Large river headwater ecosystems
Species, assemblages, and processes in headwater areas are distinct from those of their larger mainstems.
The Mississippi Piedmont, Guayanan highlands, Upper Amazon, Upper Paraná, Brazilian Shield, Congo Basin Piedmont harbor a tremendous array of species, including numerous endemics adapted to life in these waters. In turn, these river systems ultimately feed a number of the world's largest and richest rivers1).
In this habitat are the following ecoregions:
Afrotropical
(150) Congo Basin Piedmont Rivers and Streams
Nearctic
(151) Mississippi Piedmont Rivers and Streams
Neotropical
(152) Upper Amazon Rivers and Streams
(153) Upper Paraná Rivers and Streams
(154) Brazilian Shield Amazonian Rivers and Streams
1) Hocutt & Wiley 1986, Kottelat & Whitten 1996, Thieme et al. in prep.
