Listen to the Sounds of the Amazon Rainforest
Varzea Forest is a seasonal floodplain forest in the Amazon biome, periodically inundated by nutrient-rich whitewater rivers.
These dynamic ecosystems feature a mix of dense canopy forests, grasslands, swamps, and lakes, with both aquatic and terrestrial phases during the year.
Várzea forests are primarily located along the central and lower stretches of the Amazon River and its tributaries, in countries including Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia. They are “whitewater” rivers, which carry heavy loads of sediment from the Andes, creating fertile soils when the water recedes. The annual water-level fluctuations can be extreme, with average flooding amplitudes of about 10 meters, and some areas remaining submerged for up to 230 days per year.