Neotropic ecozone
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{{For|the musical artist|Neotropic (band)}}
In [[biogeography]], '''Neotropic''' or '''Neotropical''' refers to one of the world's eight terrestrial [[ecozone]]s.
This ecozone includes South and Central America, the [[Mexico|Mexican]] lowlands, the [[Caribbean]] islands, and southern [[Florida]], because these regions share a large number of plant and animal groups.
It is sometimes used as a synonym for the tropical area of South America, although the ecozone also includes temperate southern South America. The Neotropical [[floristic province|Floristic Kingdom]] excludes southernmost [[South America]], which instead is placed in the [[Floristic kingdom#Antarctic Kingdom|Antarctic Kingdom]].
The Neotropics is delimited by similarities in [[fauna]] or [[flora]]. Its fauna and flora are distinct from the [[Nearctic]] (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 2 to 3 million years ago.
[[Image:Ecozone Neotropic.svg|thumb|The Neotropic Ecozone]]
The Neotropic includes more tropical rainforest ([[tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests]]) than any other ecozone, 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]]. Extensive [[deforestation]] in the late 20th century has reduced this diversity to a degree.
These rainforests are also home to a diverse array of [[indigenous peoples]], who to varying degrees persist in their autonomous and traditional [[culture]]s and [[list of subsistence techniques|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]], [[highway|roads]], [[pastoralism]] and [[forest industry|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 of the Americas|indigenous languages and dialects]] are still living (down from an estimated 1,500 at the time of [[European colonization of the Americas|first European contact]]), in about 37 distinct [[language families]] and a further number of [[unclassified languages|unclassified]] and [[language isolate|isolate languages]]. Many of these languages and their cultures are also endangered. Accordingly, [[conservation ethic|conservation]] in the Neotropic zone is a hot political concern, and raises many arguments about development versus indigenous versus ecological rights and access to / ownership of [[natural resources]].
==Major ecological regions==
The WWF subdivides the ecozone 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)."
===Amazonia===
The Amazonia bioregion is mostly covered by [[tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests|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 [[Guyanas]]. The bioregion also includes [[tropical savanna]] and [[tropical dry forest]] ecoregions.
===Caribbean===
===Central America===
===Central Andes===
===Eastern South America===
Eastern South America includes the [[Caatinga]] [[deserts and xeric shrublands|xeric shrublands]] of northeastern Brazil, the broad [[Cerrado]] grasslands and savannas of the [[Brazilian Plateau]], and the [[Pantanal]] and [[Gran Chaco|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===
===Orinoco===
===Southern South America===
The temperate forest ecoregions of southwestern South America, including the [[temperate rain forest]]s of the [[Valdivian temperate rain forests]] and [[Magellanic subpolar forests]] ecoregions, and the [[Juan Fernandez Islands]] and [[Desventuradas Islands]], are a refuge for the ancient [[Antarctic flora]], which includes trees like the [[southern beech]] (''Nothofagus''), [[Podocarpaceae|podocarps]], the [[alerce]] (''Fitzroya cupressoides''), and [[Araucaria]] pines like the monkey-puzzle tree (''Araucaria araucana''). These magnificent rainforests are endangered by extensive logging and their replacement by fast-growing non-native pines and [[eucalyptus]].
==History==
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, South America drifted north and west, and was later 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 [[camelid]]s, 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===
Thirty-one [[bird]] families are endemic to the Neotropic ecozone, over twice the number of any other ecozone. They include [[rhea (bird)|rhea]]s, [[tinamou]]s, [[curassow]]s, and [[toucan]]s. Bird families originally unique to the Neotropics include [[hummingbird]]s (family Trochilidae) and [[wren]]s (family Troglodytidae).
[[Mammal]] groups originally unique to the Neotropics include:
* Order ''[[Xenarthra]]'': [[anteater]]s, [[sloth]]s, and [[armadillo]]s
* [[New World monkey]]s
* [[Caviomorpha]] [[rodent]]s, including [[capybara]]s and [[guinea pig]]s, and [[chinchilla]]s
* American opossums (order ''[[Didelphimorphia]]'') and shrew opossums (order ''[[Paucituberculata]]'')
Examples of groups that are entirely or mainly restricted to the Neotropical region include
* [[New World Monkey]]s
* [[Sloth]]s
* [[Tinamou]]s
* [[Hummingbird]]s
* [[Toucan]]s
* [[Ovenbird (family)|Ovenbird]]s
* [[Antbird]]s
* [[Tanager]]s
* [[Caiman]]s
* [[coral snake|New World Coral Snakes]]
* [[Poison Dart Frog]]s
* [[Gonyleptidae]]
===Plants===
Plant families that originated in the Neotropic include [[Bromeliaceae]], [[Cannaceae]], and [[Heliconiaceae]].
Plant species originally unique to the Neotropic include:
* [[Potato]] (''Solanum tuberosum'')
* [[Tomato]] (''Solanum lycopersicum'')
* [[Cacao]] tree (''Theobroma cacao''), source of [[cocoa]] and [[chocolate]]
* [[Maize]] (''Zea mays'')
==Neotropic Terrestrial Ecoregions==
{{Neotropic tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests}}
{{Neotropic tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests}}
{{Neotropic tropical and subtropical coniferous forests}}
{{Neotropic temperate broadleaf and mixed forests}}
{{Neotropic tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands}}
{{Neotropic temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands}}
{{Neotropic flooded grasslands and savannas}}
{{Neotropic montane grasslands and shrublands}}
{{Neotropic mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub}}
{{Neotropic deserts and xeric shrublands}}
{{Neotropic mangrove}}
{{terrestrial_biomes}}
{{Ecozones}}
==External links==
*{{commons-inline|Neotropic}}
* [http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/ecoregions/maps/index.cfm Map of the ecozones]
* [http://www.eco-index.org Eco-Index], a bilingual searchable reference of conservation and research projects in the Neotropics; a service of the Rainforest Alliance
==References==
* Cox, C. Barry; Peter D. Moore (1985). ''Biogeography: An Ecological and Evolutionary Approach (Fourth Edition).'' Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford.
* Dinerstein, Eric; David Olson; Douglas J. Graham; et al. (1995). ''A Conservation Assessment of the Terrestrial Ecoregions of Latin America and the Caribbean.'' World Bank, Washington DC.
* Schultz, J.: The Ecozones of the World, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2n ed. 2005. ISBN 3540200142
* Udvardy, M. D. F. (1975). ''A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world''. IUCN Occasional Paper no. 18. Morges, Switzerland: IUCN.
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[[Category:Biogeography]]
[[Category:Neotropic]]
[[Category:Tropics]]
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