Editing Amazon rainforest (section)

==Biodiversity, flora and fauna==
{{See also|List of plants of the Amazon rainforest of Brazil|Fauna of the Amazon rainforest|Amazonian manatee}}
[[File:Giant Waxy Monkey Frog.jpg|thumb|[[Deforestation]] in the Amazon rainforest threatens many species of tree frogs, which are very sensitive to environmental changes (pictured: [[Phyllomedusa bicolor|giant leaf frog]])]]
[[File:Bauhinia guianensis, mature liana (9340889588).jpg|thumb|A giant, bundled [[liana]] in western Brazil]]

Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich [[biome]], and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia.<ref name="Turner 2001">Turner, I.M. (2001). ''The ecology of trees in the tropical rain forest''. [[Cambridge University Press]], Cambridge. {{ISBN|0-521-80183-4}}{{page needed|date=August 2019}}</ref> As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled [[biodiversity]]. One in ten known species in the world lives in the Amazon rainforest.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/wildplaces/amazon/index.cfm | title=Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Plants, Amazon River Animals | publisher=[[World Wide Fund for Nature]] | access-date=May 6, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517160541/http://worldwildlife.org/wildplaces/amazon/index.cfm | archive-date=May 17, 2008<!--DASHBot-->| url-status=live}}</ref> This constitutes the largest collection of living [[plant]]s and [[animal]] [[species]] in the [[world]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weisberger |first=Mindy |date=March 26, 2024 |title=Ancient giant dolphin discovered in the Amazon |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/26/world/giant-dolphin-fossil-amazon-pebanista-yacuruna-scn/index.html |access-date=March 29, 2024 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>

The region is home to about 2.5&nbsp;million insect [[species]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://travel.mongabay.com/brazil/brazil_amazon_index.htm |title=Photos / Pictures of the Amazon Rainforest |publisher=Travel.mongabay.com |access-date=December 18, 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081217091934/http://travel.mongabay.com/brazil/brazil_amazon_index.htm| archive-date= December 17, 2008 <!--DASHBot-->| url-status=live}}</ref> tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and [[mammal]]s. To date, at least 40,000 plant species,<ref>{{cite news |title=Rainforest |url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/rain-forest/ |work=National Geographic}}</ref> 2,200 [[Neotropical fish|fishes]],<ref name="AlbertReis2011">{{cite book|author1=James S. Albert|author2=Roberto E. Reis|title=Historical Biogeography of Neotropical Freshwater Fishes|url=http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520268685|access-date=June 28, 2011|date=March 8, 2011|publisher=University of California Press|page=308| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110630102154/http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520268685| archive-date= June 30, 2011 <!--DASHBot-->| url-status=live}}</ref> 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region.<ref name="Da Silva 2005">{{cite journal |author1=Da Silva |author2=Jose Maria Cardoso | title=The Fate of the Amazonian Areas of Endemism | journal=Conservation Biology | year=2005 | volume=19 | issue=3 | pages=689–694 | doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00705.x |bibcode=2005ConBi..19..689D |s2cid=85843442 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> One in five of all bird species are found in the Amazon rainforest, and one in five of the fish species live in Amazonian rivers and streams. Scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,843 [[invertebrate]] species in [[Brazil]] alone.<ref name="Lewinsohn 2005">{{cite journal | last = Lewinsohn | first = Thomas M. |author2=Paulo Inácio Prado |date=June 2005 | title = How Many Species Are There in Brazil? | journal=Conservation Biology | volume = 19 | issue = 3 | pages = 619–624 | doi = 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00680.x
| bibcode = 2005ConBi..19..619L | s2cid = 84691981 }}</ref>

The biodiversity of plant species is the highest on Earth with one 2001 study finding a quarter square kilometer (62 acres) of Ecuadorian rainforest supports more than 1,100 tree species.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Wright | first=S. Joseph | title=Plant diversity in tropical forests: a review of mechanisms of species coexistence | journal=Oecologia | date=October 12, 2001 | volume=130 | issue=1 | pages=1–14 | doi=10.1007/s004420100809| pmid=28547014 | bibcode=2002Oecol.130....1W | s2cid=4863115 }}</ref> A study in 1999 found one square kilometer (247 acres) of Amazon rainforest can contain about 90,790 tonnes of living plants. The average plant biomass is estimated at 356 ± 47 tonnes per hectare.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Laurance | first=William F. |author2=Fearnside, Philip M.|author3=Laurance, Susan G.|author4=Delamonica, Patricia|author5=Lovejoy, Thomas E.|author6=Rankin-de Merona, Judy M.|author7=Chambers, Jeffrey Q.|author8= Gascon, Claude | title=Relationship between soils and Amazon forest biomass: a landscape-scale study | journal=Forest Ecology and Management | date=June 14, 1999 | volume=118 | issue=1–3 | pages=127–138 | doi=10.1016/S0378-1127(98)00494-0| bibcode=1999ForEM.118..127L }}</ref> To date, an estimated 438,000 species of plants of economic and social interest have been registered in the region with many more remaining to be discovered or catalogued.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.travelsouth-america.com/amazon.html |title = Amazon Rainforest |publisher = South AmericaTravel Guide |access-date = August 19, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080812021245/http://www.travelsouth-america.com/amazon.html |archive-date = August 12, 2008 |url-status=dead |df = mdy-all
}}</ref> The total number of [[tree]] species in the region is estimated at 16,000.<ref name="eurekalert.org" />

The green leaf area of plants and trees in the rainforest varies by about 25% as a result of seasonal changes. Leaves expand during the dry season when sunlight is at a maximum, then undergo abscission in the cloudy wet season. These changes provide a balance of carbon between photosynthesis and respiration.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Mynenia, Ranga B. | title=Large seasonal swings in leaf area of Amazon rainforests | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | date=March 13, 2007 | volume=104 | pmid=17360360 | issue=12 | pages=4820–4823 | pmc=1820882 | doi=10.1073/pnas.0611338104 |bibcode = 2007PNAS..104.4820M |display-authors=etal| doi-access=free }}</ref>

Each hectare of the Amazon rainforest contains around 1&nbsp;billion [[invertebrate]]s. The number of species per hectare in the Amazon rainforest is presented in the following table:<ref>{{cite news |last1=Costa |first1=Camilla |title=Amazon under threat: Fires, loggers and now virus |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51300515 |access-date=November 14, 2023 |agency=BBC |date=May 21, 2020}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Number of species per hectare in the Amazon rainforest
|-
! Type of organism !! Number of species per hectare
|-
| [[Bird]]s || 160
|-
| [[Tree]]s || 310
|-
| [[Epiphyte]]s || 96
|-
| [[Reptile]] || 22
|-
| [[Amphibian]]s || 33
|-
| [[Fish]] || 44
|-
| [[Primate]]s || 10
|}
The rainforest contains several species that can pose a hazard. Among the largest predatory creatures are the [[black caiman]], [[jaguar]], [[cougar]], and [[anaconda]]. In the river, [[electric eel]]s can produce an electric shock that can stun or kill, while [[piranha]] are known to bite and injure humans.<ref>{{cite news | title=Piranha 'less deadly than feared' | date=July 2, 2007 | work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6259946.stm | access-date=July 2, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707045045/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6259946.stm | archive-date=July 7, 2007 <!--DASHBot-->| url-status=live}}</ref> Various species of [[poison dart frog]]s secrete [[lipophilic]] [[alkaloid]] toxins through their flesh. There are also numerous parasites and disease vectors. [[Vampire bat]]s dwell in the rainforest and can spread the [[rabies]] virus.<ref>{{cite journal | author1=da Rosa | author2=Elizabeth S. T. | title=Bat-transmitted Human Rabies Outbreaks, Brazilian Amazon | journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |date=August 2006 | volume=12 | issue=8 | pages=1197–1202 | pmid=16965697 | pmc=3291204 | doi=10.3201/eid1708.050929|display-authors=etal}}</ref> [[Malaria]], [[yellow fever]] and [[dengue fever]] can also be contracted in the Amazon region.

The biodiversity in the Amazon is becoming increasingly threatened, primarily by habitat loss from deforestation as well as increased frequency of fires. Over 90% of Amazonian plant and vertebrate species (13,000–14,000 in total) may have been impacted to some degree by fires.<ref name="Feng-2021">{{Cite journal|last1=Feng|first1=Xiao|last2=Merow|first2=Cory|last3=Liu|first3=Zhihua|last4=Park|first4=Daniel S.|last5=Roehrdanz|first5=Patrick R.|last6=Maitner|first6=Brian|last7=Newman|first7=Erica A.|last8=Boyle|first8=Brad L.|last9=Lien|first9=Aaron|last10=Burger|first10=Joseph R.|last11=Pires|first11=Mathias M.|date=September 1, 2021|title=How deregulation, drought and increasing fire impact Amazonian biodiversity|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03876-7|journal=Nature|volume=597|issue=7877|language=en|pages=516–521|doi=10.1038/s41586-021-03876-7|pmid=34471291|bibcode=2021Natur.597..516F|s2cid=237388791|issn=1476-4687|access-date=September 11, 2021|archive-date=September 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210912203827/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03876-7|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
{{clear}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="120">
File:Hoatzins in Brazil.jpg|[[Hoatzin]]
File:Avicularia-geroldi-subadult.jpg|[[Mygalomorphae]]
File:Giant Centipede (Scolopendra gigantea) over 40 cm long - Preserved Specimen.jpg|[[Scolopendra gigantea|Giant Amazonian centipede]]
File:Purus Red Howler Monkey.jpg|[[Howler monkey]]
File:Heliconia aemygdiana (14551077262).jpg|''[[Heliconia]]''
File:Manuel Antonio (43).JPG|[[Brown-throated sloth]]
File:Emperor Tamarin (EXPLORE) (9714001143).jpg|[[Emperor tamarin]]
File:Dendrobates azureus (Dendrobates tinctorius) Edit.jpg|[[Blue poison dart frog]]
File:Uakari male.jpg|[[Bald uakari]]
File:Eunectes murinus.jpg|[[Green anaconda]]
File:Black caiman Macrofotografie 2.jpg|[[Black caiman]]
File:Standing jaguar.jpg|[[Jaguar]]
File:Isulas (8583611782).jpg|[[Paraponera clavata|Bullet ants]] have an extremely painful sting
File:Many parrots -Anangu, Yasuni National Park, Ecuador -clay lick-8.jpg|Parrots at clay lick in [[Yasuni National Park]], Ecuador
File:Pipa pipa01.jpg|[[Common Surinam toad|''Pipa pipa'']], a species of frog found within the Amazon.
File:Ara macao - two at Lowry Park Zoo.jpg|[[Scarlet macaw]], indigenous to the American tropics.
File:Titanus giganteus MHNT dos.jpg|[[Titan beetle|Titan Beetle]] is most generally associated with the Amazon Rainforest, it may also be found in other parts of South America if ecological conditions are favorable
</gallery>