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Amazon biome
The Amazon biome (Portuguese: Bioma Amazônia) contains the Amazon rainforest, an area of tropical rainforest, and other ecoregions that cover most of the Amazon basin and some adjacent areas to the north and east. The biome contains blackwater and whitewater flooded forest, lowland and montane terra firma forest, bamboo and palm forest, savanna, sandy heath and alpine tundra. Some areas of the biome are threatened by deforestation for timber and to make way for pasture or soybean plantations.
The Amazon biome has an area of 6,700,000 square kilometres (2,600,000 sq mi). The biome roughly corresponds to the Amazon basin, but excludes areas of the Andes to the west and cerrado (savannah) to the south, and includes lands to the northeast extending to the Atlantic ocean with similar vegetation to the Amazon basin. J. J. Morrone (2006) defines the Amazonian subregion in this broader sense, divided into the biogeographical provinces of Guyana, Humid Guyana, Napo, Imeri, Roraima, Amapá, Várzea, Ucayali, Madeira, Tapajós-Xingu, Pará, Yungas and Pantanal. The World Wildlife Fund takes a similar scope, where the Amazon biome includes the Guiana Shield rain forests in the north and the Chiquitano dry forests of Bolivia.
The biome covers parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. In Brazil the biome covers more than 4,100,000 square kilometres (1,600,000 sq mi) and covers all or parts of the states of Acre, Amazonas, Roraima, Rondônia, Pará, Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins and Mato Grosso. The Amazon biome covers 49.29% of Brazil. 16% of the biome is in Peru. As of 2015 about 23.4% of Peru's Amazon biome was protected, but of this less than half was fully protected.
Much of the terrain of the Amazon biome, particularly around the rivers, is lowland plains. The Guiana Shield is an area of highlands along the border between Brazil and Venezuela and Guyana. The southern Amazonian highlands cross parts of Rondonia and Mato Grosso and the southern parts of Amazonas and Para.
The Amazon basin is crossed by ridges or "paleoarches" that connect the Guiana and Central Brazil shields and divide it into geological sub-basins. They are the Iquitos or Jutai Arch in Peru and Acre, the Carauari Arch across the Rio Negro and Solimões, the Purus Arch to the west of Manaus, the Monte Alegre Arch to the west of the Tapajós and the Gurupa Arch to the west of Marajó. Under the Paleoarch model, paleobasins between the arches form centers for biological diversification. Thus the Iquitos arch is considered the main reason for the different species of frogs and rodents and different forest types on either side of the ridge.
The soil is generally very poor in nutrients, and areas that have been deforested are often unsuitable for agriculture or pasture. A large part of the phosphorus necessary for life is blown by the wind from Africa; as diatomeous dust from the Bodélé Depression and as smoke due to biomass burning in Africa. There are wide regional variations in soil types. Thus 20% of the Rio Negro basin is covered by podzols and 55% by acrisols and ferralsols, with the remainder covered by alluvial and litholic soils and scattered areas of hydromorphic plinthosols. In the biome as a whole podzols cover just 136,000 square kilometres (53,000 sq mi), or 2.7% of the area.
In Brazil the average temperature of the biome is 22 to 26 °C (72 to 79 °F) and average rainfall is 2,300 millimetres (91 in), but there are wide variations from one region to another. The biome as a whole has annual rainfall from 1,500 to 3,000 millimetres (59 to 118 in), about half of which is carried by winds from the Atlantic, and the other half from evapotranspiration within the biome. There are wide variations in total rainfall and distribution of rainfall throughout the year.
The Amazon watershed covers about 5,846,100 square kilometres (2,257,200 sq mi). The Amazon River accounts for 15–16% of the total water discharged by rivers into the oceans of the world. Rivers may be blackwater, whitewater or clearwater. Thus the Rio Negro ("Black River") has clear, jet-black water caused by decomposition of organic matter in swamps along its margins, combined with low levels of silt. The Rio Branco ("White River") and the Amazon itself have yellowish waters loaded with silt. The Tahuayo River in the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area of Peru is classed as a blackwater river, but often has similar chemistry to the whitewater rivers of the region since it is in the Amazon River floodplain, and receives water from the Amazon.
