Life zones of Peru

When the Spanish arrived, they divided Peru (very simplistically) 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 the Amazonian Jungle (Climate of Peru). But Javier Pulgar Vidal (es), a geographer who studied the biogeographic reality of the Peruvian territory for a long time, proposed the creation of eight Natural Regions.^[1]^[2] 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.

These eight Peruvian regions are:

Chala or Coast (subtropical dry and tropical savanna)
Yungas
- Fluvial Yunga
- Loma-Vegetation
Quechua
Suni or Jalca
Puna
Janca
Rupa - Rupa or Highland Jungle
Omagua or Lowland Jungle

Example: Andes 10°S

See also Altitudinal zonation

Classic version, Amazonic side

Sea level, estimated 22 - 24°C (75°F, but the cold Humboldt Current generates fog on the coast side);
Tierra caliente (Hot land, tropical) up to 2,500 ft (about 750 m - 1,000 m).
- Crops: Cacao, Banana, Sugarcane, Manioc, Sweet Potatoes, Yams.
Tierra templada (Temperate land, subtropical) up to 6,000 ft (about 1,850 m – 2,000 m)

(the warmest month has an average temperature of below 22°C or 72°F).

- Crops: Coffee, Tobacco, Maize, Coca, Peruvian Pepper (Schinus molle), Avocado, Guave (Psidium guajava), Cherimoya, Plum, Citrus fruits.
Tierra fría (Cool land, temperate) below 12,000 ft (about 3,600 m, treeline)

(the warmest month has an average temperature of below 18°C or 64°F).

- Crops: Potato, Maize, Squash, Passionfruit, Papaya, Peach, Wheat, Rye, and Barley. Farming of cattle.
Tierra helada (Cold land) above 12,000 ft (about 3,600 m)

(the definition of treeline of Coniferae: the warmest month has an average temperature of below 10°C or 50°F ).

- Crops above tree line: Quinoa, Cañigua, Mashua, Oca, Tarhui, Broad beans and Ulluco. Farming of Sheep, Llamas and Alpacas.

Terrestrial Biome Type 10: Montane grasslands and shrublands

Tierra Nevada (Janca), above the snow line, 15,000 ft (about 4,500 m - 5,000 m)

(just warmer than -1°C over rocks or just warmer than -3°C over snow, annual mean temperature).^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] ^[7]

Javier Pulgar Vidal's version

Altitudinal variation in the Andes.

The Peruvian geographer Javier Pulgar Vidal divided Peru in 8 regions (traditionally, it was costa, sierra and selva):

Map from República del Perú - Instituto Geográfico Nacional

Chala (West, Pacific Coast) 0– 500 m
Omagua (Lowland jungle or Selva baja, Amazonic rainforest) 80– 400 m
Rupa-Rupa (Highland jungle, Selva alta) 400– 1,000 m
Yunga (Aymaran for "Warm Lands", Cloud forest)
- Loma-Vegetation (West, "Yunga costal" at the north of Peru) 450– 600 m
- Fluvial Yungas (East, "Yunga fluvial") 1,000- 2,300 m
Quechua (East, High valleys) 2,300– 3,500 m
Suni (or Jalca or Sallqa too, high plateaus and cliffs) 3,500– 4,100 m
Puna (means "mountain top") 4,100– 4,800 m
Janca (means white) above 4,800 m, permafrost, rocks, snow and ice ^[1]

Notes

Biomes & Ecoregions nearby:^[8]

Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

Bolivian Yungas ^[9]
Peruvian Yungas ^[10]
Southwest Amazon moist forests ^[11]

Montane grasslands and shrublands

Central Andean dry puna ^[12]
Central Andean puna ^[13]
Central Andean wet puna ^[14]

Deserts and xeric shrublands

Overview - Amazonic side

Mouth of the Amazon River, Atlantic Ocean
- Belém, Brazil, 24 m, annual mean temperature 26.0°C
- Gurupa varzea (NT0126) ^[17]
- Manaus, Brazil, 72 m, annual mean temperature 26.6°C
- Monte Alegre varzea (NT0141) ^[18]
- Purus varzea (NT0156) ^[19]
Colombia - Peru - Brazil border
- Leticia, Colombia, 84 m, annual mean temperature 25.8°C
- Tierra Caliente or Tropical rainforest
  - Omagua or Selva baja (Southwest Amazon moist forests - NT0166) ^[11]
  - Iquitos, Peru, 126 m, annual mean temperature 26.2°C
  - Rupa-Rupa or Selva alta (Iquitos varzea - NT0128) ^[20]
- Yunga fluvial (more than 5°C colder than the Peruan Tropics)
  - Peruvian Yungas (NT0153) ^[10]
- Quechua (High valleys, more than 10°C colder than the Peruan Tropics)
Treeline
- Tierra Helada
  - Suni (plateau)
Mountain pass
- Puna (mountain slope)
  - Central Andean wet puna (NT1003) ^[21]
  - Central Andean puna (NT1002) ^[13]
- "Andean-Alpine desert"
Snow line
- Tierra Nevada or Janca
Peak

