The Gurupa várzea is a Neotropical floodplain ecoregion in Brazil, named after Ilha Grande de Gurupá and stretching along the lower Amazon River from the mouth of the Tapajós down to the mouth of the Xingu. It is a seasonally and tidally flooded várzea, and unlike its neighboring floodplain ecoregions much of its interior is savanna rather than dense rainforest, while raised levees carry tall forest with trees such as Virola surinamensis, kapok (Ceiba pentandra), and Calycophyllum spruceanum, alongside açaí and buriti palms (Mauritia flexuosa) and tarumã (Vitex cymosa). The climate is equatorial and monsoonal, warm through the year, with water levels rising several meters at the peak of the flood pulse from a combination of upstream rainfall and daily Atlantic tides. Its aquatic and floodplain wildlife is notably rich, including the giant otter and large fishes such as the tambaqui and pirarucu, and as of 2017 the World Wildlife Fund classified the ecoregion as Critical/Endangered owing to logging, pasture conversion, and agricultural expansion. For gardeners, the region is the native home of several striking tropical plants, including the kapok tree and the açaí and buriti (moriche) palms.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 1.9°S, 53.1°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: +3.7°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
3,831 sq mi
Conservation tier
Nature Could Reach Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 2)
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: