Chapter 12 Other Tropical Ecosystems: From the Mountains to the Rivers to the Sea

FIGURE 12-1 Vegetation belts in the Cordillera Oriental () shown schematically.

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Copyright The Princeton University Press. Permission required for or display. PLATE 12-1 Clouds are beginning to cover this Ecuadorian as afternoon approaches. PLATE 12-2 This cloud forest in Venezuela contains numerous conifers (foreground). The fog has fully engulfed the forest. PLATE 12-3 Tree ferns are common in cloud forests.

PLATE 12-4 Cloud forests have an abundance of epiphytes, as is evident in this image. PLATE 12-5 ELFIN-WOODS WARBLER PLATE 12-6 SPECTACLED BEAR

PLATE 12-7 GRASS-GREEN TANAGER PLATE 12-9 ANDEAN COCK-OF-THE-ROCK

PLATE 12-8 GIANT

PLATE 12-10 GOLDEN TOAD FIGURE 12-2 Percentages and numbers of rapidly declining in amphibian families (with at least one rapidly declining species), broken into groups reflecting the dominant cause of rapid decline: overexploitation, loss, or enigmatic decline. FIGURE 12-3 Predicted distribution of the fundamental niche of Batrachochytrium dendro-batidis. Darker regions are those where B. dendrobatidis niche presence was predicted by more models (i.e., overlap index 1 means that 10 out of 10 models predicted presence; overlap index 0 means that none of the 10 models did). (a) (b)

PLATE 12-11 The Andes Mountains are extensive and active and include numerous snow-capped peaks. The top image shows terraced plots and a village. FIGURE 12-4 A general map showing the extensive range of the Andes Mountains. PLATE 12-12 The Andes Mountains near Tierra del Fuego.

PLATE 12-13 ALTIPLANO PLATE 12-14 Polylepis forest enshrouded in mist. PLATE 12-15 PLATE 12-16 GIANT CONEBILL This combination of grasses, shrubs, and forbs characterizes páramo at high elevations in the Ecuadorian Andes. (a) (b)

PLATE 12-17 (a) Espeletias dominate the landscape high in the Venezuelan Andes. (b) Espeletia in flower. Note the thick leaves. PLATE 12-18 SWORD-BILLED HUMMINGBIRD PLATE 12-19 WHITE-TIPPED SICKLEBILL

PLATE 12-20 ECUADORIAN HILLSTAR PLATE 12-21 BEARDED HELMETCREST

PLATE 12-22 Puna is windswept and dominated by tussock grass, as shown here. PLATE 12-23 PUYA RAIMONDII

PLATE 12-24 PERUVIAN SHEARTAIL PLATE 12-25 ANDEAN CONDOR

PLATE 12-26 JAMES’S FLAMINGO PLATE 12-27 TORRENT DUCK

PLATE 12-28 RESPLENDENT QUETZAL (PHARAMACHUS MOCINNO) PLATE 12-29 Many butterfly species are elevational migrants. FIGURE 12-5 ORINOCO RIVER PLATE 12-30 The “sky islands” that are the Venezuelan tepuis. FIGURE 12-6 Amazon River, with all major tributaries labeled. PLATE 12-31 Amazon River at one of its wider areas. FIGURE 12-7 The Amazon has an amazing (a) diversity of fish species. PLATE 12-32 PIRARUCU

(b)

FIGURE 12-7 Continued from page 452 PLATE 12-33 GIANT OTTER

PLATE 12-34 SPECTACLED CAIMAN (CAIMAN CROCODILUS) PLATE 12-35 Black-collared hawk (Busarellus nigricollis), common along rivers and streams. It feeds primarily on fish.

PLATE 12-36 CAPYBARA PLATE 12-37 Beaches forming from sediment deposit in the Napo River, . Vegetation is beginning to colonize. PLATE 12-38 Grasses quickly colonize exposed beach along the Napo River.

PLATE 12-39 Sandbar scrub has stabilized this island in the Napo River. PLATE 12-40 River island on the Napo River. PLATE 12-41 Oxbows are common along the tributaries of the Amazon, Napo, and Orinoco rivers.

PLATE 12-42 The point bar shown in this image is already being colonized by plants that will eventually stabilize it, contributing to its expansion. PLATE 12-43 HOATZIN PLATE 12-44 MORICHE PALM SWAMP PLATE 12-45 MORICHE ORIOLE PLATE 12-46 This mangrove forest on a cay in Belize is a nesting colony of magnificent frigatebirds (Fregata magnificens). The red spots visible in the foliage are the expanded throat pouches of the male .

PLATE 12-47 This male frigatebird has its throat pouch fully expanded, an attempt to attract a female. PLATE 12-48 Propagules of red mangrove attach to sediment, and the plant begins to grow quickly, forming prop roots. PLATE 12-49 The interior of a mangrove swamp is dense with roots, stabilizing the sediment and helping expand the forest. PLATE 12-50 This is Cay off Dangriga, Belize, in 1978, some 17 years after Hurricane Hattie. PLATE 12-51 Scarlet ibis flock near sunset at Caroni Swamp, a coastal mangrove forest in Trinidad, near Port-of-Spain.