The Purus várzea is a seasonally flooded whitewater-river forest in the central Amazon, spanning western Brazil and eastern Colombia (One Earth also includes parts of Peru) along the Solimões, Juruá, central Purus, and Japurá/Caquetá rivers and their tributaries. This is várzea forest, whose vegetation is shaped by the annual flood cycle; characteristic trees include the kapok (Ceiba pentandra), mahogany, Capirona, and pioneer Cecropia, alongside palms such as the moriche or buriti palm (Mauritia flexuosa) and the murumuru. The climate is warm and humid, with mean annual precipitation around 2,500 mm, and each year the rivers overflow to leave the forest 6 to 12 metres underwater for periods of up to eight months. The fertile, sediment-renewed floodplain is the last remaining habitat of the endemic bald uakari monkey, yet the ecoregion is rated Critical/Endangered and now retains only about a third of its original forest after large-scale logging and cattle farming. For gardeners in suitably tropical, moist settings, the iconic fan-leaved moriche palm (Mauritia flexuosa) is among the plants native to this region.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 2.3°S, 65.5°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: +4.2°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
68,601 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: