Biomes / Ecosystems of South America

The Amazon Rainforest is a biogeographical region in northern South America that occupies the Amazon Basin, a drainage basin of the Amazon River and its tributaries in northern South America. Sometimes called Amazônia, nine countries have some parts of the Amazon region within their borders.

The Andean Patagonian Forest spreads over steep elevations along a thin strip on both sides of the Andes Mountains in southern South America. These temperate forests in southern Chile and Argentina are the southernmost forests on earth.

The Atacama Desert is located in northern Chile between Argentina on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the east. Sparsely populated and containing considerable mineral resources, the Atacama Desert is one of the driest places in the world.

The Atlantic Forest, or Mata Atlântica, runs along the coast of eastern and southeastern Brazil, stretching inland into Argentina and Paraguay. Although only a very small part of the original forests remain, it is still one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet.

The Cerrado is the largest savanna region in South America and the largest ecoregion in the Americas. It encompasses central Brazil as well as small portions of Paraguay and Bolivia. Biologically the richest savanna in the world, it contains extraordinary biodiversity.

The Dry Chaco ecoregion, or Gran Chaco, is a sparsely populated, hot, semi-arid lowland alluvial plain of the Río de la Plata basin. It is divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion of Brazil. The Chaco contains South America's second-largest forest after the Amazon.

The Iberá Wetlands, located in northeastern Argentina, is a vast and diverse natural ecosystem renowned for its rich biodiversity and ecological significance.

The Llanos (Los Llanos) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated east of the Andes Mountains in northwestern South America, within Colombia and Venezuela. It is an ecoregion of the flooded grasslands and savannas terrestrial biome.

The Pantanal is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland. This gigantic seasonal floodplain lies mainly within Mato Grosso, and Mato Grosso do Sul in the Center-West Region of Brazil. However, small portions extend into northeastern Paraguay and southeastern Bolivia.

Páramo is a neotropical high mountain biome. Also referred to as Andean Moorland, this grassland ecosystem is found mainly in the northwest corner of South America: in the upper Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.