Formation;"Structure and foliage phenology";Bioclimate;"Altitudinal belt/ Geographical distribution";Soils "1. Cryomorphic open vegetation";"Dwarf caespitose grasslands and open or sparse low perennial subfruticose herbs on cryoturbed high montane Andean soils";"Humid Pluviseasonal and Pluvial";"Subnival > 4600 m";"Cryosols, Leptosols, Regosols" "2. Bunch-Grassland";"Mountain tropical tall to medium-high graminoid grasslands that grow forming somewhat separate tillers or tufts with dense rooting (Puna, Páramo, Pajonal). Including swamp-grasslands and peat-bogs.";"Humid Pluvial and Pluviseasonal";"Upper Montane and High Montane belts / Tropical Andean, High Guyanas";"Umbrisols, Regosols, Histosols, Gleysols, Leptosols" "3. Evergreen forest";"Tall or medium-high forests and woodlands with perennial foliage (Rainforest, Selva). It presents a complex and very diverse vertical structure: emergent strata, canopy, sub-canopy, shrub layers, herbaceous layers, lianas and epiphytes";"Humid to Hyperhumid Pluvial and Humid Pluviseasonal";"Lowland, Montane and Upper Montane belts / Amazonian, Tropical Andean (N. & C.), Atlantic Brazil, Guyanean";"Ferralsols, Acrisols, Ultisols, Umbrisols" "4. Evergreen seasonal forest and woodland";"Tall to medium or low-high forests and woodlands with foliage which is partially lost continuously, although with a maximum loss in dry season, but simultaneously regenerates it in moderately short time so the foliage looks green all year. (Seasonal rainforest, Seasonal Andean Polylepis woodland)";"Humid to subhumid Pluviseasonal";"Lowland, Montane and Upper Montane belts / Amazonian, Tropical Andean, Venezuelan, Atlantic and central Brazil, Guyanean";"Ferralsols, Acrisols, Umbrisols" "5. Evergreen seasonal sclerophyllous-woodland";"Dense to open low woodlands with notoriously sclerophyllous or chartaceous perennial to semi-persistent foliage (Cerrado –on poor and acidic soils developed on laterite substrates–, Amazonian Campinarana –on white quartzitic sands–). The Cerrado is a successional complex (vegetation series) whose climax vegetation is sclerophyllous woodland. It includes: Cerradão (dense woodland), Cerrado (open woodland), Campo Cerrado (bush savanna) and Campo limpo (herbaceous savanna)";"Humid to subhumid Pluviseasonal";"Lowland belt / Central Brazil, E Bolivia, NE Paraguay (Cerrado); and Central-Southern Amazonia (Amazonian Campinarana)";"Ferralsols, Plinthosols, Planosols, Tropical Podzols" "6. Deciduous forest and woodland";"Medium-high forests and woodlands with foliage which is fully or almost fully lost (deciduous to semideciduous) during the dry season (Seasonally dry forests & woodlands). Generally, with abundant vines and climbers";"Subhumid Pluviseasonal and Dry Xeric";"Lowland and Montane belts / Venezuelan, Tropical Andean, Central and NE Brazil, Northern Chaco";"Ferralsols, Cambisols, Luvisols" "7. Deciduous thorn woodland and shrubland";"Dense intricate to open low woodlands and shrublands with wholly or almost deciduous, predominantly microfoliate leaves and/or many thorns on branches and stems, as well as cacti (Guajira, Brazilian Caatinga, Chaco)";"Dry Xeric";"Lowland and Montane belts / Venezuelan, N. Colombian, NE Brazil, Tropical Andean, Gran Chaco (Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay)";"Luvisols, Cambisols Solonetzs, Vertisols" "8. Xeromorphic shrubland and thicket (semidesert)";"Semi-dense to open and sparse, low xeromorphic shrublands and thickets with predominantly microfoliate and/or resinous leaves and often with many cacti and other succulent plants (Guajira, Caatinga, Chaco, Central-Southern Dry Puna: Andean Altiplano)";"Semiarid Xeric (semidesertic)";"Lowland, Montane and Upper Montane belts / Venezuelan, N. Colombian, NE Brazil, Central-Southern Tropical Andean, Gran Chaco (Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay)";"Regosols, Leptosols, Luvisols" "9. Desert open vegetation";"Low and sparse extremely xeromorphic thickets with therophytes and several succulents. In ecological situations such as temporary streams, the desert may include linear dense to sparse formations of woody phreatophytes. (Atacama Puna, Argentina Monte, Central Chilean Desert, Peruvian montane desert)";"Arid Desertic";"Lowland, Montane, Upper Montane and High montane belts. Southern Tropical Andean";"Regosols, Leptosols" "10. Non vegetated hyperdesert";"Mountainous reliefs and plains devoid of superior vegetation, except for some populations of extreme xeromorphic or phreatophytic plants that can grow dispersedly in beds of ravines or occasional streams. In ecological situations such as seasonal streams and rivers, the desert may include linear dense to sparse formations of riparian shrubby or arboreal vegetation. (Atacama Desert, Peruvian Desert)";"Hyperarid Desertic";"Lowland and Montane. Pacific coastal and hilly deserts in extreme south-western Ecuador, western Perú and north-central western Chile";"Regosols, Leptosols" "11. Foggy coastal hyperdesert";"Succulent xeromorphic vegetation foggy-dependent on coastal areas of the Pacific Chilean-Peruvian Hyperdesert, locally named as “Lomas”: Tillandsia Lomas and Succulent Eulychnia Lomas. (Atacama Desert, Peruvian Desert)";"Hyperarid Desertic";"Lowland. Coastal Pacific areas from northern Perú to central Chile";"Arenosols, Leptosols" "12. Flooded forest and woodland";"Tall or medium-high dense and diverse forests and woodlands with perennial or semi-perennial foliage, that are flooded seasonally or permanently due to rainfall or river overflow (Várzea, Igapó, Bañados chaqueños)";"Pluvial, Pluviseasonal and Xeric";"Lowland and Montane belts / Widely distributed";"Gleysols, Fluvisols, Stagnosols, Vertisols" "13. Mangroves";"Low or medium high forest & woodland with coastal distribution and affected by both, tidal sea water and fresh water from the mouth of rivers. Typically, on substrates with acidic iron sulfates (jarosite and natrojarosite)";"Pluvial, Pluviseasonal and Xeric";"Coastal lowlands";"Fluvisols tidalic thionic, Planosols thionic" "14. Flooded savanna";"Tropical tall-grasslands (graminoid and cyperoid) with or without open coverage of palms, shrubs and trees patches, that are flooded seasonally (for 4 to 7 months on average), or permanently, due to rainfall and/or river overflow (Venezuelan-Colombian Llanos, Beni –Llanos de Moxos–, Gran Pantanal)";"Pluvial and Pluviseasonal";"Lowland belt / S. Venezuela, E. Colombia, E. Bolivia, SW Brazil";"Planosols, Stagnosols, Gelysols" "15. Non flooded savanna";"Tropical grasslands on well-drained soils. With or without open coverage of palms, shrubs and trees patches. Often as secondary formation. Only represents the potential natural vegetation on unfavorable substrates and soils";Pluviseasonal;"Widely distributed in the Neotropical lowlands and montane belts";"Ferralsols, Acrisols, Cambisols, Luvisols, Fluvisols, Regosols, Leptosols" "16. Anthropic and Cultural Vegetation (Anthromes)";"Landscapes largely dominated by vegetation types cultivated or strongly conditioned by man, including agricultural biomes (woody and or herbaceous crops, cultivated pastures, as well as irrigated or rain-fed agriculture). Livestock extensive areas, and the natural seral vegetation that colonizes substrates of anthropogenic origin in urban-industrial ecosystems, such as streets, roadsides, parks and gardens, urban wastelands, mining and industrial waste, dumps and abandoned or fallow crops";"Pluvial, Pluviseasonal, Xeric, Desertic, Hyperdesertic";"Widely distributed in the Neotropical lowlands, montane, upper montane and high- montane belts";"Anthrosols, Technosols, Regosols, Fluvisols, Vertisols, Chernozems"