Tierra Helada (Spanish for "frozen land"), also known as Tierra Nevada (Spanish for "snowy land"), is a term used in Latin America to refer to the highest places found within the
Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
mountains.
The ''Tierra Helada'' comprises the
montane grasslands and shrublands,
suni
The Suni (''Nesotragus moschatus'') is a small antelope. It occurs in dense underbrush from central Kenya to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
Suni are around high at the shoulder and weigh . They are usually reddish brown, darker on their back t ...
s,
punas and
páramo
Páramo () can refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...
s between the
tree line
The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snowp ...
and the
snow line
The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...
. The term ''tierra helada'' is accurate from a climatological standpoint, as its land is indeed "frozen", situated above the snow line. In the northern Andes, the latter is located at an altitude of approximately 15,000 ft (or about 4,500 m).
[Zech, W. and Hintermaier-Erhard, G. (2002); Böden der Welt – Ein Bildatlas, Heidelberg, p. 98.]
The Peruvian geographer Javier Pulgar Vidal (
Altitudinal zonation) used following altitudes:
* as the border between the tropical rainforest and the subtropical cloud forest
* m as the end of the subtropical cloud forest (''
Yunga fluvial'')
* m as the tree line
* m as the puna end
[Pulgar Vidal, Javier: Geografía del Perú; Las Ocho Regiones Naturales del Perú. Edit. Universo S.A., Lima 1979. First Edition (his dissertation of 1940): Las ocho regiones naturales del Perú, Boletín del Museo de historia natural „Javier Prado", n° especial, Lima, 1941, 17, pp. 145-161.]
See also
*
Altitudinal zonation
*
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
*
Life zones of Peru When the Spanish arrived, they divided Peru into three main regions: the coastal region (11.6% of Peru), that is bounded by the Pacific Ocean; the highlands (28.1% of Peru), that is located on the Andean Heights, and the jungle, that is located on ...
*
Tierra caliente
''Tierra caliente'' is an informal term used in Latin America to refer to places with a distinctly tropical climate. These are usually regions from sea level from 0–3,000 feet.Zech, W. and Hintermaier-Erhard, G. (2002); Böden der Welt – Ein Bi ...
, ecoregion border: 2,500 ft or 1,000 m (Javier Pulgar Vidal)
*
Tierra templada, ecoregion border: 6,000 ft or 2,300 m (Javier Pulgar Vidal)
*
Tierra fría, ecoregion border, tree line: 12,000 ft or 3,500 m (Javier Pulgar Vidal)
References
Altitudinal life zones of Peru
Climate of South America
Geography of Mesoamerica
Spanish words and phrases
Geography of South America
Montane ecology
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