Bolivia

América del Sur

273

Documented species

Parks and reserves

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Bolivia runs from the Andean altiplano, at almost four thousand metres, to the Amazon lowlands of the north and the dry Chaco of the southeast, an altitudinal range that explains its enormous diversity. The Uyuni salt flat, the largest in the world, is the remnant of a prehistoric lake and turns into a perfect mirror when a thin film of water covers it after the rains. To the south open high Andean lagoons in intense colours from minerals and algae, with flamingo colonies. The Yungas descend abruptly from the Andes to the Amazon in a gradient of cloud forests, and Madidi, which spans that entire descent, is regarded as one of the most biodiverse parks on the planet. The plains of the Beni combine flooded savannah, gallery forest and rivers with dolphins.

The nature of Bolivia

National animal: The llama is the national animal and the Andean condor the national bird

Did you know?

James's flamingo was given up for extinct for decades, until in 1957 an expedition found it breeding on the salt lagoons of the altiplano, above four thousand metres, in a place so remote and so inhospitable that it had gone unnoticed. It filters microscopic diatoms with its bill from water that is near boiling in some spots and frozen in others, and shares those lagoons with two other Andean flamingo species.

Biodiversity profile

Region Andina-Amazonica-Chaco (pais sin litoral)Bolivia cuenta con una extensa red de areas protegidas, aunque el porcentaje exacto del territorio no esta confirmado con precision en las fuentes consultadas

Climate

•Clima de alta montaña y tundra en el altiplano andino
•Tropical con estacion seca (Aw) en los Llanos orientales y el Chaco
•Ecuatorial humedo (Af) en la Amazonia boliviana

Main biomes

•Altiplano andino (puna)
•Yungas (bosque nublado de transicion)
•Amazonia boliviana
•Chaco (compartido con Argentina, Paraguay y Brasil)
•Pantanal boliviano (extremo del humedal compartido con Brasil)
•Salar y laguna altoandina
•Puna y altiplano
•Bosque nuboso de yungas
•Selva amazónica
•Sabana inundable del Beni
•Chaco seco
•Bosque seco chiquitano

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•No aplica (pais sin litoral); Lago Titicaca como principal cuerpo de agua de gran relevancia ecologica de altura

Flagship wildlife

•Oso de anteojos (jucumari)
•Condor andino
•Jaguar
•Vicuña
•Guacamayo
•Rana gigante del Titicaca
•Flamenco de James
•Llama
•Delfín rosado boliviano
•Oso andino
•Nutria gigante
•Titi
•Guacamayo barbazul

Notable endemic species

•Palma endemica en riesgo en la region de Chuquisaca (area en retroceso segun guardaparques locales)
•Alto endemismo en los Yungas y el altiplano por gradientes altitudinales extremos
•Guacamayo barbazul
•Delfín rosado boliviano
•Titi de Olalla
•Rana acuática de Sehuencas

Notable threatened species

•Oso de anteojos (Vulnerable, con individuos aislados por expansion agricola documentados cerca de asentamientos humanos)
•Palma endemica de Chuquisaca (area de distribucion en reduccion activa)

Notable protected areas

•Area Natural de Manejo Integrado El Palmar (Chuquisaca)
•Parque Nacional Iñao
•Parque Nacional Madidi (uno de los de mayor biodiversidad documentada del planeta, en la Amazonia/Andes)
•Salar de Uyuni
•Reserva Nacional Eduardo Avaroa
•Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado
•Parque Nacional Amboró
•Reserva de la Biosfera del Beni

Main conservation threats

•Expansion de la frontera agricola (aislamiento de poblaciones de fauna, ej. oso de anteojos)
•Tala y comercio ilegal de especies endemicas
•Incendios forestales recurrentes (quemas para agricultura)
•Falta de monitoreo anual sistematico segun activistas ambientales locales

Notable natural phenomena

•Gradiente altitudinal extremo entre el altiplano (mas de 3.800 msnm) y la Amazonia (por debajo de 300 msnm), generador de alta diversidad de microclimas

Conservation

A systematic inventory carried out in Madidi between 2015 and 2018 identified more than a hundred species that are candidates to be new to science, reinforcing its standing as the most biodiverse protected area in the world. The blue-throated macaw, found only in the Beni, numbers a few hundred individuals and depends on the palms in which it nests.

Where and when to watch wildlife

The southwestern lagoons between December and April for flamingos. Madidi and Rurrenabaque in the dry season for Amazonian wildlife. The Beni year-round for river dolphins and savannah birds.

Sources: D+C Development and Cooperation - Bolivia's extraordinary biodiversity is under threat

Mountain Freshwater