The plain of the Peruvian Amazon is what is known as Selva Baja, Amazonian tropical forest or Omagua. This region is located at a height between 80 and 500 meters above sea level. The Low Forest is also called by the indigenous name of Omagua, which means "region of freshwater fish", thanks to the rich ichthyofauna of the mighty rivers that cross it. I invite you to learn more about the Selva Baja and its Characteristics.
The Low Jungle
The Low Forest is an Amazonian plain located in Peru, formed by a large alluvial plain and classified within the tropical rain forest biogeographic region. This Low Forest is also known as the Omagua region or Amazonian tropical forest and is located in Peru on the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains, near the Brazilian border. It is a place that is between 80 and 500 meters above sea level, its relief is flat and a dense pristine vegetation grows there, which is flooded by the large number of rivers that cross it.
It is crossed by very large rivers that, due to the low slope of this alluvial plain, describe very pronounced sinuous curves or meanders, in the middle and lower courses of the rivers. These rivers form eddies or muyunas that cause their course to change continuously. Likewise, rivers are the most used communication routes.
In this region, the dominant ecosystem is the "Bosque de Várzea" and its particularity is that it is an alluvial plain or flooded forest. Through the Selva Baja are the basins of the floodable rivers of the upper Amazon, Ucayali, Marañón and Madre de Dios, which cross Peru and Bolivia, as well as other rivers that are smaller tributaries located in the Peruvian Amazon and other rivers Yuruá and Purús that originate in Brazil. Iquitos is located in this region at an altitude of about 100 meters, with a fairly flat topography that presents micro undulations.
Low Jungle Relief
This Amazonian tropical forest has a flat relief in almost its entire extension. Where plains are formed with heights no greater than 400 meters above sea level. This region is an alluvial plain, this Amazonian tropical forest was formed by the impact of the Amazon River, as well as by the impacts of its tributary rivers. This intervention of the Amazon River in its formation is what gave the name to this Low Forest. Throughout the Selva Baja there are several geographical zones:
- Flood zone or Tahuampas that remains under water all year.
- Zona Restingas an area at a higher altitude, which is flooded in times of flooding of the rivers.
- The non-flood zone or Alto, in which there are moors and where small populations of native people of the region settle.
- Amazon Hills or Filos, where the surface of the land is a little steeper.
Its weather
Its climate is warm, with high environmental humidity, and a lot of precipitation. The temperature of the Low Forest or Omagua, is an annual average of 24 ° C, the heat is very strong during the day. In 1963, 41°C was recorded in this region, which has been the highest temperature in Peru, in the Neshuya area, on the way to Pucallpa. Rainfall in this region is very abundant.
The average rainfall in the year varies between 1.000 to 5.000 millimeters, due to these precipitation values it is part of one of the rainiest places on the planet. The Low Forest stands out for its large number of clouds that form over this region. These clouds are formed by the action of the trade winds that come from the Atlantic slope, from east to west, colliding against the eastern side of the Andes.
These cloud formations, when rising to cross the Andes Mountains, reach places in the atmosphere where temperatures are quite low, so they condense and produce precipitation. The clouds that form are of the cumulus-nimbus type due to changes in temperature from warm to cold and cause strong storms or storms along with strong winds, precipitation, lightning, sparks and thunder. When it stops raining again, the temperature remains very high.
Climatic regions
The area of the Selva Baja, located north of 10° south latitude, maintains high humidity throughout the year, unlike the southern part of the Selva Baja, which is also a tropical region but with seasons.
The climate of the humid Low Forest is characterized by having a humid equatorial tropical climate, with precipitation throughout the year, which has been classified as Af according to the Köppen system. It is the equatorial jungle of Peru and it is the northern zone of the Selva Baja, it is located north of the department of Loreto and the department of Ucayali, Amazonas, San Martín and Huánuco.
The climate of the Lower Jungle in its southern zone is seasonal. It is located southeast of the department of Madre de Dios and regions of the departments of Ucayali, Cusco and Puno. The climate of the southern region is within the tropical or subtropical range and savannah climate, and identified as Aw. In this area in a month it is possible to register a volume of precipitation of less than 60 millimeters of rain.
