Qualla: Tapajós–Xingu moist forests

Tapajós–Xingu moist forests: Introduction

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Valdir Hobus, CC BY 2.0. The rivers decide who lives where. A white-nosed saki monkey, with its distinctive pale snout and black body, is common throughout the Tapajos-Xingu moist forests - and nowhere else. Cross the Tapajos River to the west, and it vanishes. Cross the Xingu to the east, and it is gone again. For this ecoregion's endemic species, these two enormous tributaries of the Amazon are not just landscape features. They are the edges of the world. This is biogeography at its most literal: 336,698 square kilometers of forest between two natural barriers that have shaped evolution for millions of years.

Image: Valdir Hobus | CC BY 2.0

Tapajós–Xingu moist forests: The Shape of the Land

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit MTur Destinos, Public domain. The ecoregion sits in the eastern Amazon basin, wedged between the Tapajos River to the west and the Xingu to the east. To the north lies the main stem of the Amazon itself, with the port city of Santarem marking the mouth of the Tapajos. To the south, the rugged Serra do Cachimb...

Image: MTur Destinos | Public domain

Tapajós–Xingu moist forests: An Equatorial Rhythm

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ibama from Brasil, CC BY 2.0. The climate here runs on an equatorial monsoon schedule. Temperatures vary little - slightly cooler in July, slightly warmer in April, with an annual mean just under 27 degrees Celsius. What changes dramatically is the rain. February brings 313.9 millimeters on average, a torrent...

Image: Ibama from Brasil | CC BY 2.0

Tapajós–Xingu moist forests: Life Between the Rivers

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Ibama from Brasil, CC BY 2.0. Biologists have recorded 161 species of mammals and 556 species of birds in the ecoregion, with more likely waiting for a formal description. Beyond the white-nosed saki, the forest holds the red-bellied titi, the white-cheeked spider monkey, the collared peccary, the jaguar, and...

Image: Ibama from Brasil | CC BY 2.0

Tapajós–Xingu moist forests: A Vulnerable Ecoregion

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Guto.1992/Alesson Machado, CC BY-SA 4.0. The World Wildlife Fund classes the Tapajos-Xingu moist forests as Vulnerable, along with the adjoining ecoregions to the east. Roads are the primary reason. Once a highway cuts through the forest, colonists follow, then loggers, then ranchers, then the major infrastructure proje...

Image: Guto.1992/Alesson Machado | CC BY-SA 4.0