| Peruvian Yungas | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Ecoregion territory (in purple) | |
| Ecology | |
| Biome | Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest |
| Borders | |
| Geography | |
| Area | 186,700 km2 (72,100 sq mi) |
| Country | Peru |
The Peruvian Yungas comprise a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in Peru. [1]
During the Inca Empire, the term yunga referred to both the western and eastern slopes of the Andes and their inhabitants. In the Spanish colonial era, it became primarily associated with the western foothills near the desert coast and the local Indians. Today, yunga can refer to the lower slopes on both sides of the Andes, though yungas mostly denotes the eastern foothills between the Andes and the Amazon basin, with both having mostly lost their ethnic associations.
The Yungas are found on the eastern slopes and valleys of the Peruvian Andes. They form a transition zone between the Southwest Amazon moist forests and Ucayali moist forests at lower elevations to the east and the Central Andean puna and wet puna at higher elevations to the west. [1]
The climate in this ecoregion varies from a tropical rainforest climate in the north to a subtropical highland climate in the south. Precipitation ranges from 500 to 2,000 millimeters (19.7 to 78.7 in) per year. [1]
This ecoregion contains over 3,000 species of plants, including 200 species of orchids. Orchid genera include Epidendrum and Maxillaria . Tree ferns ( Cyathea ) and bamboo ( Chusquea ) are common. Below 2,700 metres (8,900 ft), the forest includes species such as cedar ( Cedrela ), trumpet tree ( Tabebuia ), and relatives of papaya ( Carica ). Above 3,500 metres (11,500 ft), there are scrublands and wet rocky thickets with shrubs and land orchids as well as forests of Podocarpus conifers. [1]
This ecoregion contains over 200 species of vertebrates. The gallito de las rocas ( Rupicola peruviana ) is endemic. [1]
Notable mammals include the shrew opossums ( Caenolestes ) and Kalinowski's Agouti ( Dasyprocta kalinowskii ), as well as the northern pudú ( Pudu mephistophiles ) and the hairy long-nosed armadillo ( Dasypus pilosus ). [1]
Notable species with limited distributions found here include the horned curassow ( Pauxi unicornis ), hummingbirds ( Metallura theresiae , Heliangelus regalis ), the long-whiskered owlet ( Xenoglaux loweryi ) and the Marañón poison frog ( Dendrobates mysteriosus ). [1]
Endangered and threatened species include the yellow-tailed woolly monkey ( Oreonax flavicauda ), jaguar ( Panthera onca ), ocelot ( Leopardus pardalis ), spectacled bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ), neotropical otter ( Lontra longicaudis ), colocolo ( Oncifelis colocolo ), Andean cock-of-the-rock ( Rupicola peruviana ) and cinchona ( Cinchona sp.). [1]
This ecoregions also has endemic species of butterflies from the genera Dismopha , Callithea , Paridos , and Morpho . [1]
Peru is a country on the central western coast of South America facing the Pacific Ocean. It lies wholly in the Southern Hemisphere, its northernmost extreme reaching to 1.8 minutes of latitude or about 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) south of the equator. Peru shares land borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, and Chile, with its longest land border shared with Brazil.
The Yungas is a bioregion of a narrow band of forest along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains from Peru and Bolivia, and extends into Northwest Argentina at the slope of the Andes pre-cordillera. It is a transitional zone between the Andean highlands and the eastern forests. Like the surrounding areas, the Yungas belong to the Neotropical realm; the climate is rainy, humid, and warm.
When the Spanish arrived, they divided Peru into three main regions: the coastal region, that is bounded by the Pacific Ocean; the highlands, that is located on the Andean Heights, and the jungle, that is located on the Amazonian Jungle. But Javier Pulgar Vidal, a geographer who studied the biogeographic reality of the Peruvian territory for a long time, proposed the creation of eight Natural Regions. In 1941, he presented his thesis "Las Ocho Regiones Naturales del Perú" at the III General Assembly of the Pan-American Institute of Geography and History.
