Every year, over 250,000 km

of Amazon floodplain forests are covered by water that overflows from rivers.



This annual phenomenon forms the most extensive system of riverine flooded forests on Earth - a drastic revolution in the landscape that is vital for the efficient functioning of the

.

Why does flooding occur?

Floodplain forests represent between 3-4% of the Amazon Basin area and are highly productive riverside areas that are flooded during the rainy season, and which receive rich sediment from the Andes Mountains. These factors have resulted in the evolution of ecosystems and habitats with a high number of species. They have also lead to a thriving economic activity of riverine communities.There are three types of flooded forests;which are feb by muddy rivers,located in blackwater and clearwater tributaries, andlocated in the estuary.Heavy seasonal rainfall, concentrated in the Eastern Andes and the Northwest area of the Basin, are responsible for the river level fluctuations throughout the year. Because of the magnitude of the Amazon Basin and the uneven distribution of the seasonal rainfall, different parts of the river system inundate at different times and the overall floods last longer than would be the case if temporal distribution of precipitation were the same throughout the basin.Increased rainfall translates into increase discharge of the rivers. Because the Amazon Basin is mostly flat and there is more water than the waterways can contain, the water spills outside the riverbanks and into the low-lying floodplains. As the water spills over from the rivers, new bodies of water are created, such as ponds and oxbow lakes.Flooded areas extend about 20 km from the river banksand during the wet season, these may rise between 7.5 m and 15 m.