Neotropical realm

For the musical artist, see Neotropic (band).

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.

Definition

The Neotropical realm and its subdivisions

In biogeography, the Neotropic or Neotropical realm is one of the eight terrestrial realms. This realm includes South America, Central America, the Caribbean Islands, and southern North America. In Mexico, the Yucatán Peninsula and southern lowlands, and most of the east and west coastlines, including the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula are Neotropical. In the United States southern Florida and coastal Central Florida are considered Neotropical.

The realm also includes temperate southern South America. In contrast, the Neotropical Floristic Kingdom excludes southernmost South America, which instead is placed in the Antarctic kingdom.

The Neotropic is delimited by similarities in fauna or flora. Its fauna and flora are distinct from the Nearctic realm (which includes most of North America) because of the long separation of the two continents. The formation of the Isthmus of Panama joined the two continents two to three million years ago, precipitating the Great American Interchange, an important biogeographical event.

The Neotropic includes more tropical rainforest (tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests) than any other realm, extending from southern Mexico through Central America and northern South America to southern Brazil, including the vast Amazon rainforest. These rainforest ecoregions are one of the most important reserves of biodiversity on Earth. These rainforests are also home to a diverse array of indigenous peoples, who to varying degrees persist in their autonomous and traditional cultures and subsistence within this environment. The number of these peoples who are as yet relatively untouched by external influences continues to decline significantly, however, along with the near-exponential expansion of urbanization, roads, pastoralism and forest industries which encroach on their customary lands and environment. Nevertheless, amidst these declining circumstances this vast "reservoir" of human diversity continues to survive, albeit much depleted. In South America alone, some 350–400 indigenous languages and dialects are still living (down from an estimated 1,500 at the time of first European contact), in about 37 distinct language families and a further number of unclassified and isolate languages. Many of these languages and their cultures are also endangered. Accordingly, conservation in the Neotropical realm is a hot political concern, and raises many arguments about development versus indigenous versus ecological rights and access to or ownership of natural resources.

Major ecological regions

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) subdivides the realm into bioregions, defined as "geographic clusters of ecoregions that may span several habitat types, but have strong biogeographic affinities, particularly at taxonomic levels higher than the species level (genus, family)."

Laurel forest and other cloud forest are subtropical and mild temperate forest, found in areas with high humidity and relatively stable and mild temperatures. Tropical rainforest, tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests are highlight in Southern North America, Amazonia, Caribbean, Central America, Northern Andes and Central Andes.

Amazonia

The Amazonia bioregion is mostly covered by tropical moist broadleaf forest, including the vast Amazon rainforest, which stretches from the Andes Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, and the lowland forests of the Guianas. The bioregion also includes tropical savanna and tropical dry forest ecoregions.

Caribbean

Main article: Caribbean bioregion

Central America

Main article: Central America bioregion

Central Andes

Main article: Andes

The Central Andes lie between the gulfs of Guayaquil and Penas and thus encompass southern Ecuador, Chile, Peru, western Bolivia, and northwest and western Argentina.

Eastern South America

Eastern South America includes the Caatinga xeric shrublands of northeastern Brazil, the broad Cerrado grasslands and savannas of the Brazilian Plateau, and the Pantanal and Chaco grasslands. The diverse Atlantic forests of eastern Brazil are separated from the forests of Amazonia by the Caatinga and Cerrado, and are home to a distinct flora and fauna.

Northern Andes

Main article: Andes

North of the Gulf of Guayaquil in Ecuador and Colombia, a series of accreted oceanic terranes (discrete allochthonous fragments) have developed that constitute the Baudo, or Coastal, Mountains and the Cordillera Occidental.

Orinoco

The Orinoco is a region of humid forested broadleaf forest and wetland primarily comprising the drainage basin for the Orinoco River and other adjacent lowland forested areas. This region includes most of Venezuela and parts of Colombia, as well as Trinidad and Tobago.

Southern South America

See also: Southern South America

The temperate forest ecoregions of southwestern South America, including the temperate rain forests of the Valdivian temperate rain forests and Magellanic subpolar forests ecoregions, and the Juan Fernández Islands and Desventuradas Islands, are a refuge for the ancient Antarctic flora, which includes trees like the southern beech (Nothofagus), podocarps, the alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides), and Araucaria pines like the monkey-puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana). These rainforests are endangered by extensive logging and their replacement by fast-growing non-native pines and eucalyptus.

