Neotropic ecozone
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In biogeography, Neotropic or Neotropical refers to one of the world's eight terrestrial ecozones.
This ecozone includes South and Central America, the Mexican lowlands, the Caribbean islands, and southern Florida, because these regions share a large number of plant and animal groups.
It is sometimes used as a synonym for the tropical area of South America, although the ecozone also includes temperate southern South America. The Neotropical Floristic Kingdom excludes southernmost South America, which instead is placed in the Antarctic Kingdom.
The Neotropics is delimited by similarities in fauna or flora. Its fauna and flora are distinct from the Nearctic (which includes most of North America) because of the long separation of the two continents. The formation of the Isthmus of Panama joined the two continents 2 to 3 million years ago.
The Neotropic includes more tropical rainforest (tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests) than any other ecozone, extending from southern Mexico through Central America and northern South America to southern Brazil, including the vast Amazon Rainforest. These rainforest ecoregions are one of the most important reserves of biodiversity on Earth. Extensive deforestation in the late 20th century has reduced this diversity to a degree.
These rainforests are also home to a diverse array of indigenous peoples, who to varying degrees persist in their autonomous and traditional cultures and subsistence within this environment. The number of these peoples who are as yet relatively untouched by external influences continues to decline significantly, however, along with the near-exponential expansion of urbanization, roads, pastoralism and forest industries which encroach on their customary lands and environment. Nevertheless amidst these declining circumstances this vast "reservoir" of human diversity continues to survive, albeit much depleted. In South America alone some 350-400 indigenous languages and dialects are still living (down from an estimated 1,500 at the time of first European contact), in about 37 distinct language families and a further number of unclassified and isolate languages. Many of these languages and their cultures are also endangered. Accordingly, conservation in the Neotropic zone is a hot political concern, and raises many arguments about development versus indigenous versus ecological rights and access to / ownership of natural resources.
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[edit] Major ecological regions
The WWF subdivides the ecozone into bioregions, defined as "geographic clusters of ecoregions that may span several habitat types, but have strong biogeographic affinities, particularly at taxonomic levels higher than the species level (genus, family)."
[edit] Amazonia
The Amazonia bioregion is mostly covered by tropical moist broadleaf forest, including the vast Amazon rainforest, which stretches from the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, and the lowland forests of the Guyanas. The bioregion also includes tropical savanna and tropical dry forest ecoregions.
[edit] Caribbean
[edit] Central America
[edit] Central Andes
[edit] Eastern South America
Eastern South America includes the Caatinga xeric shrublands of northeastern Brazil, the broad Cerrado grasslands and savannas of the Brazilian Plateau, and the Pantanal and Chaco grasslands. The diverse Atlantic forests of eastern Brazil are separated from the forests of Amazonia by the Caatinga and Cerrado, and are home to a distinct flora and fauna.
[edit] Northern Andes
[edit] Orinoco
[edit] Southern South America
The temperate forest ecoregions of southwestern South America, including the temperate rain forests of the Valdivian temperate rain forests and Magellanic subpolar forests ecoregions, and the Juan Fernandez Islands and Desventuradas Islands, are a refuge for the ancient Antarctic flora, which includes trees like the southern beech (Nothofagus), podocarps, the alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides), and Araucaria pines like the monkey-puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana). These magnificent rainforests are endangered by extensive logging and their replacement by fast-growing non-native pines and eucalyptus.
[edit] History
South America was originally part of the supercontinent of Gondwana, which included Africa, Australia, India, New Zealand, and Antarctica, and the Neotropic shares many plant and animal lineages with these other continents, including Marsupial mammals and the Antarctic flora. After the final breakup of the Gondwana, South America drifted north and west, and was later joined with North America by the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, which allowed a biotic exchange between the two continents, the Great American Interchange. South American species like the ancestors of the Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) and the armadillo moved into North America, and North Americans like the ancestors of South America's camelids, including the llama (Lama glama), moved south. The long-term effect of the exchange was the extinction of many South American species, mostly by outcompetition by northern species.
[edit] Endemic animals and plants
[edit] Animals
Thirty-one bird families are endemic to the Neotropic ecozone, over twice the number of any other ecozone. They include rheas, tinamous, curassows, and toucans. Bird families originally unique to the Neotropics include hummingbirds (family Trochilidae) and wrens (family Troglodytidae).
