Bolivia's Biome: A Natural Haven Of Diversity

Bolivia is a biodiverse country with a variety of biomes, including the Amazon biome, which covers 59.6 million hectares of the country. The Amazon biome in Bolivia includes the Chiquitano dry forests, which are under threat from agriculture, highways, and mining. Bolivia also has substantial rainforest cover in its lowland areas, with about half of its forest cover consisting of primary forest. Additionally, the country has the Bolivian montane dry forests, which are found in the dry mountain valleys of the Andes in southern Bolivia. This ecoregion is a transitional habitat between the puna grasslands to the west and the Chaco scrub to the east, and is home to a variety of mammal and bird species.

Bolivia's Amazon biome

Bolivia is home to a diverse range of ecosystems, from the Andes mountains to the tropical Amazon biome. The Bolivian Amazon, covering 43% of the country's national territory, is a vast and awe-inspiring region, often referred to as the "lungs of the Earth". This lush green forest is a biodiversity hotspot, teeming with plant and animal life. The Bolivian Amazon encompasses the departments of Pando, Beni, Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, and La Paz, with a total of 88 municipalities.

The Amazon biome as a whole covers 6,700,000 square kilometres and includes parts of Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. It is characterised by its tropical rainforest, ecoregions, and the Amazon basin with its adjacent areas to the north and east. The terrain is largely made up of lowland plains, with rivers such as the Amazon itself, the Xingu, Tapajós, Madeira, Purus, and Rio Negro, forming barriers and contributing to the region's biodiversity.

The Bolivian Amazon is home to a diverse range of indigenous peoples, including the Araonas, Ayoreos, Baures, Cavineños, Cayubabas, and many others. These communities rely on hunting, fishing, gathering, and small-scale agriculture for their livelihood, cultivating bananas, yucca, vegetables, rice, and corn. The rivers, such as the Mamoré, Beni, and Madre de Dios, serve as vital channels of communication and transportation within these territories.

However, the Bolivian Amazon faces several threats, including irrational exploitation of natural resources, deforestation, agricultural expansion, and illegal settlements. These activities, coupled with climate change, have detrimental effects on the region's delicate ecosystem and the indigenous communities that depend on it. Despite constitutional protections, the enforcement of these rights and the preservation of natural resources remain challenging.

The Bolivian Amazon is a critical ecosystem, not only for Bolivia but for the entire Pan-Amazonian region. Its conservation is of utmost importance to protect the rich biodiversity and the way of life of the indigenous communities that call it home.

Bolivian montane dry forests

The Bolivian montane dry forests are an ecoregion in Bolivia on the eastern side of the Andes. It is a transitional habitat between the puna grasslands higher up to the west and the Chaco scrub to the east. The ecoregion is in the dry mountain valleys of the Andes in southern Bolivia and has an area of 80,300 square kilometres (31,000 sq mi). The terrain is rugged, with cliffs, steep hillsides, valleys and gullies. Altitudes range from 1,000–3,300 metres (3,300–10,800 ft) above sea level.

The Bolivian montane dry forests exhibit diverse microclimates and are interlaced with the Southern Andean Yungas to the east and Puna to the west. The ecoregion is characterised by steep hillsides, cliffs, and valleys. The dry forests flank the slopes and valleys of the eastern Andes of Bolivia, extending as both large and small patches among valleys and between the high puna habitats and the lowland Chaco.

The dry forest ecoregion is a transitional habitat between the puna grasslands higher up to the west and the Chaco scrub to the east. It contains dry slopes with scattered shrubs and columnar cacti, seasonal dry forest and wetland forest along river courses. Where the spiny forest has been unaltered, it holds species such as Vachellia caven, Prosopis alpataco, Dodonaea viscosa, Schinopsis marginata, and Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco.

The Bolivian montane dry forests are home to a variety of endemic birds, including the Bolivian recurvebill, Bolivian blackbird, and several finches, including the citron-headed yellow finch and warbling finches. Other rare and endemic species include the Torrent Duck, Wedge-tailed Hillstar, Black-hooded Sunbeam, and Carbonated Flower-piercer. The region also has a high diversity of felids, with potential species including puma, ocelot, pampas cat, Geoffroy's cat, and jaguarundi.

The ecoregion has been heavily impacted by a growing human population, with only 6% of the original habitat remaining. Urban sprawl, overhunting, conversion to agriculture, and the collection of wood for fuel are all contributing to the fragmentation of the remaining forests. The World Wildlife Fund has given the Bolivian montane dry forests the status of "Critical/Endangered". Protected areas within the ecoregion include Madidi National Park, the Cordillera de Sama Biological Reserve, Tariquía National Reserve, the Cama Valley Biological Reserve, and Torotoro National Park.

Chiquitano dry forests

The Chiquitano dry forests are a tropical dry broadleaf forest ecoregion in Bolivia and Brazil. Named after the indigenous Chiquitano people, the ecoregion covers an area of 230,600 square kilometres (89,000 sq mi) east of the Andes in the lowlands of eastern Bolivia and the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso and Rondônia. The World Wildlife Fund includes the Chiquitano dry forests in the Amazon biome, which also includes the Guiana Shield rainforests in the north and other ecoregions.