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Amazon biome
The Amazon biome (Portuguese: Bioma Amazônia) contains the Amazon rainforest, an area of tropical rainforest, and other ecoregions that cover most of the Amazon basin and some adjacent areas to the north and east. The biome contains blackwater and whitewater flooded forest, lowland and montane terra firma forest, bamboo and palm forest, savanna, sandy heath and alpine tundra. Some areas of the biome are threatened by deforestation for timber and to make way for pasture or soybean plantations.
The Amazon biome has an area of 6,700,000 square kilometres (2,600,000 sq mi). The biome roughly corresponds to the Amazon basin, but excludes areas of the Andes to the west and cerrado (savannah) to the south, and includes lands to the northeast extending to the Atlantic ocean with similar vegetation to the Amazon basin. J. J. Morrone (2006) defines the Amazonian subregion in this broader sense, divided into the biogeographical provinces of Guyana, Humid Guyana, Napo, Imeri, Roraima, Amapá, Várzea, Ucayali, Madeira, Tapajós-Xingu, Pará, Yungas and Pantanal. The World Wildlife Fund takes a similar scope, where the Amazon biome includes the Guiana Shield rain forests in the north and the Chiquitano dry forests of Bolivia.
The biome covers parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. In Brazil the biome covers more than 4,100,000 square kilometres (1,600,000 sq mi) and covers all or parts of the states of Acre, Amazonas, Roraima, Rondônia, Pará, Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins and Mato Grosso. The Amazon biome covers 49.29% of Brazil. 16% of the biome is in Peru. As of 2015 about 23.4% of Peru's Amazon biome was protected, but of this less than half was fully protected.
Much of the terrain of the Amazon biome, particularly around the rivers, is lowland plains. The Guiana Shield is an area of highlands along the border between Brazil and Venezuela and Guyana. The southern Amazonian highlands cross parts of Rondonia and Mato Grosso and the southern parts of Amazonas and Para.
The Amazon basin is crossed by ridges or "paleoarches" that connect the Guiana and Central Brazil shields and divide it into geological sub-basins. They are the Iquitos or Jutai Arch in Peru and Acre, the Carauari Arch across the Rio Negro and Solimões, the Purus Arch to the west of Manaus, the Monte Alegre Arch to the west of the Tapajós and the Gurupa Arch to the west of Marajó. Under the Paleoarch model, paleobasins between the arches form centers for biological diversification. Thus the Iquitos arch is considered the main reason for the different species of frogs and rodents and different forest types on either side of the ridge.
The soil is generally very poor in nutrients, and areas that have been deforested are often unsuitable for agriculture or pasture. A large part of the phosphorus necessary for life is blown by the wind from Africa; as diatomeous dust from the Bodélé Depression and as smoke due to biomass burning in Africa. There are wide regional variations in soil types. Thus 20% of the Rio Negro basin is covered by podzols and 55% by acrisols and ferralsols, with the remainder covered by alluvial and litholic soils and scattered areas of hydromorphic plinthosols. In the biome as a whole podzols cover just 136,000 square kilometres (53,000 sq mi), or 2.7% of the area.
In Brazil the average temperature of the biome is 22 to 26 °C (72 to 79 °F) and average rainfall is 2,300 millimetres (91 in), but there are wide variations from one region to another. The biome as a whole has annual rainfall from 1,500 to 3,000 millimetres (59 to 118 in), about half of which is carried by winds from the Atlantic, and the other half from evapotranspiration within the biome. There are wide variations in total rainfall and distribution of rainfall throughout the year.
The Amazon watershed covers about 5,846,100 square kilometres (2,257,200 sq mi). The Amazon River accounts for 15–16% of the total water discharged by rivers into the oceans of the world. Rivers may be blackwater, whitewater or clearwater. Thus the Rio Negro ("Black River") has clear, jet-black water caused by decomposition of organic matter in swamps along its margins, combined with low levels of silt. The Rio Branco ("White River") and the Amazon itself have yellowish waters loaded with silt. The Tahuayo River in the Tamshiyacu Tahuayo Regional Conservation Area of Peru is classed as a blackwater river, but often has similar chemistry to the whitewater rivers of the region since it is in the Amazon River floodplain, and receives water from the Amazon.