History

See also: History of South America

South America was originally part of the supercontinent of Gondwana, which included Africa, Australia, India, New Zealand, and Antarctica, and the Neotropic shares many plant and animal lineages with these other continents, including marsupial mammals and the Antarctic flora.

After the final breakup of the Gondwana about 110 million years ago, South America was separated from Africa and drifted north and west. 66 million years ago, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event altered local flora and fauna. Much later, about two to three million years ago, South America was joined with North America by the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, which allowed a biotic exchange between the two continents, the Great American Interchange. South American species like the ancestors of the Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) and the armadillo moved into North America, and North Americans like the ancestors of South America's camelids, including the llama (Lama glama), moved south. The long-term effect of the exchange was the extinction of many South American species, mostly by outcompetition by northern species.

Endemic animals and plants

Animals

The Neotropical realm has 31 endemic bird families, which is over twice the number of any other realm. They include tanagers, rheas, tinamous, curassows, antbirds, ovenbirds, toucans, and seriemas. Bird families originally unique to the Neotropics include hummingbirds (family Trochilidae) and wrens (family Troglodytidae).

Mammal groups originally unique to the Neotropics include:

• Order Xenarthra: anteaters, sloths, and armadillos
• New World monkeys
• Solenodontidae, the solenodons
• Caviomorpha rodents, including capybaras, guinea pigs, hutias, and chinchillas
• American opossums (order Didelphimorphia) and shrew opossums (order Paucituberculata)

The Neotropical realm has 63 endemic fish families and subfamilies, which is more than any other realm. Neotropical fishes include more than 5,700 species, and represent at least 66 distinct lineages in continental freshwaters (Albert and Reis, 2011). The well-known red-bellied piranha is endemic to the Neotropic realm, occupying a larger geographic area than any other piranha species. Some fish groups originally unique to the Neotropics include:

• Order Gymnotiformes: Neotropical electric fishes
• Family Characidae: tetras and allies
• Family Loricariidae: armoured catfishes
• Subfamily Cichlinae: Neotropical cichlids
• Subfamily Poeciliinae: guppies and relatives

Examples of other animal groups that are entirely or mainly restricted to the Neotropical region include:

• Caimans
• New World coral snakes
• Poison dart frogs
• Dactyloidae ("anoles")
• Rock iguanas (Cyclura)
• Preponini and Anaeini butterflies (including Agrias)
• Brassolini and Morphini butterflies (including Caligo and Morpho)
• Callicorini butterflies
• Heliconiini butterflies
• Ithomiini butterflies
• Riodininae butterflies
• Eumaeini butterflies
• Firetips or firetail skipper butterflies
• Euglossini bees
• Augochlorini bees
• Pseudostigmatidae ("giant damselflies")
• Mantoididae (short-bodied mantises)
• Canopidae, Megarididae, and Phloeidae (pentatomoid bugs)
• Aetalionidae and Melizoderidae (treehoppers)
• Gonyleptidae (harvestmen)

Plants

According to Simberloff. as of 1984 there were a total of 92,128 species of flowering plants (Angiosperms) in the Neotropics. Plant families endemic and partly subendemic to the realm are, according to Takhtajan (1978), Hymenophyllopsidaceae, Marcgraviaceae, Caryocaraceae, Pellicieraceae, Quiinaceae, Peridiscaceae, Bixaceae, Cochlospermaceae, Tovariaceae, Lissocarpaceae (Lissocarpa), Brunelliaceae, Dulongiaceae, Columelliaceae, Julianiaceae, Picrodendraceae, Goupiaceae, Desfontainiaceae, Plocospermataceae, Tropaeolaceae, Dialypetalanthaceae (Dialypetalanthus), Nolanaceae (Nolana), Calyceraceae, Heliconiaceae, Cannaceae, Thurniaceae and Cyclanthaceae.

Plant families that originated in the Neotropic include Bromeliaceae, Cannaceae and Heliconiaceae.