Mammal groups originally unique to the Neotropics include:
- Order Xenarthra: anteaters, sloths, and armadillos
- New World monkeys
- Caviomorpha rodents, including capybaras and guinea pigs, and chinchillas
- American opossums (order Didelphimorphia) and shrew opossums (order Paucituberculata)
Examples of groups that are entirely or mainly restricted to the Neotropical region include
- New World Monkeys
- Sloths
- Tinamous
- Hummingbirds
- Toucans
- Ovenbirds
- Antbirds
- Tanagers
- Caimans
- New World Coral Snakes
- Poison Dart Frogs
- Gonyleptidae
[edit] Plants
Plant families that originated in the Neotropic include Bromeliaceae, Cannaceae, and Heliconiaceae.
Plant species originally unique to the Neotropic include:
- Potato (Solanum tuberosum)
- Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
- Cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), source of cocoa and chocolate
- Maize (Zea mays)
[edit] Neotropic Terrestrial Ecoregions
| Araucaria moist forests | Argentina, Brazil |
| Atlantic Coast restingas | Brazil |
| Bahia coastal forests | Brazil |
| Bahia interior forests | Brazil |
| Bolivian Yungas | Bolivia, Peru |
| Caatinga enclaves moist forests | Brazil |
| Caqueta moist forests | Brazil, Colombia |
| Catatumbo moist forests | Venezuela |
| Cauca Valley montane forests | Colombia |
| Cayos Miskitos-San Andrés and Providencia moist forests | Colombia, Nicaragua |
| Central American Atlantic moist forests | Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama |
| Central American montane forests | El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua |
| Chiapas montane forests | Mexico |
| Chimalapas montane forests | Mexico |
| Chocó-Darién moist forests | Colombia, Ecuador, Panama |
| Cocos Island moist forests | Costa Rica |
| Cordillera La Costa montane forests | Venezuela |
| Cordillera Oriental montane forests | Colombia, Venezuela |
| Costa Rican seasonal moist forests | Costa Rica, Nicaragua |
| Cuban moist forests | Cuba |
| Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests | Colombia, Ecuador, Peru |
| Eastern Panamanian montane forests | Colombia, Panama |
| Fernando de Noronha-Atol das Rocas moist forests | Brazil |
| Guayanan highlands forests | Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela |
| Guianan moist forests | Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela |
| Gurupa varzea | Brazil |
| Hispaniolan moist forests | Dominican Republic, Haiti |
| Iquitos varzea | Bolivia, Brazil, Peru |
| Isthmian-Atlantic moist forests | Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama |
| Isthmian-Pacific moist forests | Costa Rica, Panama |
| Jamaican moist forests | Jamaica |
| Japurá-Solimoes-Negro moist forests | Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela |
| Juruá-Purus moist forests | Brazil |
| Leeward Islands moist forests | Antigua, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Nevis, Saint Kitts, British Virgin Islands |
| Madeira-Tapajós moist forests | Bolivia, Brazil |
| Magdalena Valley montane forests | Colombia |
| Magdalena-Urabá moist forests | Colombia |
| Marajó varzea | Brazil |
| Maranhão Babaçu forests | Brazil |
| Mato Grosso tropical dry forests | Brazil |
| Monte Alegre varzea | Brazil |
| Napo moist forests | Colombia, Ecuador, Peru |
| Negro-Branco moist forests | Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela |
| Northeastern Brazil restingas | Brazil |
| Northwestern Andean montane forests | Colombia, Ecuador |
| Oaxacan montane forests | Mexico |
| Orinoco Delta swamp forests | Guyana, Venezuela |
| Pantanos de Centla | Mexico |
| Paramaribo swamp forests | Guyana, Suriname |
| Paraná-Paraíba interior forests | Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay |
| Pernambuco coastal forests | Brazil |
| Pernambuco interior forests | Brazil |
| Peruvian Yungas | Peru |
| Petén-Veracruz moist forests | Mexico |
| Puerto Rican moist forests | Puerto Rico |
| Purus varzea | Brazil |
| Purus-Madeira moist forests | Brazil |
| Rio Negro campinarana | Brazil, Colombia |
| Santa Marta montane forests | Colombia |
| Serra do Mar coastal forests | Brazil |
| Sierra de los Tuxtlas | Mexico |
| Sierra Madre de Chiapas moist forest | El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico |
| Solimões-Japurá moist forest | Brazil, Colombia, Peru |
| South Florida rocklands | United States |
