Flooding is a huge problem for residents who live around flood banks or otherwise close to the rivers since the all water from the surrounding highlands collects into the Amazon Basin.  Resident have had to adapt to the large amounts of rain by making their houses on stilts so that if they are flooded, water passes below their houses.  Many build houses on rafts so that the whole house rises during a flood and comes back down when the floods recede.

Flooding is also beneficial to some plants.  Many plants have adapted to the seasonal flooding as a way to disperse seeds.  Berries on certain trees ripen during the flood season and aquatic animals eat them and move on, helping to disperse the seeds in new locations along the banks of the river and other flood plains.

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