Flora and fauna of Bolivia

Given the great diversity of ecosystems in Bolivia , this country has an extraordinary biodiversity. Bolivia ranks 8th in terms of amount of biological diversity, with 205 ecosystems, 7 biomes, and 36 ecological regions. We encourage you to read these other articles about What is the diversity of ecosystems and examples and The ecoregions of Bolivia and their characteristics .

The biodiversity of Bolivia is home to 3,000 species of vertebrates, including 422 species of mammals, 642 species of fish, 1,450 species of birds, 378 species of amphibians and 300 species of reptiles are found, along with several thousand species plants.

As mentioned above, the geography of this country has contributed to such biodiversity. On the one hand, the climate of BoliviaIt presents a lot of variation depending on the region and the altitude, as well as important contrasts between day and night, although, on average, it is a temperate climate. The climate of this country is mainly divided into two annual seasons: the dry season and the wet season, with an important rainy season. On the other hand, its high variety of landscapes is relevant, among which the Amazon basin and the highlands stand out. The Amazon basin is considered to be home to the largest percentage of diversity of wild species on the planet, and there are otters, anteaters, jaguars, parrots, monkeys and turtles, among many more. The altiplano is the place where most of the llamas and alpacas live, along with the vicuñas, the vizcachas and the flamingos of the South Lipez.

The vegetation of Bolivia is extraordinary and most of its flora species is centered in the Amazon rainforest . Bolivia is ranked fifth in South America in terms of plant species diversity, and 10th in the world, according to its taxonomic classification and the number of endemic species it presents. And, have you ever wondered how many species of plants there are in Bolivia ? The answer is more than 40,000 species of flora, an important part of which are endemic. A large percentage of this diversity of plants is found in the Andes area. Throughout the extension of this country, there are forests of subtropical humid type, semi-humid montane, semi-humid low, semi-arid low and the Yungas forest. Also include wetlands , puna , savannah and rainforest.

Some of the most common Bolivian trees, shrubs and plants are:

• The Palm trees.
• The ferns.
• The orchids.
• Coca.
• Cassava.
• Bananas.
• The corn.
• The chili.
• The churqui.
• The chañar.
• El mistol.
• The tacuara.
• The cupesi (carob).
• The palo santo.

It is worth mentioning that the flora of Bolivia is experiencing a very accelerated destruction, presenting one of the highest rates of deforestation. To all this, we must add the fires, since this country has one of the highest records in terms of heat sources.

The biodiversity of Bolivia also includes a great diversity of its fauna. In fact, this country is located in the Neotropical region, recognized as an area of ​​high diversity and, in addition, its wild fauna is part of the Renewable Natural Resources of the country. The fauna of this country is normally classified into four different regions: the Andean district, the sub-Andean district, the tropical district, and the Chaco district.

The most typical Bolivian animals are:

• The alpaca .
• The jaguar .
• The Maned Wolf.
• The giant otter.
• The Andean flamenco.
• The spectacled bear .
• The capybara.
• The Andean condor.
• The dolphin of the Amazon river.
• The vizcacha.
• Piranha.
• The lazy bear.
• The tapir .
• The chinchilla.
• The deer.
• The alligator.
• The Anaconda.

As for marine fauna, there are animals such as the stingray, the dorado, the eel, the pacú or the palometa.

To finish knowing the flora and fauna of Bolivia, we mention several animals of Bolivia in danger of extinction :

• Satan beetle ( Dynastes satanas )
• Andean rhea or Cordilleran rhea ( Rhea pennata )
• Andean cat ( Leopardus jacobita )
• Bolivian pink dolphin ( Inia geoffrensis )
• Pecarí quilimero (Catagonus wagneri)
• Armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus)
• Andean condor ( Vultur gryphus )
• Puma or mountain lion ( Puma concolor )
• Andean cat ( Leopardus jacobita )
• Otter o giant nutria ( Pteronura brasiliensis )
• Bolivian chinchilla rat ( Abrocoma boliviensis )
• Guanaco (Lama guanicoe)
• Emperor marmoset ( Saguinus imperator )
• Guacamayo (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus)
• Oso Andino ( Tremarctos array )
• Titicaca giant frog ( Telmatobius culeus )
• Falso vampiro (Vampyrum spectrum)

In this other post we tell you more about the Animals in danger of extinction in Bolivia .

If you want to read more articles similar to Flora and fauna of Bolivia , we recommend that you enter our Biodiversity category .