You camp on a grassland clearing in the South, climb a plateau of twisted trees in the Center-West and walk through a gray thorn-filled scrub in the Sertão. Three places, three landscapes that are never confused. The name for this is biome: a large set of life — vegetation, animals, climate and soil — that repeats and can be recognized.
Brazil has six continental biomes, and knowing them is half the battle in almost any nature activity in the club: identifying a bird, understanding why that plant stores water, knowing what you can and cannot do on a trail. This is a field guide — made to study before the outing and to consult after it.
All the area and percentage figures here come from the official IBGE biome map. Data verified on 07/23/2026 in the sources listed at the end.
What is a biome and why does Brazil have six?
A biome is not just "the scrub of a region." It is a large, coherent set of life — plants, animals, climate and soil — that appears together and repeats over an enormous area. Where the climate and the soil change, the vegetation changes; where the vegetation changes, the wildlife changes. That is why the dry Sertão does not have the same animals as the soaked forest, and neither of the two looks like the frozen grassland of the South.
The IBGE — the official institute that maps the territory — recognizes six continental biomes in Brazil. Keep the names and the share each one occupies, because that is the backbone of the rest of the article:
| Biome | % of the territory | Approximate area | Trademark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | 49.5% | about 4.2 million km² | Largest tropical forest on the planet |
| Cerrado | 23.3% | about 2 million km² | Brazilian savanna, "cradle of the waters" |
| Atlantic Forest | 13% | about 1.1 million km² | Hotspot; where most Brazilians live |
| Caatinga | 10.1% | about 850 thousand km² | Only exclusively Brazilian biome |
| Pampa | 2.3% | about 194 thousand km² | Grasslands of the far South |
| Pantanal | 1.8% | about 150 thousand km² | Largest wetland in the world |
Two quick readings of that table. First: the Amazon alone is nearly half of Brazil, and the three largest (Amazon, Cerrado and Atlantic Forest) add up to more than 85% of the country. Second: size does not measure importance — the Pantanal is the smallest on the list and is the largest wetland on the planet.
A single state can have more than one biome. Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Bahia and Minas Gerais have three each — that is why, at a camp on the border between regions, you may cross from one biome to another in the same weekend. Knowing how to read the landscape is what tells you the change happened.
Amazon: the largest forest in the world
It is the giant: 49.5% of the Brazilian territory, about 4.2 million km², spread across the North region and reaching into Mato Grosso and Maranhão. The Amazon holds two world records at the same time — the largest tropical forest and the largest river basin on the planet.
How you recognize it: closed, tall and evergreen forest, with broad-crowned trees forming a roof (the canopy) that barely lets the sun reach the ground. Humidity all the time, heat all year, wide rivers everywhere. Life is distributed in layers, from the ground to the treetops — and much of the wildlife lives up there, where you hardly see it.
Fauna and flora: it is the greatest biodiversity in the world, with a number of species of plants, fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals that no one has finished counting. River dolphins, manatees, giant otters, macaws, monkeys, the giant water lily in the lakes. Many species occur only there and nowhere else.
Conservation: the biggest challenges are deforestation and fires, which open the forest for pasture and crops. The Amazon Forest is one of the environments protected as "national heritage" by the Brazilian Constitution — which does not make it untouchable, but obliges the country to use it within the law and to preserve it.
Cerrado: the Brazilian savanna and the cradle of the waters
Second largest biome, with 23.3% of the country (about 2 million km²), occupying the heart of Brazil — Goiás, Tocantins, the Federal District, much of Minas, of Bahia and of Mato Grosso. It is the Brazilian savanna, and it is the only savanna in the world considered a biodiversity hotspot.
How you recognize it: it is neither forest nor pure grassland — it is the middle ground. Low, twisted trees, with thick bark and cork, very spaced out, with a carpet of grass between them. At the end of the dry season it looks dead and burned; with the first rains, it flowers entirely. Those trees have very deep roots, which seek water far below — that is why they resist fire and drought.
Fauna and flora: surveys point to more than 12 thousand plant species in the Cerrado, with about 4 thousand that exist only there. The fauna brings the maned wolf, the giant anteater, the giant armadillo, the rhea and hundreds of bird species. It is also called the "cradle of the waters": many headwaters of great Brazilian rivers spring up in the Cerrado.
Conservation: it is one of the biomes that loses the most vegetation to large-scale agriculture. Unlike the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest, the Cerrado is not on the Constitution's list of national heritage — one of the reasons why organizations demand more protection for it.
Atlantic Forest: rich, threatened and full of people
It occupies 13% of the territory (about 1.1 million km²), in a strip that follows almost the entire coast, from the Northeast to the South, and advances inland in the Southeast and in the South. It is the biome where Brazil's largest cities were born — and where most of the country's population lives.
How you recognize it: dense and humid forest on mountain slopes, with many ferns, bromeliads and orchids clinging to the trunks. Where it is still preserved, it is green and closed like the Amazon; but, in most places, you find it in fragments — patches of forest surrounded by city, road and crops.
