Hotspot Atlantic Forest

Description

The Atlantic Forest in Brazil combines high levels of endemism, fragmentation and continuing deforestation. This has earned it a rank among the five “hottest hotspots” on earth. Only 12% of the original Atlantic Forest are estimated to remain and only 9% of the remaining forest are protected. Recent collecting trips along a transect of more than 2000 km along the Brazilian coast have revealed an extraodrinary diversity of pholcid spider species, much higher than in the Amazon Forest. This project aims at documenting this diversity, at exploring its relationships with the faunas of other South American regions, and compare diversity and distribution patterns with those in the Brazilian Amazon.

Location