Plant species with economic importance originally unique to the Neotropic include:

• Potato (Solanum tuberosum)
• Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)
• Cacao tree (Theobroma cacao), source of cocoa and chocolate
• Maize (Zea mays)
• Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis)
• Guava (Psidium guajava)
• Lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus)
• Cotton (Gossypium barbadense)
• Cassava (Manihot esculenta)
• Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas)
• Amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus)
• Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa)

Neotropical terrestrial ecoregions

Neotropical tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions
Alto Paraná Atlantic forests	Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay
Araucaria moist forests	Argentina, Brazil
Atlantic Coast restingas	Brazil
Bahia coastal forests	Brazil
Bahia interior forests	Brazil
Bolivian Yungas	Bolivia, Peru
Caatinga enclaves moist forests	Brazil
Caquetá moist forests	Brazil, Colombia
Catatumbo moist forests	Venezuela
Cauca Valley montane forests	Colombia
Cayos Miskitos–San Andrés and Providencia moist forests	Colombia, Nicaragua
Central American Atlantic moist forests	Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama
Central American montane forests	El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua
Chiapas montane forests	Mexico
Chimalapas montane forests	Mexico
Chocó–Darién moist forests	Colombia, Ecuador, Panama
Cocos Island moist forests	Costa Rica
Cordillera de la Costa montane forests	Venezuela
Cordillera Oriental montane forests	Colombia, Venezuela
Costa Rican seasonal moist forests	Costa Rica, Nicaragua
Cuban moist forests	Cuba
Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests	Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Eastern Panamanian montane forests	Colombia, Panama
Fernando de Noronha-Atol das Rocas moist forests	Brazil
Guayanan Highlands moist forests	Brazil, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
Guianan moist forests	Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
Guianan piedmont and lowland moist forests	Brazil, Venezuela
Gurupa várzea	Brazil
Hispaniolan moist forests	Dominican Republic, Haiti
Iquitos várzea	Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
Isthmian–Atlantic moist forests	Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama
Isthmian–Pacific moist forests	Costa Rica, Panama
Jamaican moist forests	Jamaica
Japurá–Solimões–Negro moist forests	Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela
Juruá–Purus moist forests	Brazil
Leeward Islands moist forests	Antigua, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Nevis, Saint Kitts, British Virgin Islands
Madeira–Tapajós moist forests	Bolivia, Brazil
Magdalena Valley montane forests	Colombia
Magdalena–Urabá moist forests	Colombia
Marajó várzea	Brazil
Maranhão Babaçu forests	Brazil
Mato Grosso tropical dry forests	Brazil
Monte Alegre várzea	Brazil
Napo moist forests	Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Negro–Branco moist forests	Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela
Northeastern Brazil restingas	Brazil
Northwestern Andean montane forests	Colombia, Ecuador
Oaxacan montane forests	Mexico
Orinoco Delta swamp forests	Guyana, Venezuela
Pantanos de Centla	Mexico
Paramaribo swamp forests	Guyana, Suriname
Pernambuco coastal forests	Brazil
Pernambuco interior forests	Brazil
Peruvian Yungas	Peru
Petén–Veracruz moist forests	Mexico
Puerto Rican moist forests	Puerto Rico
Purus várzea	Brazil
Purus–Madeira moist forests	Brazil
Rio Negro campinarana	Brazil, Colombia
Santa Marta montane forests	Colombia
Serra do Mar coastal forests	Brazil
Sierra de los Tuxtlas	Mexico
Sierra Madre de Chiapas moist forests	El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico
Solimões–Japurá moist forests	Brazil, Colombia, Peru
South Florida rocklands	United States
Southern Andean Yungas	Argentina, Bolivia
Southwest Amazon moist forests	Bolivia, Brazil, Peru
Talamancan montane forests	Costa Rica, Panama
Tapajós–Xingu moist forests	Brazil
Tepuis	Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
Tocantins–Araguaia–Maranhão moist forests	Brazil
Trinidad and Tobago moist forests	Trinidad and Tobago
Trindade-Martin Vaz Islands tropical forests	Brazil
Uatuma–Trombetas moist forests	Brazil, Guyana, Suriname
Ucayali moist forests	Peru
Venezuelan Andes montane forests	Colombia, Venezuela
Veracruz moist forests	Mexico
Veracruz montane forests	Mexico
Western Ecuador moist forests	Colombia, Ecuador
Windward Islands moist forests	Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Xingu–Tocantins–Araguaia moist forests	Brazil
Yucatán moist forests	Belize, Guatemala, Mexico

