. The description is published in last week's issue of Zootaxa. A team of…

A nest belonging to one of the world's rarest birds has been discovered by researchers for the first time in Brazil, reports the American Bird Conservancy. On October 30, 2012,…

The intensity of land-use influences the speed of regeneration in tropical rainforests, says new research. Tropical rainforests are a priority for biodiversity conservation; they are hotspots of endemism but also…

Apparent recovery of endangered muriqui monkeys in Brazil may not tell the whole story On paper, the northern muriquis (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) look like a conservation comeback story. Three decades ago,…

Male specimen of new species: Iridopelma oliveirai. Photo courtesy of R. Bertani. If you suffer from acute arachnophobia, this is the perfect Halloween discovery for you: a spider expert has…

New research shows that the lowland tapir is nearly extinct in the Atlantic Forest. Photo by: Jeremy Hance. When the Portuguese first arrived on the shores of what is now…