Rio Frio Valley, Venezuela Photograph by J. van der Woude   Northern South America: Northern Venezuela Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   3,100 square miles (8,100 square kilometers) -- slightly larger than the combined area of Delaware and Rhode Island Critical/Endangered

· Islands in a Sea of Dry Forest
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Islands in a Sea of Dry Forest

The Catatumbo Moist Forests ecoregion reaches across the southern Maracaibo Basin in the northern Andean foothills, representing some of the northernmost Andean moist forests. Two mountaintop patches of this moist forest ecoregion also rise like islands above the surrounding dry forest, one to the east of Lake Maracaibo and another along the lake’s southern rim. These moist forests meet dry forests at lower elevations to the north and blend into montane forests at higher elevations to the south and west.

Special Features

These moist forests line the inner valley walls of the northern Andes where the mountain range forms a Y around Lake Maracaibo. Within this patch of forest, many endemic species thrive. Plants, in particular, find themselves in an oasis in the otherwise dry region. Populations of typically Amazonian species find a home here, far from the Amazon Basin. Other species thrive in this area because it provides an ecotone, or transition zone, between dry lowland forests and moist montane forests.

	When the lemurine night-monkey senses danger it makes a high-pitched shriek as an alarm signal to warn the rest of its family group.

Wild Side

Red howler monkeys swing among the thorny vines that weave through the canopy of this lush, diverse forest, calling to each other in shrieks and howls as they move. Palms and fig trees cast shadows in the golden sunlight filtering through the canopy of the forest. A lemurine night-monkey turns his small, rounded head toward the sound of the howler monkeys’ calls, raising thick white eyebrows. It makes soft, low-pitched grunts and clicks to the other members of its family group, and one responds with a louder, owl-like hoot. The group will set out to feed when dusk fills the forest, foraging for fruit, flower nectar, leaves, insects, and even small birds and mammals. They will be joined by other night feeders--the many species of bats that live here, including funnel-eared, wrinkle-faced, and white bats. On the ground, a common tapir sniffs through leaves on the forest floor with its long, prehensile snout. A margay, an endangered spotted cat, rests on a tree branch watching as a green-tailed emerald hummingbird seems to hang suspended in a ray of sunlight, its iridescent wings glistening.

Cause for Concern

Cattle ranches leave bald patches in the forest cover, and the draining and channelization of wetlands robs the region of essential water. Periodic oil spills from corroded pipelines and from refineries destroy the forest as they seep through this fragile habitat.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.