Amazon Basin Essay

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The Amazon Basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries that drains an area of about 6,915,000 km2(2,670,000 sq mi), or roughly 40 percent of South America. The basin is located in the countries of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru,Suriname and Venezuela.[2] Most of the basin is covered by the Amazon rainforest, also known as Amazonia. With a 5,500,000 km2 (2,100,000 sq mi) area of dense tropical forest, this is the largest rainforest in the world. Plant life As much of the Amazon is unexplored, many of its indigenous plants and animals are unknown. Plant growth is dense and its variety of animals inhabitants is comparatively high due to the heavy rainfall and the dense and extensive evergreen and coniferous forests. The forest cover is in fact so thick that a dense "roof" is created by the leaves and branches, which does not allow the sunlight to reach the ground. The ground remains dark and damp and only shade tolerant trees and vegetation will grow here. Orchids and bromeliads exploit trees and other plants to get closer to the sunlight. They grow hanging onto the branches or tree trunks with aerial roots, not as parasites but as epiphytes. One tropical fruit tree that is native to the Amazon is the abiu. The Amazon Basin contains thousands of plant species. The bromeliads are special in that they hold water, and frogs may use these plants to hatch their eggs, besides many other living organisms that have their homes in them. Animal life Mammals[edit] More than 14,000 species of mammal are found in the Amazon, the majority of which are bats and rodents. Mammals include the Jaguar, Ocelot, Capybara and South America's largest mammal the . Birds About 1500 bird species inhabit the Amazon Basin.[3] Macaws are famous for gathering by the hundreds, even thousands, along the clay cliffs of the Amazon river

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