Huge expanses of the southern Altiplano are saline and barren, but ichu (a coarse bunchgrass) is common in the north, where it is grazed by llamas. Tola (a tough, wind-resistant shrub) and mosslike cushions of yareta, both widely used for fuel, are well distributed, along with cactus scrub. Totora reeds, which grow on the shores of Lake Titicaca, are used for thatching, feeding livestock, and making the Indian boats called balsas. Native quishuara and khena trees can still be found on the Altiplano. Near Mount Sajama, at an elevation of 14,000 feet (4,300 metres), one of the highest forests of khena trees has survived. Eucalyptus and pine trees have been introduced around the shores of Lake Titicaca and in sheltered valleys. Large stretches of the Altiplano are planted in field crops.

The Yungas region of the Andean foothills is clad in luxuriant mountain rainforest that includes an enormous variety of tropical hardwoods, dyewoods, medicinal and aromatic plants, and fruit trees. Characteristic trees include the green pine, aliso (a shrublike tree), laurel, cedar, tarco (a shade tree producing masses of yellow-white flowers), and saúco (which yields fruit used to make medicinal syrups). The cinchona, or quina tree, from which quinine is made, and the coca shrub, the source of cocaine, are also indigenous there. In the Valles region to the south there is a general covering of drought-resistant grasses, shrubs, and small trees, and in the southern foothill zone there is a strip of deciduous forest with such trees as the walnut and quebracho, the latter being a source of tannin and timber.

At lower elevations in the Oriente, vegetation is strongly controlled by the degree of waterlogging that occurs and by the length of the dry season. In the south the Chaco is scrub-covered, with scattered stands of quebracho giving way northward to a region of semideciduous tropical forest. Farther north in the Oriente, grass, palm, and swamp savannas extend into Beni. There, strips of tropical forest line the riverbanks, whereas more continuous forest appears in eastern and northeastern Bolivia. True Amazonian rainforest (selva amazónica) occurs only in the far north in the department of Pando and adjacent areas. The most important ones are Hevea brasiliensis (the most common rubber tree), Bertholletia excelsa (the source of Brazil nuts) and mahogany. Cattle rising and logging operations, many of them illegal, place an increasing strain on forested areas throughout the Yungas and the Oriente. Bolivian highland animal life is distinguished by the presence of members of the camel family—the llama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuña, all native to the Andes. The llama and alpaca are domesticated varieties of the wild guanaco, which survives in the mountains. The llama, the largest animal on the Altiplano and seldom seen below elevations of 7,500 feet (2,300 metres), is the traditional beast of burden and is also a source of meat, wool, leather, tallow, and fuel (in the form of dried dung) in rural Andean communities. It is also used for ancient Aymara and Quechua religious rites, in which it may be sacrificed in honour of Pachamama (Pacha Mama), goddess of the Earth. The smaller alpaca is reared for its soft wool, although the wild, legally protected vicuña that is found in the southern and northern parts of the Altiplano produces an even silkier type of wool. Highland rodents include the chinchilla, the viscacha (a burrower), the mara (a long-legged, long-eared cavy), and the cui (a guinea pig bred for its meat and often kept as a pet). The Andean condor, a New World vulture and the largest flying bird in the Americas, roosts and breeds at elevations between 10,000 and 16,000 feet (3,000 and 4,900 metres). Many smaller birds and waterfowl, including grebes, coots, cormorants, ducks, geese, and gulls, live around Lake Titicaca, and large flocks of flamingos appear during several months of the year on Titicaca's shallow shores and farther south around Lake Poopó. Trout are found in several of the rivers on the Altiplano.