Orinoco wetlands
| Orinoco wetlands (NT0906) | |
|---|---|
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Neotropical |
| Biome | Flooded grasslands and savannas |
| Geography | |
| Area | 5,957 km2 (2,300 sq mi) |
| Country | Venezuela |
| Coordinates | 9°21′36″N 62°25′55″W / 9.360°N 62.432°WCoordinates: 9°21′36″N 62°25′55″W / 9.360°N 62.432°W |
| Climate type | Af: equatorial, fully humid |
The Orinoco wetlands (NT0906) is an ecoregion of northeast Venezuela within the northern Orinoco Delta. It holds areas of tall grasses in flooded land, surrounded by mangroves and swamp forest, giving way to the drier llanos grasslands in the west.
The Orinoco Wetlands ecoregion is in the northern Orinoco Delta in northeast Venezuela. They cover an area of 595,697 hectares (1,472,000 acres). The wetlands adjoin or lie within the Orinoco Delta swamp forests. Near the coast they merge into the Amazon-Orinoco-Southern Caribbean mangroves. To the west they give way to the Llanos grasslands.
The flooded grasslands of the Orinoco wetlands are found in seven separate patches north of the main Orinoco channel, surrounded by mangroves, swamp forest, moist forest and llanos. The main part is near Tucupita along the Caño Manamo, the westernmost distributary of the Orinoco. The second largest patch is along the Caño Macarao. To the north they are found along the Boca Grande and San Juan rivers, and in the alluvial fan at the mouth of the Amacuro River. There are other patches between the coastal mangroves and the swamp forests.
The terrain is flat, mostly about 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) above sea level but rising to 9 metres (30 ft) in levees along the coast. Soils are almost all alluvial deposits, carried from the Andes far to the west. The 360 kilometres (220 mi) coastline of the delta moves east into the Atlantic ocean by about 40 metres (130 ft) annually. The delta region has many large and small distributary rivers and streams, permanent wetlands and marshes, oxbow lakes, levees and alluvial plains. The region is sparsely inhabited apart from the small city of Tucupita on the edge of the region and small communities of Warao people along the rivers.
The Köppen climate classification is "Af": equatorial, fully humid. Average annual rainfall in different places varies from 1,000 to 2,000 millimetres (39 to 79 in). The wet season usually lasts from April/May to December, with a period of less rain in July. At a sample location at coordinates 9°15′N 62°15′W / 9.25°N 62.25°W the temperature is relatively constant throughout the year, slightly cooler in January and July, and slightly warmer in May and October. Yearly average temperatures range from a minimum of 22 °C (72 °F) to a maximum of 31.8 °C (89.2 °F) with a mean of 27.2 °C (81.0 °F). Annual rainfall averages 1,300 millimetres (51 in). Monthly rainfall varies from 35.5 millimetres (1.40 in) in February to 204.5 millimetres (8.05 in) in July.
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Wikipedia