Near Canyo Colorado, Venezuela Photograph by J. van der Woude   Northern South America: Northeastern Venezuela and northwestern Guyana Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   10,800 square miles (28,100 square kilometers) -- about the size of Maryland Relatively Stable/Intact

· High Water Marks
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
More Photos

High Water Marks

When this ecoregion is not flooded, it is an amazing and complex landscape of moist forests and wetlands, with patches of mangroves and llanos (tropical grasslands), all hosting an abundance of bird species. The lower delta plain of the Orinoco River is considered one of the largest intact wetland areas left on Earth. When the river rises, however, life within these forests changes. Agoutis and pacas, rodents that comb the forest floor for seeds, are replaced by crocodiles and otters, which are right at home as the water level rises over most of the exposed land.

Special Features

These swamp forests share plant and animal species from both the Orinoco and Amazon River Basins. These swamp forests are heavily influenced by the flooding of the Orinoco River, and at high water, virtually all of this area is underwater. During floods, species that can climb take to the trees, and those that can’t move to higher ground in the moist forests that surround these swamp forests. During the dry season, the large buttressed tree trunks emerge from black, tannin-stained pools of water and mud. The understory is sparse in lower areas, which remain inundated most of the year, and palms are very abundant in some areas.

	The species that don’t escape the annual floods in this ecoregion may get washed up on the island of Trinidad, which explains why this Caribbean island has so many Amazonian species.

Wild Side

Capybaras and river otters are just two mammals that make homes here year round. Red-brocket deer roam the forest, always alert for jaguars, while tamanduas (lesser anteaters) search the ground for insects. Bulldog bats and vulnerable fishing bats swoop down to catch fish from the river. Weeping capuchin monkeys join Guianan saki monkeys and howler monkeys in the trees, while crab-eating foxes and bush dogs roam the understory. South American coatis, kinkajous, and crab-eating raccoons can also be seen wandering these forests. Birds that frequent the wetlands include scarlet ibises, white-faced tree ducks, black-bellied tree ducks, Orinoco geese, crested bobwhites, jabiru storks, American flamingoes, roseate spoonbills, great egrets, horned screamers, and black-crowned night herons. Anhingas, cormorants, grebes, vultures, and hawk-eagles are common here as well. Endangered Orinoco crocodiles can still be found in small numbers lurking in waters where piranhas and pacu, a vegetarian piranha, swim.

Cause for Concern

The main threats to this ecoregion include timber extraction, impacts from the construction of Volcán Dam, agriculture, and the associated construction of drainage canals in the upper delta plain.

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