The Tapiche Reserve is a private conservation property located in Tapiche District, Requena Province, Loreto Region in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. The reserve is designated by the Peruvian government as a Private Conservation Area (PCA).

Geography

The reserve encompasses an area of approximately 18,803 hectares, in the

Tapiche River The Tapiche River is a river in Peru. The 480-km Tapiche is a right tributary of the Ucayali River The Ucayali River (, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and bec ...

basin, spanning both sides of the river east of the

Ucayali River The Ucayali River (, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and becomes the Amazon at the confluence of the Marañón river, Marañón close to Nauta city. The city of ...

. It is located 340 km up river from Iquitos on the

, and is accessible only by waterway. The Blanco and Umaita Rivers empty into the Tapiche River in the basin area. Other tributaries are the Contea, Capanahua, and Lamayacu Rivers. The reserve comprises several types of lowland Amazonian forests, including igapo, varzea, and terra firme. It is one of the few areas in the Amazon basin where these forest types can be found in close proximity. The Tapiche River basin in the area of the reserve exhibits a landscape containing

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...

s and associated

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

s. The floodplains of the alluvial landscape encompass

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s or aguajales; while the non-flooded plains appear as undulating terraces. There are hilly landscapes within the reserve which appear as gently sloping lowland terrain. Swamps have developed on flat land and in depressions formed by fibric histosol soils with pH values varying between 3.5 and 5.

Hydrography

The Tapiche River is regarded as a "black water" river because of its dark sepia waters. Possessing little material in suspension, its color comes from the decomposition of organic material forming humic and fulvic acids. These waters are acidic, with pH around 4.0 and a temperature from 24 °C (75 °F) to 32.0 °C (90 °F). The Tapiche River has a strictly sub-Andean and origin, which eliminates a direct relationship with rainfall in the mountains. Within the reserve there are small bodies of water ( oxbows, channels,

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

s, restingas and lakes) that communicate with each other and with the Tapiche River. Channels that connect curved river-bends create navigable shortcuts during flooded season. The largest internal body of water is called Quebrada Chambiria. Quebrada Chambiria has little flow which creates habitat for a host of species.

Climate

It has annual temperatures ranging from 25 °C (77 °F) to 33 °C (91 °F) with

relative humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

of 78% to 96%. In the rainy season from October to May there is tropical rainfall. The average annual precipitation is 3 meters. During the months of June or July a particular weather phenomenon called a "cold spell" occurs in the region. The cold spell is related to penetration of air masses coming from the southern polar latitudes and entering the South American tropics shortly after reaching Southeast Brazil. This cold spell lasts about 2–4 days, where temperatures can reach 13 °C (55 °F).

Biology and ecology

Fauna

The reserve is home to endangered species such as

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

(''Panthera onca''), bald uakari (''Cacajao calvus''), giant armadillo (''Priodontes maximus''), the Brazilian tapir (''Tapirus terrestris''), the Amazonian manatee (Trichechus inunguis), and

harpy eagle The harpy eagle (''Harpia harpyja'') is a large Neotropical realm, neotropical species of eagle. It is also called the American harpy eagle to distinguish it from the Papuan eagle, which is sometimes known as the New Guinea Harpy Eagle, New Guin ...

(''Harpia harpyja''). A land survey and rapid species inventory of Tapiche Ohara's Reserve was performed in 2011. The species inventory is reproduced below in table format.

Flora

Trees such as cedar (''Cedrela odorata'') and mahogany (''Swietenia macrophylla'') can be found in its forests. There four representative botanical families in its swamps, including:

Moraceae Moraceae is a family of flowering plants comprising about 48 genera and over 1100 species, and is commonly known as the mulberry or fig family. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however, their ...

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...

and

Arecaceae The Arecaceae () is a family (biology), family of perennial plant, perennial, flowering plants in the Monocotyledon, monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbing palm, climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly k ...

. Also found are catahua (''Hura crepitans''), strangler fig (''Ficus'' sp.), machimango (''Eschweilera'' sp.), and caupuri (''Virola pavonis''), aguaje (''Mauritia flexuosa''), shapaja (''Attalea phalerata''), cashapona (''Socratea exorrhiza''), renaco (''Ficus trigona''), espintana
''Oxandra espintana''
and huimba ('' Pachira aquatica'').

Aquatic ecosystems

The reserve houses ecosystems formed by conditions that create microhabitats. The ecosystems present on the reserve encompass cochas and tahuampas. Primary plant species found in these aquatic ecosystems are species belonging to the family

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

; especially the Gramalote blanco ('' Paspalum fasciculatum'') and others of the genera '' Echinochloa'' and ''Paspalum''. Also present is caña brava (''Gynerium sagittatum''),

water hyacinth ''Pontederia crassipes'' (formerly ''Eichhornia crassipes''), commonly known as common water hyacinth, is an aquatic plant native to South America, naturalized throughout the world, and often invasive species, invasive outside its native rang ...

(''putu putu'', ''Eichhornia crassipes''), and huama (''Pistia stratiotes''). File:SPHAERODACTYLIDAE.JPG, '' Sphaerodactylidae'' File:Lagarta in hand.PNG, ''Lagarta'' File:Saddle-back tamarin (Saguinus fuscicollis).jpg, '' Tamarin'' File:Bufonidae.JPG, '' Bufonidae'' File:OrangeBlossom.PNG, Orange Blossom File:TropidurusPlica.PNG, '' Plica plica'' File:HypsiboasPunctatus.PNG, '' Hypsiboas punctatus'' File:RhinellaMarina.PNG, '' Rhinella marina'' File:BothriopsisBilineata.PNG, '' Bothriopsis bilineata'' File:LeptodactylusPetersii.PNG, '' Leptodactylus petersii'' File:AmazonInsect.JPG, Amazon centipede File:JacamarCaraAzul.PNG, ''Jacamar cara azul''

Table of flora (2011)

Table of Fauna (2011)

References

* AMAZONÍA Guia Ilustrada de Flora y Fauna, Proyecto Araucaria XXI Nauta. November 2009 () http://www.aeci.org.pe/publicaciones/store/pub.19.pdf * Cronquist, A. (1981) An Integrated System of classification of flowering plants. Columbia University Press, New York. * Kembo, C. (1995) Diagnosis of plant resources in the Peruvian Amazon - IIAP October 1995, Technical Paper No 16 – Iquitos, Peru. * Peruvian Law N º 26834 - Law of Natural Protected Areas and Rules - approved by Supreme Decree 038-2001-AG, established the National Institute of Natural Resources (INRENA). INRENA is the governing body and national authority of the National System of Protected Natural Areas by the State (SINANPE). * Departmental Resolution No. 059-2004-INRENA approving the Supplementary Provisions to the Regulations of the Law of Natural Protected Areas on Private Conservation Areas. * Peruvian Supreme Decree N º 016 - 2009 - MINAM. Plan for Natural Protected Areas.

External links

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

IIAP - Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana

Siamazonía - Sistema de Información de la Diversidad Biológica y Ambiental de la Amazonía Peruana

A tour operator website with visitor information
* Peruvian Amazon * Iquitos, Peru Wikipedia. {{Wikivoyage, Iquitos Nature reserves Protected areas of Peru Geography of the Department of Loreto