Rio Pimiento, Bolivia Photograph by Steffen Reichle/WWF-Bolivia   Central South America: Southwestern Brazil, into Bolivia and Paraguay Flooded Grasslands and Savannas   66,100 square miles (171,100 square kilometers) -- about the size of Washington Critical/Endangered

· A Flooded Grassland Filled with Life
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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A Flooded Grassland Filled with Life

If you want to see the largest wetland in the Neotropics, the place to go is South America's Pantanal. Located in the heart of South America, near the borders of Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay, the Pantanal ecoregion contains rivers, lakes, oxbows, ponds, grasslands, and forests--all of which experience regular flooding. Living within this watery habitat is an incredible diversity of creatures, from jaguars to giant otters to anacondas to waterfowl.

Special Features

Located roughly in the center of South America, most of the Pantanal lies in the floodplain of the Rio Paraguay and its tributaries. The terrain here is flat, with gently sloping and meandering rivers that flood during the annual wet season, submerging over 80 percent of the area. The lowest areas are permanent and semi-permanent lakes and ponds, some of them covered with the most diverse floating aquatic plant community in the world. Seasonally flooded grasslands surround these areas. The highest elevations contain woodland savannas with scattered shrubs and savanna forest with almost complete tree cover. These upper-elevation areas face few floods but can be exposed to fires.

	The capybara, which can weigh more than 154 pounds (70 kg), is the world's largest rodent. Its name means "master of the grasses" in the language of the Paraguayan Guarani Indians.

Wild Side

The Pantanal comprises a mosaic of flooded grasslands and savannas, gallery forests, and dry forests. This ecoregion is home to more than 400 plant, 500 butterfly, 400 fish, 30 frog, 80 reptile, 650 bird, and 75 mammal species. Bright blue hyacinth macaws perch in the scattered trees. Enormous aggregations of roseate spoonbills and wood storks breed and reproduce in the wetland regions. At least 86 bird species, including some from the Arctic and Patagonia, migrate to the area during some parts of the year. Giant otters swim in the rivers, jaguars hunt capybaras and other medium-sized mammals, howler monkeys call from the treetops, and caimans and piranhas navigate the rivers. This ecoregion is also home to the blue and gold macaw, which roosts in the hollows of large trees.

Cause for Concern

The Pantanal is currently in relatively good condition, but several threats exist or loom on the horizon. Pesticide runoff from agricultural lands threatens the watershed. Gold mining has polluted parts of the region with mercury. And legal and illegal hunting has reduced some wildlife populations, including caimans and jaguars. Probably the biggest future threat to the Pantanal is a massive modification of the Rio Paraguay and Paraná rivers, which is being planned to speed shipping and generate electricity. A major gas pipeline from Bolivia also threatens to disturb the most intact region in the northwest by disrupting water flow and causing an increase in pollution and hunting.

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