Ecological Region

The Chocó-Darién moist forests ecoregion extend along most of the Pacific coast of Colombia, bounded to the east by the Andes; and along the Caribbean coast, north into Panama. The region has extremely high rainfall and the forests hold great biodiversity.

The Costa Rican páramo is a montane moist grassland and shrubland ecoregion that is found in the higher elevations of Costa Rica and western Panama, within the Cordillera de Talamanca. It is one of Central America's most intact habitats, with high biological richness.

The Greater Antilles mangrove ecoregion is comprised of the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Jamaica. These mangroves support relatively high levels of endemic flora and fauna and are often part of complex assemblages of habitats.

The Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub ecoregion, along the Caribbean Sea in Venezuela and Colombia, is a unique xerophytic area in the neotropics. Proposed as a bird center of endemism, this arid habitat is dominated by thorn scrub and succulents.

Situated primarily in southeastern Venezuela, the Guianan Highlands moist forest ecoregion is distinct from other ecoregions in Amazonia due to its montane physiography. It hosts vast expanses of tall primary rainforests and open, semi-treeless savannas interrupted by gallery forests.

Located on the northeast coast of South America, the Guianan moist forests are one of the largest continuous tracts of relatively pristine lowland tropical rain forest in the world. It holds a wide variety of regional biodiversity with high levels of species endemism and richness.

The Guianan savanna is an ecoregion in the south of Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname and the north of Brazil. The savanna covers an area of rolling upland plains on the Guiana Shield between the Amazon and Orinoco basins.

The humid pampas occupy the plains in the east of Argentina and as well as one of the highest human-populated areas in Argentina, taking up most of the province of Buenos Aires. Horizontal plains and very soft undulations with low peaks, characterize the relief of this area.