The Guianan piedmont moist forests stretch across southern Venezuela, the northernmost Brazilian states of Amazonas and Roraima, and into western Guyana, forming part of the ancient Guiana Shield. Growing on sandy, nutrient-poor granitic soils, this is a transitional rainforest belt between the drier savannas and tepui highlands to the north and the wetter Amazon Basin to the south, with palms such as Astrocaryum, Bactris, Maximiliana, and Iriartea among its characteristic plants. The climate is equatorial and fully humid (Koppen Af), warm and wet year-round. Biodiversity is high: the harpy eagle is the flagship species, over 600 bird species occur here including the Guianan cock-of-the-rock, and the wider Guiana Shield holds thousands of vascular plants with a large share found nowhere else. The ecoregion remains relatively intact, safeguarded largely by national parks and Indigenous territories, including Canaima National Park. For tropical gardeners, the native palm genera listed above are familiar ornamental and useful species across humid lowland landscapes.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 1.4°N, 63.4°W.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +3.6°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Neotropic
Approximate area
89,171 sq mi
Conservation tier
Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 1)
About the tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome
Warm, wet, highly productive forests — including tropical rainforests — with closed canopies, near year-round growing seasons, and the richest terrestrial biodiversity on Earth. Low seasonality and high rainfall sustain dense, layered vegetation from canopy to forest floor.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
No catalog plants intersect this ecoregion's zone range. As the catalog grows to cover this region's climate band, suggestions will surface here.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: