The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world, and its rainforests range from thick tropical mangroves to thick, impenetrable, dark timber. Most of the Amazon Rainforest is between the equator and the Amazon River, which runs through the middle of it, draining it down the Rio Negro- the biggest tannin black rivulet in the world. But the Amazon also extends into Bolivia’s, Colombia’s, and Suriname’s rainforests in South America. The Amazon is the biggest rainforest on Earth in both area and total water stored. It is over 300 miles long by 210 miles wide, extending from northeastern Brazil all the way up to northeastern Peru and the western shore of the Amazon Basin.
The Amazon River itself, though small, is so important to the Amazon’s ecology that it has its own rainforest type. This is the lowland swampy, or terra firme, rainforest. The floodplains of the Amazon Basin are the primary region of the Amazon Rainforest. Amazon Rainforest vegetation typically grows in areas where there is a lot of rainfall, with most of its area located in the lowest areas of the floodplains. The rainforest of the Amazon Basin is a tropical rainforest. It has a high density of species. In some areas, there are species of plants or animals on just one square meter of land. A few scientists use the term “megadiverse” to describe the Amazon Basin rainforest. The Amazon Basin rainforest also has the highest number of species per area in the rainforest ecosystem.
Some places in the Amazon Basin rainforest have extremely hot temperatures, causing the river to dry up and turn into a dry rainforest, called a Chaco. Another type of biome that the Amazon Basin rainforest can form into is the Central Amazon. Different types of species can coexist in this region such as birds, mammals, and reptiles. This rainforest is called the Central Amazon due to its hot, but not that much humid weather, in contrast to the Amazon Basin, which is often very humid. The Central Amazon is home to many species which include a wide variety of birds such as the common woodpecker, the black manakins, the hummingbirds, white-winged flufftail, and many more. It is also common for many types of mammals and reptiles to be found there. Among all the different types of species inhabiting the Central Amazon, one particular species is becoming very rare. Bats species have become uncommon, and some species are thought to be endangered due to deforestation and habitat destruction, which is increasing at an alarming rate.