| Southern Andean Yungas | Argentina, Bolivia |
| Southwest Amazon moist forests | Bolivia, Brazil, Peru |
| Talamancan montane forests | Costa Rica, Panama |
| Tapajós-Xingu moist forests | Brazil |
| Tepuis | Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela |
| Tocantins-Araguaia-Maranhão moist forests | Brazil |
| Trinidad and Tobago moist forests | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Trindade-Martin Vaz Islands tropical forests | Brazil |
| Uatuma-Trombetas moist forests | Brazil, Guyana, Suriname |
| Ucayali moist forests | Peru |
| Venezuelan Andes montane forests | Colombia, Venezuela |
| Veracruz moist forests | Mexico |
| Veracruz montane forests | Mexico |
| Western Ecuador moist forests | Colombia, Ecuador |
| Windward Islands moist forests | Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
| Xingu-Tocantins-Araguaia moist forests | Brazil |
| Yucatán moist forests | Belize, Guatemala, Mexico |
| Apure-Villavicencio dry forests | Venezuela |
| Atlantic dry forests | Brazil |
| Bahamian dry forests | Bahamas |
| Bajío dry forests | Mexico |
| Balsas dry forests | Mexico |
| Bolivian montane dry forests | Mexico |
| Cauca Valley dry forests | Colombia |
| Cayman Islands dry forests | Cayman Islands |
| Central American dry forests | Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua |
| Chaco | Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay |
| Chiapas Depression dry forests | Guatemala, Mexico |
| Chiquitano dry forests | Bolivia, Brazil |
| Cuban dry forests | Cuba |
| Ecuadorian dry forests | Ecuador |
| Hispaniolan dry forests | Dominican Republic, Haiti |
| Jalisco dry forests | Mexico |
| Jamaican dry forests | Jamaica |
| Lara-Falcón dry forests | Venezuela |
| Leeward Islands dry forests | Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles |
| Magdalena Valley dry forests | Colombia |
| Maracaibo dry forests | Venezuela |
| Marañón dry forests | Peru |
| Panamanian dry forests | Panama |
| Patía Valley dry forests | Colombia |
| Puerto Rican dry forests | Puerto Rico |
| Revillagigedo Islands dry forests | Mexico |
| Sierra de la Laguna dry forests | Mexico |
| Sinaloan dry forests | Mexico |
| Sinu Valley dry forests | Colombia |
| Southern Pacific dry forests | Mexico |
| Trinidad and Tobago dry forests | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Tumbes-Piura dry forests | Colombia, Ecuador, Peru |
| Veracruz dry forests | Mexico |
| Windward Islands dry forests | Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
| Yucatán dry forests | Mexico |
| Bahamanian pine forests | Bahamas |
| Belizian pine forests | Belize |
| Central American pine-oak forests | El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua |
| Cuban pine forests | Cuba |
| Hispaniolan pine forests | Dominican Republic, Haiti |
| Miskito pine forests | Honduras, Nicaragua |
| Sierra de la Laguna pine-oak forests | Mexico |
| Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine-oak forests | Mexico |
| Sierra Madre del Sur pine-oak forests | Mexico |
| Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests | Mexico |
| Juan Fernandez Islands temperate forests | Chile |
| Magellanic subpolar forests | Argentina, Chile |
| Polylepis forests | Bolivia, Peru |
| San Felix-San Ambrosio Islands temperate forests (Desventuradas Islands) | Chile |
| Valdivian temperate rain forests | Argentina, Chile |
| Beni savanna | Bolivia |
| Campos Rupestres montane savanna | Brazil |
| Cerrado | Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay |
| Clipperton Island shrub and grasslands | Clipperton Island is an overseas territory of France |
| Córdoba montane savanna | Argentina |
| Guyanan savanna | Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela |
| Gran Chaco | Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay |
| Llanos | Colombia, Venezuela |
| Uruguayan savanna | Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay |
| Argentine Espinal | Argentina |
| Argentine Monte | Argentina |
| Humid Pampas | Argentina |
| Patagonian grasslands | Argentina, Chile |
| Patagonian steppe | Argentina, Chile |
| Semi-arid Pampas | Argentina |
| Central Mexican wetlands | Mexico |
| Cuban wetlands | Cuba |
| Enriquillo wetlands | Dominican Republic, Haiti |
| Everglades | United States |
| Guayaquil flooded grasslands | Ecuador |
| Orinoco wetlands | Venezuela |
