The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone.
The Amazon rainforest, also called Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin encompasses 7,000,000 km2 (2,700,000 sq mi), of which 5,500,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi) are covered by the rainforest. This region includes territory belonging to nine nations and 3,344 formally acknowledged indigenous territories.
Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropical rainforests or temperate rainforests, but other types have been described.
Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests (TSMF), also known as tropical moist forest, is a subtropical and tropical forest habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature.
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about 6,300,000 km2 (2,400,000 sq mi), or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela, as well as the territory of French Guiana.
The Atlantic Forest is a South American forest that extends along the Atlantic coast of Brazil from Rio Grande do Norte state in the northeast to Rio Grande do Sul state in the south and inland as far as Paraguay and the Misiones Province of Argentina, where the region is known as Selva Misionera.
Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as lowland equatorial evergreen rainforest. True rainforests are typically found between 10 degrees north and south of the equator ; they are a sub-set of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28-degree latitudes. Within the World Wildlife Fund's biome classification, tropical rainforests are a type of tropical moist broadleaf forest that also includes the more extensive seasonal tropical forests.
Eugenia is a genus of flowering plants in the myrtle family Myrtaceae. It has a worldwide, although highly uneven, distribution in tropical and subtropical regions. The bulk of the approximately 1,100 species occur in the New World tropics, especially in the northern Andes, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Forest of eastern Brazil. Other centers of diversity include New Caledonia and Madagascar. Many of the species that occur in the Old World have received a new classification into the genus Syzygium.
The Brazilian Highlands or Brazilian Plateau is an extensive geographical region covering most of the eastern, southern and central portions of Brazil, in all some 4,500,000 km2 or approximately half of the country's land area. The vast majority of Brazil's population lives in the highlands or on the narrow coastal region immediately adjacent to it.
Zollernia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae. It includes 10 species native to South America, ranging from Venezuela and the Guianas to southern Brazil. Zollernia are trees or shrubs that flower annually. Species are most commonly found in dense moist forests, but also grow in seasonally-dry cerrado and caatinga.
The North Region of Brazil is the largest region of Brazil, corresponding to 45.27% of the national territory. It is the second least inhabited of the country, and contributes with a minor percentage in the national GDP and population. The area of the region is slighty larger than India or the whole European Union. It comprises the states of Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima and Tocantins.
The Cerrado is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, being present in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Bahia, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are the Brazilian highlands – the Planalto. The main habitat types of the Cerrado consist of forest savanna, wooded savanna, park savanna and gramineous-woody savanna. The Cerrado also includes savanna wetlands and gallery forests.
Clusia is the type genus of the plant family Clusiaceae. Comprising 300-400 species, it is native to the Neotropics. The genus is named by Carl Linnaeus in honor of the botanist Carolus Clusius.
Pseudolaelia is a small genus belonging to the orchid family (Orchidaceae), the entire genus endemic to Brazil. The abbreviation used in the horticultural trade is Pdla.
Archontophoenix cunninghamiana – commonly known as Bangalow palm, king palm, Illawara palm or piccabeen palm – is a tree in the palm family Arecaceae which is endemic to the east coast of New South Wales and Queensland, Australia.
Pleroma heteromallum, synonyms including Tibouchina grandifolia and Tibouchina heteromalla, known by the common name silverleafed princess flower in English, is a species of evergreen flowering plant in the family Melastomataceae. It is native to French Guiana, Bolivia and Brazil.
Lannea coromandelica, also known as the Indian ash tree, is a species of tree in the family Anacardiaceae that grows in South and Southeast Asia, ranging from Sri Lanka to Southern China. It is commonly known as Gurjon tree and is used in plywoods for its excellent termite resistance properties. It is most commonly grows in exposed dry woodland environments, where the tree is smaller and more crooked. In more humid environments it is a larger spreading tree that can become 20 meters tall. In Sri Lanka Lannea coromandelica often grows on rock outcrops or inselbergs.
Jurasaidae is a family of elateroid beetles known from around a half-dozen species in two genera found the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest including drier transitional areas bordering the Caatinga. All known species have neotenic larva-like females and normal males, similar to some other elateroids. They occur in the soil horizon immediately under leaf litter, with the larvae likely being fungivorous, consuming the fluids of fungal hyphae.
Anchietea is a genus of flowering plants in the violet family Violaceae, with six accepted species, found in tropical South America.