Neotropical tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests ecoregions
Apure–Villavicencio dry forests	Venezuela
Atlantic dry forests	Brazil
Bahamian dry forests	Bahamas
Bajío dry forests	Mexico
Balsas dry forests	Mexico
Bolivian montane dry forests	Bolivia
Cauca Valley dry forests	Colombia
Cayman Islands dry forests	Cayman Islands
Central American dry forests	Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua
Gran Chaco	Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia
Chiapas Depression dry forests	Guatemala, Mexico
Chiquitano dry forests	Bolivia, Brazil
Cuban dry forests	Cuba
Ecuadorian dry forests	Ecuador
Hispaniolan dry forests	Dominican Republic, Haiti
Jalisco dry forests	Mexico
Jamaican dry forests	Jamaica
Lara–Falcón dry forests	Venezuela
Lesser Antillean dry forests	Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Montserrat, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Magdalena Valley dry forests	Colombia
Maracaibo dry forests	Venezuela
Marañón dry forests	Peru
Panamanian dry forests	Panama
Patía Valley dry forests	Colombia
Puerto Rican dry forests	Puerto Rico
Revillagigedo Islands dry forests	Mexico
Sierra de la Laguna dry forests	Mexico
Sinaloan dry forests	Mexico
Sinu Valley dry forests	Colombia
Southern Pacific dry forests	Mexico
Trinidad and Tobago dry forests	Trinidad and Tobago
Tumbes–Piura dry forests	Ecuador, Peru
Veracruz dry forests	Mexico
Yucatán dry forests	Mexico

Neotropical tropical and subtropical coniferous forests ecoregions
Bahamian pineyards	The Bahamas
Belizian pine forests	Belize
Central American pine–oak forests	El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua
Cuban pine forests	Cuba
Hispaniolan pine forests	Haiti, Dominican Republic
Miskito pine forests	Honduras, Nicaragua
Sierra de la Laguna pine–oak forests	Mexico
Sierra Madre de Oaxaca pine–oak forests	Mexico
Sierra Madre del Sur pine–oak forests	Mexico
Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine–oak forests	Mexico

Neotropical temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregions
Juan Fernandez Islands temperate forests	Chile
Magellanic subpolar forests	Argentina, Chile
San Félix–San Ambrosio Islands temperate forests	Chile
Valdivian temperate forests	Argentina, Chile

Neotropical tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregions
Beni savanna	Bolivia
Campos rupestres	Brazil
Cerrado	Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay
Clipperton Island shrub and grasslands	Clipperton Island is an overseas territory of France
Córdoba montane savanna	Argentina
Guianan savanna	Brazil, Guyana, Venezuela
Humid Chaco	Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay
Llanos	Venezuela, Colombia
Uruguayan savanna	Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay

Neotropical temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregions
Argentine Espinal	Argentina
Argentine Monte	Argentina
Humid Pampas	Argentina, Uruguay
Patagonian grasslands	Argentina, Chile, United Kingdom (Falkland Islands)
Patagonian steppe	Argentina, Chile, United Kingdom (Falkland Islands)
Semi-arid Pampas	Argentina

Neotropical flooded grasslands and savannas ecoregions
Central Mexican wetlands	Mexico
Cuban wetlands	Cuba
Enriquillo wetlands	Dominican Republic, Haiti
Everglades	United States
Guayaquil flooded grasslands	Ecuador
Orinoco wetlands	Venezuela
Pantanal	Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay
Paraná flooded savanna	Argentina
Southern Cone Mesopotamian savanna	Argentina

Neotropical montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregions
Central Andean dry puna	Argentina, Bolivia, Chile
Central Andean puna	Argentina, Bolivia, Peru
Central Andean wet puna	Bolivia, Peru
Cordillera Central páramo	Ecuador, Peru
Cordillera de Merida páramo	Venezuela
High Monte	Argentina
Northern Andean páramo	Colombia, Ecuador
Santa Marta páramo	Colombia
Talamanca Paramo	Costa Rica, Panama
Southern Andean steppe	Argentina, Chile
Zacatonal	Mexico, Guatemala

Neotropical Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregions
Chilean Matorral	Chile

