An epiphyte is an organism that grows on the surface of a plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water or from debris accumulating around it. Epiphytes take part in nutrient cycles and add to both the diversity and biomass of the ecosystem in which they occur, like any other organism. They are an important source of food for many species. Typically, the older parts of a plant will have more epiphytes growing on them. Epiphytes differ from parasites in that they grow on other plants for physical support and do not necessarily affect the host negatively. An organism that grows on another organism that is not a plant may be called an epibiont. Epiphytes are usually found in the temperate zone or in the tropics. Epiphyte species make good houseplants due to their minimal water and soil requirements. Epiphytes provide a rich and diverse habitat for other organisms including animals, fungi, bacteria, and myxomycetes.
Manú National Park is a national park and biosphere reserve located in the regions of Madre de Dios and Cusco in Peru. It protects diverse ecosystems such as lowland rainforests, cloud forests and Andean grasslands.
Epidendroideae is a subfamily of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. Epidendroideae is larger than all the other orchid subfamilies together, comprising more than 15,000 species in 576 genera. Most epidendroid orchids are tropical epiphytes, typically with pseudobulbs. There are, however, some terrestrials such as Epipactis and even a few myco-heterotrophs, which are parasitic upon mycorrhizal fungi.
La Selva Biological Station is a protected area encompassing 1,536 ha of low-land tropical rain forest in northeastern Costa Rica. It is owned and operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies, a consortium of universities and research institutions from the United States, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico. Recognized internationally as one of the most productive field stations in the world for tropical forest research and peer-reviewed publications, La Selva hosts approximately 300 scientists and 100 university courses every year. The primary goal of La Selva Biological Station is to preserve and protect an intact forest, as well as providing laboratory facilities for tropical research and education. The research potential of the area is not only vital to tropical ecology, but it is also an important location in the effort to study relations between local communities and protected areas. In addition, its high diversity and ease of access to the Puerto Viejo-Horquetas highway makes La Selva an important ecotourism destination and environmental education center for tourists and the local community.
Attalea maripa, commonly called maripa palm is a palm native to tropical South America and Trinidad and Tobago. It grows up 35 m (115 ft) tall and can have leaves or fronds 10–12 m (33–39 ft) long. This plant has a yellow edible fruit which is oblong ovoid and cream. An edible oil can be extracted from the pulp of the fruit and from the kernel of the seed.
Maquenque Wildlife Refuge, is a protected area in Costa Rica, managed under the Arenal Huetar Norte Conservation Area, it was created in 2005 by decree 32405-MINAE.
Güeppi-Sekime National Park is a protected area located in the Peruvian region of Loreto, on the border with Ecuador. The park encompasses 203,628.51 hectares (2,036 km2) of forests in a landscape that features hills and seasonally flooded lowlands.
Iriartea is a genus in the palm family Arecaceae, native to Central and South America. The best-known species – and probably the only one – is Iriartea deltoidea, which is found from Nicaragua, south into Bolivia and a great portion of Western Amazonian basin. It is the most common tree in many forests in which it occurs.
Leopoldinia piassaba, the Para piassava, piassava fiber palm or piassava palm, is a palm native to black water rivers in Amazonian Brazil and Venezuela, from which is extracted piassava, a high caliber and water resistant fiber. Piassaba fiber is made into brooms, baskets, and other products. This plant is also a natural habitat of the Rhodnius brethesi, which is a potential vector of Chagas disease, and it is cited in Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius.
Oenocarpus bacaba is an economically important monoecious fruiting palm native to South America and the Amazon Rainforest, which has edible fruits. This plant is cited in Flora Brasiliensis by Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius. It can reach up to 20–25 metres tall and 15–25 cm in diameter. It grows in well-drained sandy soils of the Amazon basin.
Socratea exorrhiza, the walking palm or cashapona, is a palm native to rainforests in tropical Central and South America. It can grow to 25 metres in height, with a stem diameter of up to 16 cm, but is more typically 15–20 m tall and 12 cm in diameter. It has unusual stilt roots, the function of which has been debated. Many species of epiphyte have been found growing on the palms. The palm is pollinated by beetles, and various organisms eat its seeds or seedlings.
Socratea is a genus of five species of palms found in tropical Central America and South America.
Pacaya–Samiria National Reserve, is a protected area located in the region of Loreto, Peru and spans an area of 20,800 km2 (8,000 sq mi). It protects an area of low hills and seasonally flooded forest in the Amazon rainforest.
The Ichigkat Muja – Cordillera del Condor National Park is a protected area in Peru located in the region of Amazonas. It protects part of the Eastern Andes forests at the Cordillera del Condor mountain range.
Pucacuro National Reserve is a protected area in Peru, located in the region of Loreto.
Scaphyglottis is a genus of orchids native to Mexico, Central America, northern South America and parts of the Caribbean. The current concept of this genus is the result of combining several genera which have been described at various times. The concept is characterized by the growth habit: not only are new pseudobulbs added at the base of the old ones, but new pseudobulbs also grow at the apices of the old ones. Many species are quite similar and difficult to distinguish, but some are clearly distinct. A few have showy colors. The genus comprises nearly 70 species.
Niphidium crassifolium, commonly known as the graceful fern, is a species of fern in the family Polypodiaceae found in Central and South America. It is predominantly epiphytic, growing on other plants—for example, in the canopies of trees—but occasionally grows on rocks or on the ground, particularly at higher altitude. It has a rhizome from which many fine rootlets covered in dark reddish-brown scales grow. Together they form a root basket that, when growing on trees, helps to trap leaf litter and dust, forming a nutrient-rich soil that holds water. Its leaves are simple in shape, 13–85 centimetres (5–33 in) long and 3–5 centimetres (1.2–2.0 in) wide and when dry, and covered by a wax-like film. The sori are round and large, occurring in single rows between veins at the far end of the leaf.
The Negro–Branco moist forests (NT0143) is an ecoregion of tropical moist broadleaf forest to the east of the Andes in southern Venezuela, eastern Colombia and northern Brazil, in the Amazon biome. It lies on the watershed between the Orinoco and Rio Negro basins. It includes both blackwater and whitewater rivers, creating different types of seasonally flooded forest. The vegetation is more typical of the Guiana region than the Amazon.
