Caatinga

Caatinga means white vegetation is one type of vegetation and eco-region found in northeast part of Brazil and covers an area of about 1,000,000 km² that is about ten percent of the territory of Brazil. The white vegetation of Caatinga comprises of those xeric scrubland and thorny forest where only small thorny trees like Cacti and thick-stemmed plants and brush are grown with grasses that can live in arid vegetation.

Thus Caatinga vegetation that incorporates humid tropical forest are spread over Brazilian states namely of Rio Grande do Norte, Rio de Janeiro, Alagoas, Pernambuco,Paraíba, Piauí, Minas Gerais Bahia, Ceará, and Sergipe. On its northwestern side, the Caatinga is enclosed by the Maranhão Babaçu forests whereas the Atlantic dry forests are bordered on its western part and the Cerrado savannas lies in its southwestern part.

The dry place of Caatinga experience water scarcity and it is a difficult harvesting zone with irregular rainfall. Thesoils are rocky and lacks water storage capacity but have adequate minerals and are fertile. In its short rainy season, the area around Caatinga is suddenly altered into a blossoming garden.

Vegetation of Caatinga can be named as deciduous steppe savannah that is of course seasonal. Its flora consists of mainly open trees of about 8 to 12 meters height; spiny bushes namely cactuses that grow to more than 5 m height and grasses which are usually 2 m and even less. Flora

Biodiversity of Caatinga is quite amazing. It shelters more than 1,200 vascular plants species, 80 mammals’ species, 100 species of reptiles, more than 18 species of fishes and about 350 or more bird species. Most of the animals found in this region are nocturnal animals. The Caatinga region is best for eco travel or adventure tours and visitors are recommended to pay a visit to the conservation units of the region like the Chapada Diamantina or Serra da Capivara National Park which was declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site in the year 1991.