Among all the continents of our planet, South America, along with Australia, stands out for its original nature. Its considerable remoteness from other continents and isolation over a long time contributed to the formation of unique flora and fauna. The natural areas of South America are home to many endemic plants and animals that you will never meet in nature on other continents.
The nature of South America
Its plant world is extremely rich and has about 40 thousand different species. The continent is considered the birthplace not only of quin and mahogany, hevea and chocolate tree, but also of many cultivated plants - beans, tomatoes, potatoes, corn.
The natural areas of South America are considered the hometown of such unusual animals as anteaters, armadillos, sloths, guanacos. Four species of marsupials have been preserved in the animal kingdom. The rodents of the mainland are also peculiar - for example, chinchilla and capybara. Endemic are more than 300 species of birds, including ostrich nandu and miniature hummingbirds.
The natural areas of South America differ not only in flora and fauna, but also in the size of the occupied area. Some of them are elongated in the meridional direction, which is associated with the features of the relief of the mainland. In South America, half of all equatorial forests that are considered the lungs of the planet are located.
Selva - South American Equatorial Forest
The equatorial forests of South America, located, as the name implies, in the equator, occupy vast areas of the Amazon lowland. These impenetrable forest areas are called "Selvas", which in Portuguese means "forest". In this natural area you can find unique plants - euphorbia trees, tree ferns. In a humid and hot climate, a hindu tree, ceiba and balsa grow well. All trees are intertwined with vines, which climb the trunks, spread from tree to tree, forming in places a continuous wall of thickets.
Forests in South America are rich in animals. In the selva live howler monkeys, tapirs, jaguars, parrots. Between dense vegetation, multi-colored butterflies fly, the wingspan of some of them reaches 27 centimeters. In the Amazon you can find rare species of fish, crocodiles, dolphins, water snakes and huge anacondas are found here.
Llanos, pampa and deserts
Other natural areas of South America occupy smaller areas, but no less interesting, each of them has something special. The savannahs, called Llanos, are covered with tall herbs, among which islets grow palm trees and acacias. In the savannah of the mainland there are few ungulates, there are baker pigs, anteaters, cougars.
To the south of the savannas are vast steppes. Pampa with rich and fertile soils is the main granary of the continent, many different cereal plants are grown here. Pampas deer, wild cats, llamas live in the steppes.
On the mainland there are also arid areas occupied by semi-deserts and deserts. At the foot of the Andes is the stony Atacama Desert, which is closer to the Pacific Ocean covered with sand dunes. To the south of the Andes is the vast semi-desert of Patagonia with a rather harsh climate.
