Historical State of the Ecosystem

The Amazon rainforest is located in South America and stretches its roots through Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The landscape of this ecosystem is extraordinary, containing: “one in ten known species on Earth, 1.4 billion acres of dense forests, half of the planet's remaining tropical forests, 4,100 miles of winding rivers, 2.6 million square miles in the Amazon basin, about 40 percent of South America”(WWF, 2012). It is also described as the most diverse place on the planet, containing thirty percent of the world’s species, specifically, housing more than 40,000 plant species, 1,700 bird species, 695 amphibians, 578 mammals, and 651 types of reptiles.  

Sources:
http://worldwildlife.org/places/amazon
http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20brazil.htm

Source: http://www.exploringnature.org/db/detail.php?dbID=44&detID=1370