Flora of the Omagua region
The flora of the Low Forest has a record of around 2.500 different tree species classified in different families and genera. Its vegetation is mainly arboreal tropical forest, with heights greater than 60 meters. Among the plants that grow in the Low Forest, there are different species of palm trees, ferns, lianas, ishpingos or Creole oaks, mahogany, wild cane, lupunas or ceibas, among others. As well as different species of epiphytes such as different species of Orchids.
The vegetation of the Selva Baja is the one that is common in the forests of areas with warm climates and high environmental humidity. Trees with organs adapted to capture light, such as their wide leaves, grow and develop in these. This in view according to the stratum of the forest where the tree species grow, there is more or less competition from the sunlight resource. Likewise, due to the abundant precipitation, these trees have stomata to perspire, to regulate the water inside the plants, and to be able to breathe.
The fauna of Omagua
Just as the flora of the Low Forest is abundant, its fauna is also very varied. As previously stated, the indigenous name of the Low Forest is Omagua, in view of the richness of its fish fauna, due to the large number of rivers and tributaries of the Amazon River, which formed this alluvial forest and cross it. In addition to this, a rich diversity of terrestrial fauna also originates. Below are some species that inhabit this Low Forest.
Your fish or ichthyofauna
Among the fish that are born and develop in the rivers of this Low Forest, are the populations of paiche (arapaima gigas), which is a fairly large fish, consuming smaller fish or small animals that fall into rivers. The black cachama (Colosoma macropomum), this species of fish has a migratory habit and due to this, they swim upstream of the rivers during the summer. It is an introduced species in the Asian continent. It is also named the sábalo (Prochilodus lineatus), a greenish gray fish, which can measure about 60 centimeters and weigh about 6 kilos.
mammal species
In this jungle are the sachavaca or tapir (ground tapirs), which is the largest mammal in South America, which is part of the Tapiridae. They are animals that can weigh about 300 kilos, they feed on vegetables through their proboscis, which is their mobile olfactory apparatus. A mammal of the Tayassuidae family, known as peccary, collared boar, javelin or collared peccary (Pecari tajacu), which measures about 50 centimeters at the withers.
Huangana, white-lipped peccary, lipped peccary, huangana, manao, cafuche, which has the scientific name of Tayassu peccary, which is characterized by presenting a white spot like a beard around its trunk or snout. The ronsoco, capybara, chigüire (hydrochoerus hydrochaeris), of the Caviidae family, is the largest rodent on the planet that grows in tropical regions. It is characterized by not having a tail and has a wide and large head. The otorongo, jaguar, Peruvian jaguar (Panthera onca), which is a feline and carnivorous mammal, which is large and has black spots and yellow fur, a species threatened with extinction.
its avifauna
Among the birds that you can observe and contemplate in the Selva Baja are the macaws (Search spp.), of different species, belonging to the Psittacidae family, which are birds with plumage of diverse and striking colors. They are large birds that walk in pairs, due to their beauty they are birds threatened by human beings for hunting or capturing them and keeping them as pets.
Among the birds of the Low Forest, there are also different genera of parrots, which are birds of the Psittacidae family, which are similar to macaws but are smaller and have shorter tails, such as species of parrots of the genus Amazon sp. Species of birds also known as Pauji of the genus Crax spp., which are birds of the Galliformes order of the Cracidae family, black in color and large. Other birds seen are the mountain guans (dark penelope), of the Galliformes order, which is in danger of extinction due to hunting.
The reptiles
Among the reptiles, different species of caiman of the genus will be observed (Caiman spp.), likewise, the jergon snake that a (Bothrops atrox) which is a venomous snake of the Viperidae family. A turtle called charapa also lives in that region. (Podocnemis expansa), It is characterized by its elongated neck, like a snake, they live in the waters of the Amazonian rivers and the Orinoco, it is dark in color on its ventral part and yellow on its back, it is part of the Podocnemididae family.
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