| Llanos de Moxos Beni savanna | |
|---|---|
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 Map of Bolivia's ecoregions. The Beni savanna is hatched bright green. | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Neotropical |
| Biome | tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands |
| Borders | |
| Geography | |
| Area | 125,590 km2 (48,490 sq mi) |
| Countries | |
| Departments | Beni |
| Conservation | |
| Conservation status | Critical/endangered[1] |
| Protected | 96,126 km2 (77%)[2] |
TheLlanos de Moxos, also known as theBeni savanna orMoxos plains, is atropical savanna ecoregion of theBeni Department of northern Bolivia.
The Llanos de Moxos covers an area of 126,100 square kilometers (48,700 sq mi) in the lowlands of northern Bolivia, with small portions in neighboringBrazil andPeru. Most of the Llanos de Moxos lies within the departments ofEl Beni,Cochabamba,La Paz,Pando, andSanta Cruz. The Llanos de Moxos occupies the southwestern corner of theAmazon basin, and the region is crossed by numerous rivers that drain the eastern slope of theAndes Mountains. The low relief of the savannas, coupled with wet season rains and snowmelt from the Andes, causes up to half the land to flood seasonally.
The Llanos de Moxos is surrounded bytropical moist forests; theSouthwestern Amazonian moist forests to the north, west, and south, and theMadeira-Tapajós moist forests to the east.
The climate of the Llanos de Moxos is tropical, with pronounced wet and dry seasons. The wet season generally extends from December to May, and annual rainfall ranges from 1300 mm in the east to 2500 mm in the west.
The ecoregion comprises a mosaic of savannas and wetlands, with islands of forest and gallery forests along rivers. Flooding and fire are important ecological factors.
The ecoregion is home to theblue-throated macaw (Ara glaucogularis), which iscritically endangered.
The Llanos de Moxos was the setting forpre-Columbian agriculture, and appears to have been an early center of plant domestication. The inhabitants constructed agriculturalearthworks: raised fields, causeways, canals, and about 4700 forestedmounds over a 50,000 square kilometer area. Construction lasted from about 8850 BCE to about 1450 CE. Cultivation includedmanioc from about 8350 BCE,squash from about 8250 BCE, andmaize from about 4,850 BCE. Several domestic crops, including manioc, squash,peanut, some varieties ofchili and somebeans, are genetically very close to wild species living in the Llanos de Moxos, suggesting that they were domesticated there.[3] The people made decoratedpottery, wove cotton cloth, and in some places buried their dead in large urns.
Although Europeans arrived inSouth America in the late 15th century, they did not come to settle in the Llanos de Moxos until the late 17th century. The missions established byJesuit missionaries in the 17th and 18th centuries became many of the modern towns in the region.
Since the 1950s, ranching has become the most important industry, and ranches dominate the landscape.
European immigrants began to settle in the Llanos de Moxos in the 17th century. In 1675 theJesuit priestsPedro Marbán andCirpriano Barace began missionary work among the peoples they found in between the Marmoré and Guapay rivers, after having departed from Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The Jesuit Missions of Moxos are located in the Llanos de Moxos, while theJesuit Missions of Chiquitos are in theChiquitania region to the southeast.[4]
A 2017 assessment found that 96,126 km2, or 77%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas.[2]
Media related toBeni Savanna Ecoregion at Wikimedia Commons| Missions |  | ||||
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