Peru Photograph by Robin Abell   Northern South America: northwestern Brazil, southern Colombia, and northern Peru Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   64,700 square miles (167,700 square kilometers) -- about the size of Washington Relatively Stable/Intact

· On Plateaus and Plains
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
More Photos

On Plateaus and Plains

A complex cross-section of plant and animal life lives in this hot and humid ecoregion. In fact, the diverse landscape--including floodplains, rolling hills, steep banks, and flat plateaus--combines with high rainfall and different soil types to make these forests among the most species-rich in the world.

Special Features

The Solimões-Japurá Moist Forests ecoregion lies on the alluvial plains of western Amazonia, extending from southern Colombia and northern Peru into western Brazil. The western boundary stops short of the foothills of the Andes, while the eastern boundary is delineated by the flooded váresa forests at the convergence of the Japurà and Solimões rivers. With annual precipitation often exceeding 120 inches (3,000 mm), plants found in these rain forests are typical of the Amazon, and habitats include well-drained upland forests, swamp forests, well-drained floodplain forests, and poorly drained floodplain forests, each having slightly different characteristics. Also within this region are high sandstone plateaus and areas where the soil is made up entirely of white sand. Called Campinaranas, each of these spots contains its own unique plants and animals.

	The giant river turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in the world. Its shell can measure almost 3 feet (1 m) long.

Wild Side

A giant river turtle moves into the water as a stalking jaguar approaches. An endemic and almost exclusively terrestrial bird, the ochre-striped antpitta, bounds and hops across the forest floor in hot pursuit of a large katydid. The green and white coils of an emerald tree boa glisten in the rain as it squeezes an unfortunate victim. Below, a regionally endemic Buckley’s forest falcon holds a venomous lancehead snake at a safe distance as it wrestles to get a better grip on the flailing serpent. High in the canopy, a pavonine quetzal delicately plucks a small fruit and flies to its nest cavity. In the hollow of another tree, yellow-eared bats fan themselves to keep cool. A small troop of Goeldi’s marmosets marches along tree limbs to move across the forest.

Cause for Concern

Much of the native habitat in this ecoregion remains intact, but recent expansion of cocoa production, logging and mining operations, and cattle ranching have resulted in large deforested areas. Colonization along the rivers is also taking a toll and often results in overhunting and collection of many forest species. Timber species, such as mahogany, have become commercially extinct, and tropical cedar is threatened with local extinction as well.

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