The Negro-Branco moist forests stretch across the watershed between the Orinoco and Rio Negro basins in Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil, sitting on the ancient Guiana Shield where elevations climb from lowland plains around 120 meters in the west to sandstone table mountains topping 400 meters in the east. Its vegetation ranges from flooded and non-flooded evergreen lowland forests to isolated shrub communities and herbaceous savanna-like meadows, with characteristic palms such as Mauritia flexuosa, Euterpe catinga, Socratea, and Leopoldinia. Soils are generally poor in nutrients, and the Rio Negro basin holds a large area of igapo forest that is seasonally flooded for five to six months of the year by blackwater rivers. The ecoregion is recognized for its high level of botanical endemism, home to the economically valued endemic piassaba palm (Leopoldinia piassaba) and the flagship uakari monkeys, and much of it is protected within the Alto Orinoco-Casiquiare Biosphere Reserve. Gardeners may recognize native genera like the moriche palm Mauritia and the acai-bearing Euterpe, both grown ornamentally in suitably warm, humid climates.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 3.5°N, 69.7°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: +3.8°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
77,935 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: