The Central Andean wet puna is a

montane grasslands and shrublands Montane grasslands and shrublands is a biome defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The biome includes high elevation grasslands and shrublands around the world. The term "montane" in the name of the biome refers to "high elevation", rather than th ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

in 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 ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

and Bolivia.

Setting

This ecoregion occurs above and consists of high-elevation, wet, montane grasslands amid lakes, plateaus, valleys, and high mountains. It is bordered on the west by the

Sechura Desert The Sechura Desert is a coastal desert located south of the Piura Region of Peru along the Pacific Ocean coast and inland to the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Its extreme aridity is caused by the upwelling of cold coastal waters and subtrop ...

and on the east by the

Peruvian Yungas The Peruvian Yungas is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Yungas of Peru. Setting The Peruvian Yungas occur on the eastern slopes and valleys of the Peruvian Andes. They form a transition zone between the Southwes ...

. To the north it transitions to the

Cordillera Central páramo The Cordillera Central páramo (NT1004) is an ecoregion containing páramo (high moorland) 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. De ...

, to the south, the Central Andean puna. The ecoregion can be subdivided into three subregions: the high andean puna, wet puna, and wet montane grassland. The high Andean puna lies between . Nightly freezes occur throughout the year and annual precipitation is less than , falling mainly as snow and hail. The wet puna is located in the

altiplano The Altiplano (Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechua and Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extensive high plateau on Earth outside Tibet. The plateau is located at the ...

at elevations between . It is wetter in the north, where the wet season lasts eight months, and drier in the south, where the wet season lasts two months. Precipitation ranges from per year. Night freezes occur from March to October. The wet montane grasslands occur in the eastern section of the ecoregion, at elevations between . They form in deep mountain valleys with glacial origins. They are more humid than the puna.

Climate

The climate varies between cold semi-arid and subtropical highland.

Flora

The vegetation is composed of bunchgrass communities, wetlands, small shrubs and trees, and

herbaceous plant Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent wood, woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennial plant, perennials, and nearly all Annual plant, annuals and Biennial plant, biennials. Definition ...

s. Conspicuous grass genera include: '' Agrostis'', ''

Calamagrostis ''Calamagrostis'' (reed grass or smallweed) is a genus of flowering plants in the grass family Poaceae, with about 260 species that occur mainly in temperate regions of the globe. Towards equatorial latitudes, species of ''Calamagrostis'' general ...

'', ''

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on ever ...

'', ''

Paspalum ''Paspalum'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The group is widespread across much of Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Commonly known as paspalum, bahiagrasses, crowngrasses or dallis grasses, many of the species are tall pere ...

'' and ''

Stipa ''Stipa'' is a genus of around 300 large perennial hermaphroditic grasses collectively known as feather grass, needle grass, and spear grass. They are placed in the subfamily Pooideae and the tribe Stipeae, which also contains many species for ...

''; in more humid areas '' Chusquea'' and ''

Cortaderia ''Cortaderia'' is a genus of South American and Central American plants in the Poaceae grass family. Etymology The common name pampas grass, though strictly referring to ''C. selloana'', is frequently applied to all species in the genus (and so ...

''.

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

include '' Azorella'', ''

Baccharis ''Baccharis'' is a genus of perennials and shrubs in the aster family (Asteraceae). They are commonly known as baccharises but sometimes referred to as "brooms", because many members have small thin leaves resembling the true brooms. They are ...

'', ''

Daucus ''Daucus'' is a worldwide genus of herbaceous plants of the celery family Apiaceae of which the best-known species is the cultivated carrot. ''Daucus'' has about 25 species. The oldest carrot fossil is 1.3 Ma, and was found on the island of Mad ...

'', ''

Draba ''Draba'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, commonly known as whitlow-grasses (though they are not related to the true grasses). Species There are over 400 species: *'' Draba abajoensis'' Windham & Al-Shehbaz *'' ...

'', ''

Echinopsis ''Echinopsis'' is a large genus of cacti native to South America, sometimes known as hedgehog cactus, sea-urchin cactus or Easter lily cactus. One small species, ''E. chamaecereus'', is known as the peanut cactus. The 128 species range from l ...

'', ''

Gentiana ''Gentiana'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the gentian family (Gentianaceae), the tribe Gentianeae, and the monophyletic subtribe Gentianinae. With about 400 species it is considered a large genus. They are notable for their most ...

'', '' Geranium'', ''

Lupinus ''Lupinus'', commonly known as lupin, lupine, or regionally bluebonnet etc., is a genus of plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur ...

'', '' Nototriche'', '' Plettekea'', ''

Valeriana ''Valeriana'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Caprifoliaceae, members of which may by commonly known as valerians. It contains many species, including the garden valerian, ''Valeriana officinalis''. Species are native to all continen ...

'' and ''

Werneria ''Werneria'', also known as the torrent toads or smalltongue toads, is a small genus of "true toads", family Bufonidae. They are found in western Central Africa (Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Cameroon), with the greatest species richness in th ...

''.

Brassicaceae Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The leav ...

include ''

Cardamine ''Cardamine'' is a large genus of flowering plants in the mustard family, Brassicaceae, known as bittercresses and toothworts. It contains more than 200 species of annuals and perennials. Species in this genus can be found worldwide, except the ...

'', ''

'', and '' Weberbauera''.

Campanulaceae The family Campanulaceae (also bellflower family), of the order Asterales, contains nearly 2400 species in 84 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky sap. Among them are several familiar garden plants belo ...

include '' Lysipomia''.

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranthaceae, Cactacea ...

include '' Arenaria'', '' Cerstium'', and ''

Pycnophyllum ''Pycnophyllum'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllale ...

''. Rosaceae include ''

Acaena ''Acaena'' is a genus of about 60 species of mainly evergreen, creeping herbaceous perennial plants and subshrubs in the family Rosaceae, native mainly to the Southern Hemisphere, notably New Zealand, Australia and South America, but with a fe ...

'', ''

Alchemilla ''Alchemilla'' is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants in the family Rosaceae, with the common name lady's mantle applied generically as well as specifically to ''Alchemilla mollis'' when referred to as a garden plant. The plant used as a herb ...

'', and ''

Potentilla ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 300Guillén, A., et al. (2005)Reproductive biology of the Iberian species of ''Potentilla'' L. (Rosaceae).''Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid'' 1(62) 9–21. species of annual, biennial and perenni ...

''.

Rubiaceae The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules a ...

include '' Arcytophyllum'', and ''

Galium ''Galium'' is a large genus of annual and perennial herbaceous plants in the family Rubiaceae, occurring in the temperate zones of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Some species are informally known as bedstraw. There are over 600 spe ...

''.

Scrophulariaceae The Scrophulariaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the figwort family. The plants are annual and perennial herbs, as well as shrubs. Flowers have bilateral (zygomorphic) or rarely radial (actinomorphic) symmetry. The Scr ...

include ''

Agalinis ''Agalinis'' (false foxglove) is a genus of about 70 species in North, Central, and South America that until recently was aligned with members of the family Scrophulariaceae. As a result of numerous molecular phylogenetic studies based on vari ...

'', ''

Bartsia ''Bartsia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Orobanchaceae. Bartsia grows in damp places, such as marshes and wet meadows, in several parts of the west of England and Wales and in southwest Scotland. Etymology ''Bartsia'' was name ...

'', and ''

Calceolaria ''Calceolaria'' (), also called lady's purse, slipper flower and pocketbook flower,"Botanica. The Illustrated AZ of over 10000 garden plants and how to cultivate them", pp. 166-167 Könemann, 2004. or slipperwort, is a genus of plants in the ...

''. The high Andean puna includes species of grasses such as '' Festuca dolichopylla'', ''

Stipa ichu ''Jarava ichu'', commonly known as Peruvian feathergrass, ''ichhu'', ''paja brava'', ''paja ichu'', or simply ''ichu'' (Quechua for straw), is a grass species in the family Poaceae native to the Americas. It is found growing in a vast area: Mexic ...

'', ''Calamagrostis'' spp. Other plants with prostrate and roseate life forms are '' Hypochaeris'' spp., '' Lachemilla'' spp., ''

'' spp., ''Azorella'' spp., and '' Aciachne pulvinata''. The wet puna is composed mostly of grasses and shrubs, with sedges and rushes in areas with poor drainage. Below , vegetation in wet areas includes ''Carex'', ''Juncus'', ''Oreobolus'' and ''Scirpus''. Above , the vegetation in wet areas (called ''bofedales'') includes floating submerged cushion plants. Large cushions are formed by '' Distichia muscoides'', '' Oxychloe andina'', and ''

Plantago rigida ''Plantago rigida'', colloquially known as "Colchón de agua" (water mattress), is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family found in the high-altitude páramo biome of South America. Distribution Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Ven ...

''. Other genera include ''

'', '' Hypsela'', ''

Isoetes ''Isoetes'', commonly known as the quillworts, is the only extant genus of plants in the family Isoetaceae, which is in the class of lycopods. There are currently 192 recognized species, with a cosmopolitan distribution but with the individual ...

'', '' Lilaeopsis'', '' Ourisia'', and ''

Scirpus ''Scirpus'' is a genus of grass-like species in the sedge family Cyperaceae many with the common names club-rush, wood club-rush or bulrush (see also bulrush for other plant genera so-named). They mostly inhabit wetlands and damp locations. Taxo ...

''. Common trees are ''

Buddleja ''Buddleja'' (; ''Buddleia''; also historically given as ''Buddlea'') is a genus comprising over 140 species of flowering plants endemic to Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The generic name bestowed by Linnaeus posthumously honoured the Revere ...

coriacea'' and ''

Polylepis ''Polylepis'' is a genus comprising 28 recognised shrub and tree species, that are endemic to the mid- and high-elevation regions of the tropical Andes. This group is unique in the rose family in that it is predominantly wind-pollinated. They are ...

'' spp. ''

Puya raimondii ''Puya raimondii'', also known as queen of the Andes (English), titanka (Quechua) or puya de Raimondi (Spanish), is the largest species of bromeliad, its inflorescences reaching up to in height. It is native to the high Andes of Bolivia and Per ...

'' is a giant rosette found here. The wet montane grasslands in the region possess species not found in the wet puna. These include ''

Gnaphalium ''Gnaphalium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, commonly called cudweeds. They are widespread and common in temperate regions, although some are found on tropical mountains or in the subtropical regions of the world. Cudw ...

'' spp. '' Blechnum loxense'', ''

Loricaria ''Loricaria'' is a genus of armored catfish native to South America. Taxonomy ''Loricaria'' was the first genus of the family Loricariidae described. Thus, it is the nominal genus of the family Loricariidae. Phylogenetic relationships within ' ...

'' sp., and '' Achirocline'' sp.

Fauna

All of the Andean

camelid Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, ...

s are found in this ecoregion, including the vicuña (''

Vicugna vicugna ' is a genus containing four South American camelids, the wild guanaco and vicuña, and the domesticated llama and alpaca. Before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, llamas and alpacas were the only domesticated ungulates of the continent. ...

''), llama (''

Lama glama The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is soft a ...

''), guanaco ('' Lama guanacoe''), and alpaca ('' Lama pacos''). Other large mammals include the puma (''

Felis concolor The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

'') and the andean fox ('' Pseudalopex culpaeus''). Bats include the small big-eared brown bat ('' Histiotus montanus'') and the hoary bat ('' Lasiurus cinereus''). Endemic bird species in the northern section of the ecoregion include the Ash-breasted tit-tyrant ('' Anairetes alpinus''), the royal cinclodes ('' Cinclodes aricomae''), Berlepsch’s canastero ('' Asthenes berlepschi''), the line-fronted canastero (''

Asthenes urubambensis The line-fronted canastero (''Asthenes urubambensis'') is a Near Threatened species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Bolivia and Peru. Taxonomy and systematics The line-fronted canastero ...

''), the olivaceous thornbill ('' Chalcostigma olivaceum''), the scribble-tailed canastero (''

Asthenes maculicauda The scribble-tailed canastero (''Asthenes maculicauda'') is a species of bird in the family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical high-altitude grassland A grassland is an a ...

''), the short-tailed finch ('' Idiopsar bracyurus''), and the gray-bellied flower-piercer ('' Diglosa carbonaria''). Endemic bird species found in the southern section of the ecoregion tend to live in dense montane scrub and shrubby forest with cacti. Most of these birds live in the puna region, but others live in subtropical and temperate zones. These include the plain-tailed warbling-finch ('' Poospiza alticola''), the rufous-breasted warbling-finch ('' Poospiza rubecula''), Taczanowski’s tinamou ('' Nothoprocta tacaznowskii''), the white-cheeked cotinga (''

Zaratornis stresemanni The white-cheeked cotinga (''Zaratornis stresemanni'') is a species of bird in the family Cotingidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Zaratornis''. It is endemic to the Andes in west-central Peru. It mainly occurs at altitudes 3,250-4,250 m. ...

''), Kalinowski’s tinamou ('' Nothoprocta kalinowskii''), the white-browed tit-spinetail ('' Leptasthenura xenothorax''), the rufous-eared brush-finch ('' Atlapetes rufigenis''), the white-tufted sunbeam ('' Aglaeactis castelnaudii''), the bearded mountaineer ('' Oreonympha nobilis''), the striated earthcreeper ('' Upucerthia serrana''), the rusty-fronted canastero ('' Asthenes ottonis''), the rusty-bellied brush-finch ('' Atlapetes nationi''), the chesnut-breasted mountain-finch ('' Poospiza caesar''), and the brown-flanked tanager ('' Thlypopsis pectoralis''). The southern section of the ecoregion includes the Cochabamba mountain-finch ('' Poospiza garleppi''), Berlepsch’s canastero ('' Asthenes berlepschi''), the maquis canastero ('' Astenes heterura''), the rufous-bellied saltator ('' Saltator rufiventris''), the citron-headed yellow-finch ('' Sicalis luteocephala''), the scribble-tailed canastero (''

''), the short-tailed finch ('' Idiopsar brachyurus''), the grey-bellied flower-piecer ('' Diglossa carbonaria''), and Berlepsch's canastero ('' Asthenes berlepschi'').

Natural areas

* Ulla Ulla National Reserve * Titicaca National Reserve * Nor Yauyos-Cochas Landscape Reserve * Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu * Huayhuash mountain range *

Junín National Reserve Junín National Reserve is a protected area located in the region of Junín, Peru. One of its main purposes is to protect the ecosystem and biodiversity of Lake Junín and the surrounding Central Andean wet puna. Ecology Flora Land nativ ...

Huascarán National Park Huascarán National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Huascarán) is a Peruvian national park that comprises most of the mountain range known as Cordillera Blanca (the world's highest tropical mountain range) which is part of the central Andes, in the r ...

References

{{reflist Ecoregions of the Andes Tropical Andes Ecoregions of Peru Ecoregions of Bolivia