Fauna and flora: it is one of the richest places in species on the planet — estimates speak of more than 20 thousand plant species, many exclusive to the biome. Lion tamarins, howler monkeys, toucans, the sloth, the muriqui. Much of these species is threatened precisely by the lack of forest.
Conservation: it is the most devastated Brazilian biome. Only a small fraction of the original forest is left — today it is reduced to far less than its extent before colonization. It is also national heritage by the Constitution, and it is the setting for many restoration and replanting projects.
Read alsoBirds Honor: a guide to observing and identifying birds in your clubCaatinga: the biome that exists only in Brazil
It occupies 10.1% of the territory (about 850 thousand km²), in the interior of the Northeast and in a tip of northern Minas. It has a hallmark that no other has: the Caatinga is the only exclusively Brazilian biome — it does not exist in any other country in the world. Its National Day is April 28.
How you recognize it: low, twisted vegetation, with small leaves and many thorns, over a pale, stony ground. At the peak of the drought, everything looks white and lifeless — the name "caatinga" comes from Tupi and means, roughly, "white forest." Then the first rain falls and, in a few days, the gray turns green. Cacti and mandacarus everywhere, storing water in their bodies.
Fauna and flora: it is far richer than the reputation of "dry place" suggests. There are thousands of catalogued plant species, much of them endemic, and hundreds of animals exclusive to the biome. The white-winged dove, the armadillo, the cavy, lizards and the rock cavy are part of the landscape. Life here is a specialist in surviving the drought.
Conservation: it suffers from deforestation for firewood and charcoal and from desertification — the process in which the land loses the ability to sustain vegetation. Because it is ours alone, caring for the Caatinga is a responsibility that cannot be shared with anyone.
Pantanal: the largest wetland on the planet
The smallest of the six in area — 1.8% of the country, about 150 thousand km² in Brazilian territory, between Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, advancing into Bolivia and Paraguay. Small on the map, giant in fame: it is the largest wetland in the world.
How you recognize it: a flat immensity that breathes to the rhythm of the waters. In the flood, much of it becomes a mirror of water dotted with islands of scrub; in the dry season, the water recedes and leaves grasslands, lagoons and bays. That back-and-forth — the "flood pulse" — is the engine of life there. It is not closed forest: it is an open mosaic of grassland, forest and water.
Fauna and flora: it is the best place in the world to see a jaguar in the wild. Add to that caimans, capybaras, marsh deer, giant otters, the jabiru (the symbol bird) and a cloud of aquatic birds. The concentration of large, visible animals is what makes the Pantanal unique for those who like to observe fauna.
Conservation: the biggest threats are fires in years of extreme drought, the silting of the rivers and changes in the water regime. The Pantanal is national heritage by the Constitution — and it depends directly on what happens upstream, in the Cerrado that feeds it water.
Pampa: the grasslands of the far South
The southernmost biome and one of the smallest: 2.3% of the territory, about 194 thousand km², restricted to Rio Grande do Sul, where it covers much of the state. It is the only biome that does not cross the borders of a single Brazilian state.
How you recognize it: open grassland as far as the eye can see, dominated by grasses, weeds and low-growing plants, with few trees and some shrubs. It is the landscape of the gaucho pampas, of cattle and of grazing. The climate is the coldest in Brazil — in winter there can be frost, and sometimes the temperature drops below zero.
Fauna and flora: the richness is on the ground. There are hundreds of species of grasses and herbs, a true living carpet that sustains cattle raising and shelters grassland birds, the pampas deer, the tuco-tuco and the skunk. It is a discreet biodiversity, that goes unnoticed by those who only look for a big tree.
Conservation: the natural grassland is being replaced by crops and by tree plantations. Because many people confuse "grassland" with "empty area," the Pampa is often underestimated — and protecting a native grassland is as important as protecting a forest.
How to use this in the field (without turning it into a school test)
A good field guide is the one you consult with your foot on the trail. Three simple habits turn the content of this article into a real skill:
1. Read the landscape before the map. Arrived at a new place? Look at the vegetation first. Tall, closed tree, a lot of humidity? Forest. Low, twisted tree with grass in the middle? Cerrado. Thorns, cacti and pale ground? Caatinga. Flat grassland to the horizon? Pampa. Water everywhere on a plain? Pantanal. You get the biome right most of the time with your eyes alone — and the map becomes confirmation, not a crutch.
2. Note three things on each outing: a plant, an animal and a sound. A little field notebook with date, place and a rough drawing is worth more than a hundred photos you never open again. Over time, that notebook becomes your own guide — and plenty of material for nature activities in the club.
3. Leave the place as it was. Observing is not collecting. Do not pull out plants, do not disturb nests, do not take "souvenirs" from the trail. In no biome does the rule change: the good naturalist is recognized by what they learn, not by what they carry back.
This content is the study foundation of several fauna and flora honors and of the activities of the Classes tied to nature. Here you have the reference of the biomes to observe and understand; the requirements, the steps and the badges of each honor are in the honors and nature area of the portal. Study the biome first — the rest fits much more easily afterward.