The Alto Mayo Protection Forest is an area of protected forest land in northern Peru. It is located in Rioja and Moyobamba provinces within the region of San Martin, with a small part in Rodriguez de Mendoza province, in the region of Amazonas. This area preserves a portion of the tropical yungas forest in the upper Mayo River basin, while protecting soil and water from erosion by deforestation, as the area is the water supply of populations in the Mayo valley.
The puna grassland ecoregion, part of the Andean montane grasslands and shrublands biome, is found in the central Andes Mountains of South America. It is considered one of the eight Natural Regions in Peru, but extends south, across Chile, Bolivia, and western northwest Argentina. The term puna encompasses diverse ecosystems of the high Central Andes above 3200–3400 m.
The Southern Andean Yungas is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Yungas of southwestern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina.
The Bolivian Yungas is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Yungas of central Bolivia.
The Central Andean wet puna is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia.
The Marañón dry forests (NT0223) is an ecoregion in northern Peru. It covers the lower valley of the Marañón River and its tributaries along the eastern edge of the Andes. It has a dry climate due to rain shadow from mountains further east. The habitat has long been modified by farming, ranching and logging and is now threatened by construction of hydroelectric and irrigation dams.
The Cordillera Central páramo (NT1004) is an ecoregion containing páramo vegetation above the treeline in the Andes mountain range of northern Peru and southern Ecuador. Due to its isolation there are high levels of endemism. Despite many human settlements and some destruction of habitat by agriculture and mining, the ecoregion is relatively intact.
The Venezuelan Andes montane forests (NT0175) is an ecoregion in the northern arm of the Andes in Venezuela. It contains montane and cloud forests, reaching up to the high-level Cordillera de Merida páramo high moor ecoregion. The forests are home to many endemic species of flora and fauna. Their lower levels are threatened by migrant farmers, who clear patches of forest to grow crops, then move on.
The Cordillera Oriental montane forests (NT0118) is an ecoregion in Venezuela and Colombia along the east slopes of the eastern cordillera of the Andes. The extensive region of submontane and montane forests includes distinctive flora and fauna in the north, center and southern sections. The ecoregion is home to numerous endemic species of fauna. Despite extensive changes due to logging, farming and ranching, large areas of the original habitat remain intact, and the ecoregion has rich biodiversity.
The Catatumbo moist forests (NT0108) is an ecoregion in Venezuela and Colombia to the west and east of Lake Maracaibo. It includes four regions of moist forest on slightly higher ground than the dry forest and mangroves that surround the lake. The forest has unique flora related to the flora of the Amazon basin. It is badly degraded due to farming, livestock grazing and oil exploration.
The Bolivian montane dry forests (NT0206) is an ecoregion in Bolivia on the eastern side of the Andes. It is a transitional habitat between the puna grasslands higher up to the west and the Chaco scrub to the east. The habitat is under severe stress from a growing human population.
The Ucayali moist forests (NT0174) is an ecoregion in the western Amazon rainforest of Peru.
The Northwestern Andean montane forests (NT0145) is an ecoregion on the Andes mountains in the west of Colombia and Ecuador. Both flora and fauna are highly diverse due to effect of ice ages when the warmer climate zones were separated and the cooler ones combined, and interglacial periods when the reverse occurred. Because the environment is hospitable to humans, the habitat has been drastically modified by farming and grazing since the Pre-Columbian era.
The Magdalena Valley montane forests (NT0136) is an ecoregion in the Andes mountains of central Colombia.
The Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests (NT0121) is an ecoregion in the eastern range of the Andes of southern Colombia, Ecuador and northern Peru. The ecoregion covers the eastern slopes of the Andes, and includes montane forest that rises from the Amazonian rain forest, with cloud forest and elfin forest at higher elevations. It is rich in species, including many endemics. It is threatened by logging and conversion for pasturage and subsistence agriculture.
The Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is a protected area in Peru covering over 35,000 hectares. It includes the natural environment surrounding the Machu Picchu archaeological site, located in the rugged cloud forest of the Yungas on the eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes and along both banks of the Urubamba River, which flows northwest in this section.
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