A dry tropical scrubland ecosystem found in northeastern Brazil, characterized by thorny bushes, sparse trees, and seasonal rainfall.
From Tupi language meaning 'white forest' or 'dry forest'; the term was adopted by Portuguese colonizers and remains the standard scientific name for this unique biome.
The caatinga is one of Earth's most threatened ecosystems and home to plants found nowhere else—it's like a lost world hidden in plain sight in Brazil, and it's actually as biodiverse as a rainforest compressed into a drier space.
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