| Pantanal | Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay |
| Paraná flooded savanna | Argentina |
| Southern Cone Mesopotamian savanna | Argentina |
| Central Andean dry puna | Argentina, Bolivia, Chile |
| Central Andean puna | Argentina, Bolivia, Peru |
| Central Andean wet puna | Bolivia, Peru |
| Cordillera Central páramo | Ecuador, Peru |
| Cordillera de Merida páramo | Venezuela |
| Northern Andean páramo | Colombia, Ecuador |
| Santa Marta páramo | Colombia |
| Talamanca Paramo | Costa Rica, Panama |
| Southern Andean steppe | Argentina, Chile |
| Zacatonal | Mexico, Guatemala |
| Chilean Matorral | Chile |
| Araya and Paria xeric scrub | Venezuela |
| Aruba-Curaçao-Bonaire cactus scrub | Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao |
| Atacama desert | Chile, Peru |
| Caatinga | Brazil |
| Cayman Islands xeric scrub | Cayman Islands |
| Cuban cactus scrub | Cuba |
| Galápagos Islands xeric scrub | Ecuador |
| Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub | Colombia, Venezuela |
| La Costa xeric shrublands | Venezuela |
| Leeward Islands xeric scrub | Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, Saba, US Virgin Islands |
| Malpelo Island xeric scrub | Colombia |
| Motagua Valley thornscrub | Guatemala |
| Paraguana xeric scrub | Venezuela |
| San Lucan xeric scrub | Mexico |
| Sechura desert | Peru |
| Tehuacán Valley matorral | Mexico |
| Windward Islands xeric scrub | Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
| Saint Peter and Saint Paul rocks | Brazil |
| Alvarado mangroves | Mexico |
| Amapá mangroves | Brazil |
| Bahamian mangroves | Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands |
| Bahia mangroves | Brazil |
| Belizean Coast mangroves | Belize |
| Belizean Reef mangroves | Belize |
| Bocas del Toro-San Bastimentos Island-San Blas mangroves | Costa Rica, Panama |
| Coastal Venezuelan mangroves | Venezuela |
| Esmeraldes-Pacific Colombia mangroves | Colombia, Ecuador |
| Florida mangroves | United States |
| Greater Antilles mangroves | Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico |
| Guianan mangroves | French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela |
| Gulf of Fonseca mangroves | El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua |
| Gulf of Guayaquil-Tumbes mangroves | Ecuador, Peru |
| Gulf of Panama mangroves | Panama |
| Ilha Grande mangroves | Brazil |
| Lesser Antilles mangroves | Lesser Antilles |
| Magdalena-Santa Marta mangroves | Colombia |
| Manabí mangroves | Ecuador |
| Maranhão mangroves | Brazil |
| Marismas Nacionales-San Blas mangroves | Mexico |
| Mayan Corridor mangroves | Mexico |
| Mexican South Pacific Coast mangroves | Mexico |
| Moist Pacific Coast mangroves | Costa Rica, Panama |
| Mosquitia-Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast mangroves | Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua |
| Northern Dry Pacific Coast mangroves | El Salvador, Guatemala |
| Northern Honduras mangroves | Guatemala, Honduras |
| Pará mangroves | Brazil |
| Petenes mangroves | Mexico |
| Piura mangroves | Peru |
| Ría Lagartos mangroves | Mexico |
| Rio Negro-Rio San Sun mangroves | Costa Rica, Nicaragua |
| Rio Piranhas mangroves | Brazil |
| Rio São Francisco mangroves | Brazil |
| Southern Dry Pacific Coast mangroves | Costa Rica, Nicaragua |
| Tehuantepec-El Manchon mangroves | Mexico |
| Trinidad mangroves | Trinidad and Tobago |
| Usumacinta mangroves | Mexico |
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[edit] External links
Media related to Neotropic from the Wikimedia Commons.- Map of the ecozones
- Eco-Index, a bilingual searchable reference of conservation and research projects in the Neotropics; a service of the Rainforest Alliance
[edit] References
- Cox, C. Barry; Peter D. Moore (1985). Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach (Fourth Edition). Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
- Dinerstein, Eric; David Olson; Douglas J. Graham; et al. (1995). A Conservation Assessment of the Terrestrial Ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean. World Bank, Washington DC.
- Schultz, J.: The Ecozones of the World, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2n ed. 2005. ISBN 3540200142
- Udvardy, M. D. F. (1975). A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world. IUCN Occasional Paper no. 18. Morges, Switzerland: IUCN.
