Primary and Secondary Forest by Andrea Chavez

The forests in Southeastern Amazon (here Province of Tahuamanu in Madre de Dios, Peru) are evergreen and characterized by high diversity and high crowns. The vegetation consists of lowland rain forests, mainly alluvial and terra firme forests, as well as low hillside bamboo forest. Alluvial forests are low terraces found along the borders of the major rivers. They are affected by river movement and frequent flooding. Terra firme is situated above the alluvial plains away from river courses and lakes and characterized by flat topography and variability of forest types. Although the diversity of Amazonian moist forests is generally among the highest of any forest type in the world, monodominant stands develop in some areas where either large bamboo (Gadua spp.) or palm (Mauritia flexuosa or Jessenia bataua) succeed over other species. Secondary forest or regrowth included secondary forest (1-2 year succession, 3-5 year succession, and between 7-15 year succession).
This gigapan has served to help distinguish remote sensing classification of forest cover.