Guianan piedmont and lowland moist forests

Location in South America

The Guianan piedmont and lowland moist forests ecoregion is in the south of Venezuela and the north of the Brazilian states of Amazonas and Roraima.[1] It surrounds sections of the Guayanan Highlands moist forests, which in turn surround areas of tepui. It includes or adjoins patches of Rio Negro campinarana. To the north the ecoregion adjoins the Llanos, and to the east it adjoins the Guianan moist forests and the Guianan savanna. To the southeast it adjoins the Uatuma-Trombetas moist forests, and to the south and southwest it adjoins the Negro-Branco moist forests.[2]

The Guianan piedmont and lowland moist forests ecoregion is in the Neotropical realm and the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome.[1]

As of 2012 the ecoregion had not been heavily exploited by humans, and various approaches to conservation were being followed.[6] As of 2009 180,721.1 hectares (446,572 acres), or 78.1%, was protected to some extent.[9] A 2014 WWF report stated that protected areas covered 26% and indigenous territories covered 47%, for a total of 73%.[10] The same report said 0.38% of the ecosystem, or 88,025 hectares (217,510 acres), had been deforested.[11] Protected areas include the El Caura Forest Reserve, Estación Biológica El Frío, Imataca Forest Reserve, Maracá Ecological Reserve and Canaima National Park.[1]

Global warming will force tropical species to migrate uphill to find areas with suitable temperature and rainfall. The Guianan piedmont and lowland moist forests ecoregion is among the least vulnerable in the Amazon region in this respect, while low, flat and deforested ecoregions such as the Tocantins/Pindare moist forests are extremely vulnerable.[12] For the purpose of conserving threatened neotropical mammals the ecoregion is considered to be at medium risk.[13]