Neotropical deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregions
Araya and Paria xeric scrub	Venezuela
Aruba–Curaçao–Bonaire cactus scrub	Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao
Atacama Desert	Chile, Peru
Caatinga	Brazil
Cayman Islands xeric scrub	Cayman Islands
Cuban cactus scrub	Cuba
Galápagos Islands xeric scrub	Ecuador
Guajira–Barranquilla xeric scrub	Colombia, Venezuela
La Costa xeric shrublands	Venezuela
Leeward Islands xeric scrub	Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, Saba, US Virgin Islands
Malpelo Island xeric scrub	Colombia
Motagua Valley thornscrub	Guatemala
Paraguana xeric scrub	Venezuela
San Lucan xeric scrub	Mexico
Sechura Desert	Peru
Tehuacán Valley matorral	Mexico
Windward Islands xeric scrub	Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago	Brazil

Neotropical mangroves ecoregions
Alvarado mangroves	Mexico
Amapá mangroves	Brazil
Bahamian mangroves	Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands
Bahia mangroves	Brazil
Belizean Coast mangroves	Belize
Belizean reef mangroves	Belize
Bocas del Toro–San Bastimentos Island–San Blas mangroves	Costa Rica, Panama
Coastal Venezuelan mangroves	Venezuela
Esmeraldas–Pacific Colombia mangroves	Colombia, Ecuador
Florida mangroves	United States
Greater Antilles mangroves	Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico
Guianan mangroves	French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
Gulf of Fonseca mangroves	El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua
Gulf of Guayaquil–Tumbes mangroves	Ecuador, Peru
Gulf of Panama mangroves	Panama
Ilha Grande mangroves	Brazil
Lesser Antilles mangroves	Lesser Antilles
Magdalena–Santa Marta mangroves	Colombia
Manabí mangroves	Ecuador
Maranhão mangroves	Brazil
Marismas Nacionales–San Blas mangroves	Mexico
Mayan Corridor mangroves	Mexico
Mexican South Pacific Coast mangroves	Mexico
Moist Pacific Coast mangroves	Costa Rica, Panama
Mosquitia–Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast mangroves	Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua
Northern Dry Pacific Coast mangroves	El Salvador, Guatemala
Northern Honduras mangroves	Guatemala, Honduras
Pará mangroves	Brazil
Petenes mangroves	Mexico
Piura mangroves	Peru
Ría Lagartos mangroves	Mexico
Rio Negro–Rio San Sun mangroves	Costa Rica, Nicaragua
Rio Piranhas mangroves	Brazil
Rio São Francisco mangroves	Brazil
Southern Dry Pacific Coast mangroves	Costa Rica, Nicaragua
Tehuantepec–El Manchón mangroves	Mexico
Trinidad mangroves	Trinidad and Tobago
Usumacinta mangroves	Mexico

General and cited bibliography

• Albert, J. S., and R. E. Reis (2011). Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes. University of California Press, Berkeley. 424 pp. ISBN 978-0-520-26868-5.
• Bequaert, Joseph C. "An Introductory Study of Polistes in the United States and Canada with Descriptions of Some New North and South American Forms (Hymenoptera; Vespidæ)". Journal of the New York Entomological Society 48.1 (1940): 1-31.
• Cox, C. B.; P. D. Moore (1985). Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach (Fourth Edition). Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
• Dinerstein, E., Olson, D. Graham, D. J. et al. (1995). A Conservation Assessment of the Terrestrial Ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean. World Bank, Washington, D.C.
• Olson, D. M., B. Chernoff, G. Burgess, I. Davidson, P. Canevari, E. Dinerstein, G. Castro, V. Morisset, R. Abell, and E. Toledo. 1997. Freshwater biodiversity of Latin America and the Caribbean: a conservation assessment. Draft report. World Wildlife Fund-U.S., Wetlands International, Biodiversity Support Program, and United States Agency for International Development, Washington, D.C.
• Reis, R. E., S. O. Kullander, and C. J. Ferraris Jr. 2003. Check List of the Freshwater Fishes of South and Central America. Edipucrs, Porto Alegre. 729 pp.
• Udvardy, M. D. F. (1975). A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world. IUCN Occasional Paper no. 18. Morges, Switzerland: IUCN.
• van der Sleen, Peter, and James S. Albert, eds. Field Guide to the Fishes of the Amazon, Orinoco, and Guianas. Princeton University Press, 2017.

External links

• List of terrestrial ecoregions
• Eco-Index, a bilingual searchable reference of conservation and research projects in the Neotropics; a service of the Rainforest Alliance
• NeoTropic
• Acosta, Guillermo et al., 2018. "Climate change and peopling of the Neotropics during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition". Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana. doi:10.18268/BSGM2018v70n1a1.