This chapter provides an overview of biodiversity in the Amazon, discusses the reasons why this region is so rich in species and ecosystems, and outlines some outstanding ecological processes that make the Amazon an icon of the natural world. Featured terrestrial and aquatic taxonomic groups illustrate how much we know about diversity in the Amazon, and more importantly, how much we still do not know. A clear understanding of biodiversity levels and their spatial and temporal variations is crucial to understanding future stability under different climate change, land use change, forest fragmentation, and deforestation scenarios and informing conservation and restoration efforts.

This chapter describes the diversity of plants and ecosystems in the lowland Amazon and discusses how complex regional gradients in climate and soil conditions drive regional variability in species composition, vegetation dynamics, carbon stocks, and productivity. The Amazon river network and its role in connecting aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems through organisms and nutrient exchanges is also emphasized.

Pragmatic methods to assess the status of biodiversity at multiple scales are required to support conservation decision-making. At the intersection of several major biogeographic zones, Bolivia has extraordinary potential to develop a monitoring strategy aligned with the objectives of the Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO BON). Bolivia, a GEO Observer since 2005, is already working on the adequacy of national earth observations towards the objectives of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). However, biodiversity is still an underrepresented component in this initiative. The integration of biodiversity into Bolivia’s GEO framework would confirm the need for a country level biodiversity monitoring strategy, fundamental to assess the progress towards the 2020 Aichi targets. Here we analyse and discuss two aspects of the process of developing such a strategy: (1) identification of taxonomic, temporal and spatial coverage of biodiversity data to detect both availability and gaps; and (2) evaluation of issues related to the acquisition, integration and analyses of multi-scale and multi-temporal biodiversity datasets. Our efforts resulted in the most comprehensive biodiversity database for the country of Bolivia, containing 648,534 records for 27,534 species referenced in time and space that account for 92.5% of the species previously reported for the country. We capitalise this information into recommendations for the implementation of the Bolivian Biodiversity Observation Network that will help ensure that biodiversity is sustained as the country continues on its path of development.

Distribution patterns of palms, particularly species richness along latitudinal and altitudinal gradients in Bolivia, are still unknown. A species distribution model was used to identify areas with potentially high palm species richness and endemism. Two models were used: the environmental niche model and a deductive model. A map of potential palm species richness in Bolivia was prepared using 1 km² pixels. Two areas are predicted to concentrate most of the potential palm species richness of Bolivia: the southwestern Amazonian moist forest, and the Yungas Andean forest of Bolivia. The potential distribution of Bolivia's endemic palm species appeared to be associated to the eastern side of the Andes. Most palms have Amazonian phytogeographic influences, followed by Andean. The areas identified with greatest potential species diversity coincided with observed patterns at a continental level. The greatest palm richness of northern and northwestern Bolivia may be related to the climatic conditions of these zones. Bolivia represents the southern and western distribution limit of many palm species in terms of continental phytogeographic patterns.