Magdalena-Urabá moist forests

Magdalena-Urabá moist forests (NT0137)
Montería, capital of Córdoba Department
Ecology
Realm	Neotropical
Biome	Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Geography
Area	76,923 km2 (29,700 sq mi)
Countries	Colombia
Coordinates	8°17′53″N 75°09′00″W / 8.298°N 75.150°W / 8.298; -75.150Coordinates: 8°17′53″N 75°09′00″W / 8.298°N 75.150°W / 8.298; -75.150
Climate type	Am: equatorial, monsoonal

The Magdalena-Urabá moist forests (NT0137) is an ecoregion in the north of Colombia. The terrain is largely flat or undulating, but includes mountainous areas in the south. It contains moist forests and large wetlands that are important to resident and migratory birds. The ecoregion forms a bridge between the Pacific coast ecoregions of Colombia and Central America, and the ecoregions of the Andes and Amazon. It is surrounded by the more populated parts of Colombia and is threatened by farming, ranching, logging, oil exploitation and water pollution in the main rivers.

The ecoregion is in the north of Colombia, with an area of 7,692,264 hectares (19,008,000 acres). It includes the flat landscape along the lower course of the Magdalena River, and extends west over the coastal plain to the Gulf of Urabá. To the north the ecoregion transitions into the Sinú Valley dry forests and Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub ecoregions. To the west it meets the Choco-Darien moist forests, and to the south merges into the Northwestern Andean montane forests, Cauca Valley montane forests and Magdalena Valley montane forests. The ecoregion transitions into the Magdalena Valley dry forests in the extreme south.

The Cordillera Oriental and Cordillera Central bound the eastern part of the ecoregion, and the Cordillera Occidental borders the western part, which extends to the Gulf of Urabá and the Chocó Department. A series of ranges run along the southern part of the region, the Serranía de Abibe, Serranía de San Jerónimo, Serranía de Ayapel and Serranía de San Lucas, which rises to over 2,600 metres (8,500 ft) above sea level. Other than these ranges and some isolated mountains, the terrain is undulating. The center of the region is flat.