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.
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.
Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena is a biodiversity hotspot, which includes the tropical moist forests and tropical dry forests of the Pacific coast of South America and the Galapagos Islands. The region extends from easternmost Panama to the lower Magdalena Valley of Colombia, and along the Pacific coast of Colombia and Ecuador to the northwestern corner of Peru. Formerly called the Chocó-Darién-Western Ecuador Hotspot, it has been expanded to include several new areas, notably the Magdalena Valley in northern Colombia. It is bounded on the east by the Andes Mountains. The Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena Hotspot is 1,500 km long and encircles 274,597 km2. Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena is near the Pacific Ocean. The factors that threaten Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena are farming encroachment, deforestation, illegal crops, and population growth. Whereas the Panamanian and Colombian portion of the hotspot are relatively intact, approximately 98% of native forest in coastal Ecuador has been cleared, rendering it the most threatened tropical forest in the world. The hotspot includes a wide variety of habitats, ranging from mangroves, beaches, rocky shorelines, and coastal wilderness to some of the world's wettest rain forests in the Colombian Chocó. The hotspot includes a number of ecoregions:
Siproeta stelenes (malachite) is a Neotropical brush-footed butterfly. The malachite has large wings that are black and brilliant green or yellow-green on the upperside and light brown and olive green on the underside. It is named for the mineral malachite, which is similar in color to the bright green on the butterfly's wings. Typically, the wingspread is between 8.5 and 10 cm. The malachite is found throughout Central and northern South America, where it is one of the most common butterfly species. Its distribution extends as far north as southern Texas and the tip of Florida, to Cuba as subspecies S. s. insularis, and S. s. biplagiata, and south to Brazil.
The Cordillera Occidental is the lowest in elevation of the three branches of the Colombian Andes. The average altitude is 2,000 m (6,600 ft) and the highest peak is Cerro Tatamá at 4,100 m (13,500 ft). The range extends from south to north dividing from the Colombian Massif in Nariño Department, passes north through Cauca, Valle del Cauca, Risaralda, Chocó, and Caldas Departments to the Paramillo Massif in Antioquia and Córdoba Departments. The cordillera is paralleled on the east by the Cauca river. From this massif the range divides further to form the Serranías de Ayapel, San Jerónimo and Abibe. Only to recede into the Caribbean plain and the Sinú River valley.
Archaeoprepona demophon, the one-spotted prepona, banded king shoemaker, or demophon shoemaker is a butterfly belonging to the family Nymphalidae.
The wattled guan is a species of bird in the family Cracidae. It is a fairly large black cracid with blue-based, black-tipped beak and a long, red-and-yellow wattle.
The ochre-breasted tanager is a species of bird in the family Cardinalidae. It is found in Colombia and Ecuador where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. As a fairly common species with a stable population, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated this bird as being of "least concern".
The blue-backed conebill is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae . It is found in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
The chestnut-crowned gnateater is a species of bird in the family Conopophagidae. It is found in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.
The orange-backed troupial is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is found in Guyana, Brazil, Paraguay, and eastern Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru. It is closely related to the Venezuelan troupial and Campo troupial, and at one time, all three were considered to be the same species.
Philaethria is a genus of New World butterflies of the subfamily Heliconiinae in the family Nymphalidae.
Heliconius doris, the Doris longwing or Doris is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is known for being a polymorphic species which participates in various Müllerian mimicry rings throughout Central America and the Amazon rainforest. It is a species of special interest in biological science for the genetic basis and role of polymorphism (biology) in ecology and evolution.
The Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve is a 2,000-acre (8.1 km2) certified conservation area on the North-Western slopes of the Andean mountain range and is located 52 km from the Ecuadorian capital city of Quito. The lodge itself comprises guest rooms, 10 km of walking trails and the four storey geodesic dome, which contains a restaurant, viewing platforms and further accommodation. The Reserve was first established in 1991 by a British/Colombian couple. The area won the Audubon Christmas Bird Count for the Americas in 2006, 2007, and 2008.
Pieriballia is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae erected by Alexander Barrett Klots in 1933. Its only species, Pieriballia viardi, the painted white or viardi white, was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1836. It is found from Mexico to Bolivia and Paraguay. Strays can be found in southern Texas in the United States. The habitat consists of rainforests and transitional cloud forests.
Eueides isabella, the Isabella's longwing or Isabella's heliconian, is a species of nymphalid butterfly, belonging to the Heliconiinae subfamily.
Cyanophrys herodotus, the tropical green hairstreak or tropical greenstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793. It is found in Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. Rare strays can be found as far north as southern Texas. The habitat consists of open disturbed areas in tropical and subtropical rainforests and cloudforests at altitudes ranging from 600 to about 2,000 meters.
The Chocó–Darién moist forests (NT0115) is a largely forested, tropical ecoregion of northwestern South America and southern Central America. The ecoregion extends from the eastern Panamanian province of Darién and the indigenous region of Guna Yala to almost the entirety of Colombia's Pacific coast, including the departments of Cauca, Chocó, Nariño and Valle del Cauca.
The Northwestern Andean montane forests (NT0145) is an ecoregion on the Andes mountains in the west of Colombia and Ecuador. Both flora and fauna are highly diverse due to effect of ice ages when the warmer climate zones were separated and the cooler ones combined, and interglacial periods when the reverse occurred. Because the environment is hospitable to humans, the habitat has been drastically modified by farming and grazing since the Pre-Columbian era.
The highland temperate climates are a temperate climate sub-type, although located in tropical zone, isothermal and with characteristics different from others temperate climates like oceanic or mediterranean where they are often are included without proper differentiation.