The Chiquitano dry forests exhibit a tropical climate with a pronounced dry season during the southern hemisphere winter. Average precipitation ranges from 1,000mm in the south to 2,000mm in the northwest, influenced by orographic factors. The forests in this region have adapted to the marked seasonal variation in rainfall, which includes wet-season flooding and dry-season fires. Many trees are deciduous, shedding their leaves during the dry winter season. The soto/curupaú association is a common plant community in the Chiquitano dry forests, featuring trees such as soto (Schinopsis brasiliensis), curupaú (Anadenanthera macrocarpa), and momoqui (Caesalpinia pluviosa). These trees form a canopy with an average height of 20 meters and emergent trees reaching up to 30 meters.

The ecoregion boasts a diverse array of plant communities or associations, each varying in structure and characteristic species. The cuchi/curupaú association, for example, is dominated by either curupaú (Anadenanthera macrocarpa) or cuchi (Astronium urundeuva) trees. This association thrives on well-drained yet nutrient-poor soils, including rocky mountain slopes and sandy lowland soils. The canopy in this association ranges from 10 to 15 meters in height and is about 65% closed, with some emergent trees soaring up to 25 meters.

The Chiquitano dry forests are home to 42 species of mammals, including the marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), and the jaguar (Panthera onca). The region also hosts a variety of native birds, such as the black-and-tawny seedeater (Sporophila nigrorufa), and reptiles like the broad-snouted caiman (Caiman latirostris).

In recent years, the Chiquitano dry forests have faced significant threats. Between August 18 and August 23, 2019, up to 800,000 hectares of the unique Chiquitano forest were ravaged by fires, surpassing the typical biennial loss of forest cover in the country. The fires were believed to be deliberately set to clear land for agriculture, and experts estimate that it will take at least two centuries to restore the ecological damage. The Bolivian government's policies, such as the 2019 decree supporting land clearance for cattle and soy production, have been criticised by civil society organisations and indigenous leaders as contributing factors to the fires.

Bolivian Yungas

Bolivia is home to a diverse range of biomes, from the Amazon rainforest in the north to the dry mountain valleys of the Andes in the south. One of these biomes is the Bolivian Yungas, a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Yungas of central Bolivia.

The Bolivian Yungas is characterised by its elevation, ranging from 400 to 3,500 metres (1,300 to 11,500 feet) above sea level. It is found on the eastern slopes of the Andes, extending into a small portion of southeastern Peru. The ecoregion forms a transition zone between the Southwest Amazon moist forests to the northeast and the Central Andean puna and wet puna to the southwest. The climate varies from tropical rainforest to tropical monsoon, with high humidity and precipitation influenced by fog and rain deposited by northern trade winds.

The Bolivian Yungas is known for its abundant epiphytes, including bromeliads, orchids, and tree-ferns (*Cyathea*). Chusquea bamboo is an indicator species of the region. The ecoregion also boasts a diverse range of mammal and bird species. Mammals found in this ecoregion include the spectacled bear (*Tremarctos ornatus*), Geoffroy's cat (*Leopardus geoffroyi*), lowland tapir (*Tapirus terrestris*), jaguar (*Panthera onca*), and jaguarundi (*Herpailurus yagouaroundi*).

The region is also home to interesting bird species such as the diademed tapaculo (*Scytalopus schulenbergi*), green-capped tanager (*Stilpnia meyerdeschauenseei*), Andean cock-of-the-rock (*Rupicola peruvianus*), and southern helmeted curassow (*Pauxi unicornis*). The Bolivian Yungas is also notable as the centre of the Afro-Bolivian community.

The rugged terrain, high precipitation, and difficult access have helped preserve much of this ecoregion in its natural state. Approximately 49.37% of the Bolivian Yungas is protected within areas such as the Amboró, Bahuaja-Sonene, Carrasco, and Madidi National Parks, among others. However, human activities such as slash-and-burn practices and habitat loss due to agriculture continue to threaten the region outside of these protected areas.

The Central Andean puna

The Central Andean dry puna, on the other hand, is located in the Andean Altiplano (high plateau) in South America. It occupies the southwestern portion of the Altiplano and is east of the Atacama Desert. Salt flats, known locally as Salares, are a characteristic feature of this ecoregion, with Coipasa, Uyuni, Atacama, and Arizaro among the largest. The dry puna has a dry climate ranging from cold steppe to cold desert. The grasslands are dominated by species of the genera Stipa and Festuca, and the typical high Andean wetlands are the Bofedales, which are marshy areas characterised by the presence of cushion bog vegetation.

The flora in the Central Andean puna typically consists of open meadows with rocks, bunchgrass, herbs, moss, and lichen. Grasses are represented by the genera Calamagrostis, Agrostis, and Festuca. Small bush species found here include Parastrephia lepidophylla and Margyricarpus. Azorella compacta and Puya raimondi are shared with the wet puna. Trees such as Polylepis, Buddleja, and Escallonia are found at lower elevations.

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