ABSTRACT
The Amazonian rainforest is arguably the most species-rich terrestrial ecosystem in the world, yet the timing of the origin and evolutionary causes of this diversity are a matter of debate. We review the geologic and phylogenetic evidence from Amazonia and compare it with uplift records from the Andes. This uplift and its effect on regional climate fundamentally changed the Amazonian landscape by reconfiguring drainage patterns and creating a vast influx of sediments into the basin. On this "Andean" substrate, a region-wide edaphic mosaic developed that became extremely rich in species, particularly in Western Amazonia. We show that Andean uplift was crucial for the evolution of Amazonian landscapes and ecosystems, and that current biodiversity patterns are rooted deep in the pre-Quaternary.
Subject(s)
Biodiversity , Climate Change , Geological Phenomena , Animals , Ecosystem , Fossils , Geography , Phylogeny , Rivers , South America , Time , Trees , WetlandsABSTRACT
Late Miocene tidal sediments of Acre, Brazilian Amazonia, were deposited in an embayment or interior seaway located in the sub-Andean zone. This late Tertiary embayment system may once have connected the Caribbean with the South Atlantic. The tidal coasts of the embayment-seaway have provided an avenue for the earliest waif (over water) dispersal phases of the great American biotic interchange in the late Miocene. The subsequent change from semimarine to terrestrial environments is of value in assessing the importance of earlier hypotheses on the evolution of the westem Amazonian landscape and gives insight into the formation of several observed biogeographic patterns, especially of aquatic biota.
