ABSTRACT
With extensive coastlines on the Pacific, Caribbean and Atlantic, and with numerous rivers and abundant rainfall in many areas, mangrove forests are widespread in South America. The largest areas are found along the wetter coastlines, including the Pacific and western Caribbean coasts of Colombia, and vast areas extending over 3000km from the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela to northern Brazil. Drier areas such as the northern coasts of Colombia and Venezuela and the southern coasts of Ecuador and Peru have more limited mangrove areas, but they remain abundant in estuarine and lagoon formations. The southernmost limits to mangroves are probably determined by increasing aridity on the Pacific coast, but by cooler temperatures on the Atlantic coast.
