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Venezuela, a mysterious land of mountains and swamps that seem impenetrable due to the large amount of vegetation, with areas inhabited by numerous endemic species and isolated tribes. Venezuela has different natural regions all linked by a single river, the Orinoco. In all of them you can find a great biodiversity that makes this country so rich and impressive.
If you want to know more about its biodiversity, continue reading this article by Ecologist Verde, which will talk about the flora and fauna of Venezuela.
Characteristics of the flora and fauna of Venezuela
These are the main characteristics of the flora and fauna Venezuelan:
- Venezuela has an area of 912,050 km2 and is a country that is located in the north of South America, above the Equator line. It is considered as part of the group of Megadiverse Countries of the United Nations Organization since 1988, due to its great biodiversity.
- Its territory is divided into nine large natural regions with their respective sub-regions. The regions of Venezuela are: Insular Region, Coriano System, Lake Maracaibo, Los Andes, Central Cordillera, Eastern Cordillera, Deltaic System, Los Llanos and South of the Orinoco, La Guayana.
- Throughout its entire territory there is a great variety of ecosystems, this wealth makes it the seventh country in the world with the greatest biodiversity.
- The lands of Venezuela are crossed by the Orinoco River, the third largest river in the world.
- Geographically, it occupies highly varied biotic and climatic regions, including the Orinoco River delta, the Amazon rainforest, the Andean highlands, the Caribbean coast, Pampean plains, a part of the Guiana massif, and deserts.
- Climate variability in Venezuela makes it possible for this country to be so diverse. As for precipitation, this ranges from 400 mm per year in coastal areas to more than 4000 mm in southern Venezuela, and there can be temperatures that range from minus 0º to 30º C approximately. According to Koppen's classification, these types of climates occur: Tropical arid desert, Tropical semi-arid Steppe, Tropical Savannah, Tropical Monsoon, Tropical Monsoon, Tropical Rainforest, Temperate high altitude always rainy, Temperate high altitude, High moorland and Glacial de height.
- In addition, Venezuela has a great variety of soil types as a consequence of the existing flora, the type of climate, the relief and the rocks of the area. Among them are the soils entisols, vertisols, inceptisols, ultisols, molisols, oxisols, aridisols, alfisols, and histosols.
Flora of Venezuela
Approximately 30,000 species of plants inhabit the Venezuelan lands, of which it is estimated that 38% are endemic species, that is, they are unique to this country. Mainly one can speak of four different types of vegetation: bushes, primal vegetation with lichens and mosses, grasslands and forests.
The typical flower of Venezuela it's found the orchid, and in its territory up to 1,632 types of orchids can be identified, mainly in cloud forest areas. On the other hand, the tree declared a national tree among the vegetation of Venezuela is the araguaney or also known as cañahuate or yellow guayacán, characterized by its yellow flowers. Speletias, or also known by the name of frailejones, it is also found in Venezuela, in the Andes.
The plant of the cocoa It is also typical among the plants of Venezuela, with three different varieties: Trinidadian, Creole and Forastero, the latter being a mixture of the first two. Cocoa has always been an export product to other countries.
Fauna of Venezuela
The fauna of Venezuela as well as the flora is very rich in species. These are some facts about the animals of Venezuela:
- Regarding bird species, it is estimated that there are approximately 1,364, among them 48 are part of the endemic fauna of Venezuela. What national animal of Venezuela there is the turpial, a bird with a beautiful plumage of black and yellow or orange colors.
- On the other hand, in terms of the number of species of marine and freshwater fauna, this is higher than 2,000.
- There are also some 363 species of mammals and among them is the capybara or capybara, considered to be the largest rodent in the world inhabiting the coasts of the Orinoco, or the tonina, a large cetacean that inhabits the Orinoco basin. There's also dolphins and whales and, in addition, there are many species of primates that are found in Venezuela, but the most common is howler monkey. Just as there are big cats like the puma or the jaguar. In addition, among mammals, one of the country's endangered species is the Manatee, located in the lower area of the Orinoco River and its delta.
- Regarding the invertebrate species It is estimated that there are: 1,600 species of butterflies, 39 of flies, 120 of beetles and 900 of marine mollusks.
- Among the reptiles stand out snakes and crocodiles.
We encourage you to continue discovering the Venezuelan fauna with this other article about 22 animals in danger of extinction in Venezuela.
If you want to read more articles similar to Flora and fauna of Venezuela, we recommend that you enter our Biodiversity category.