Estimated temperatures - Continental Divide

Explanations:

Region, altitude (m); avg annual precipitation (mm); avg annual temperature (°C);
Peruvian Highland Rainforest (Tropical climate), Cloud forest (Subtropical climate) and Temperate forest (Temperate climate);
Cusco reference, estimated avg annual temperature (°C, Lowland Rainforest or Selva baja gets more rain, so it is more cloudy, so it is cooler);
Snow line reference, Humboldt cold current/ Pacific climate influence, estimated avg annual temperature (°C).^[22]
- Cuzco, Peru; 3,249 m; avg annual temperature 12.5 °C; avg annual precipitation 736 mm.
- Lima, Peru; 30 m; avg annual temperature 19.2 °C (fog influence); avg annual precipitation 15 mm.

	Altitude	West - Pacific side	East - Amazonian side
Highland Rainforest or Selva alta	400 m	-	26.5 °C
Loma-Vegetation	500 m	about 21.1 °C	-
Cloud forest or Fluvial Yunga	1,000 m	-	23.5 °C
Quechua - Montane Valleys	2,300 m	-	17.2 °C
Amazonian Tree line of Coniferae: 10 °C	about 3,500 m	-	about 10 °C
Mountain pass influence	4,100 m	about 3.4 °C	(about 7.1 °C)
Vegetation end	about 4,800 m	about 0.0 °C	-
Snow line	about 5,000 m	about -1.0 °C	-

Example: Kallawaya Region, Bolivia

Altitudinal zonation: Kallawaya Region, around Charazani, Bolivia (border to Peru).

Glacier
- Altitude: 5,900- 5,200 m, Annual mean temperature: below 0 °C, Agriculture: none
High Mountain Desert, Werneria ciliolata on scree
- Altitude: 5,200- 5,000 m, Annual mean temperature: below 0 °C - 0 °C, Agriculture: none.
Grass Zone
- Calamagrostis minima Steppe,
  - Altitude: 5,000- 4,600 m, Annual mean temperature: 0- 3.5 °C, Farming: alpacas, lamas.
- Pycnophyllum Steppe,
  - Altitude: 4,600- 4,300 m, Annual mean temperature: 3.5- 7.5 °C, Farming: alpacas, lamas.
- Aciachne Humid Grassland,
  - Altitude: 4,300- 3,900 m, Annual mean temperature: 7.5- 10.0 °C, Farming: alpacas, lamas, pigs; Agriculture: bitter potatoes, (oca), (oat); Fallow land: more than 8 years.
Shrub Zone
- Satureja Shrub (westslope), Baccharis pentandii Shrub, with Berberis (eastslope),
  - Altitude: 3,900- 3,600 m, Annual mean temperature: 10.0- 11.5 °C, Farming: sheep; Agriculture: potatoes, oca, ulluco, barley; Fallow land: 3 to 4 years.
- Mutisia Shrub (westslope), Baccharis pentlandii Shrub, with Siphocampylus (eastslope),
  - Altitude: 3,600- 2,700 m, Annual mean temperature: 11.5- 16.5 °C, Farming: sheep, cattle; Agriculture: wheat, (barley), peas, beans, maize up to 3,500 m with crop rotation.
- Kaunia longipetiolata Shrub,
  - Altitude: 3,200- 2,700 m, Annual mean temperature: 13.5- 16.5 °C, Farming: cattle; Agriculture: maize, wheat, beans, spring potatoes, use of fertilizers, no crop rotation.
- Highland Rainforest,
  - Altitude: below 2,700 m, Annual mean temperature: over 17.0 °C, Farming: cattle; Agriculture: tropical fruits, oranges, coffee, coca at around 2,000 m.^[23]

Gallery

Vegetation of Peru
Amazon basin
Watershed around Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, Puno and Cusco
Costa - Sierra - Selva
Rupa-Rupa - High Rain forest
Mist forest (2,500 m)
Quechua
Sacred Valley of the Incas between Písac and Ollantaytambo (2002)
Mountain slope (4,000 m)
Lake Quñuqqucha (4,050 m)
Puna with shrubs
Region of Ayacucho, Peru, 1986 - Puna
Region of Ayacucho, Peru, 1986 - Puna
Quyllur Rit'i, glacier and alpine desert - 2007
Huáscarán National Park; Cordillera Blanca; Tawllirahu (5,830 m); North of Lima

References

1 2 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.
↑ Benavides Estrada, Juan (1999); Geografía del Perú 2do año de Secuandaria. Lima: Escuela Nueva.
↑ Brigitta Schütt (2005); Azonale Böden und Hochgebirgsböden
↑ Zech, W. and Hintermaier-Erhard, G. (2002); Böden der Welt – Ein Bildatlas, Heidelberg, p. 98.
↑ Christopher Salter, Joseph Hobbs, Jesse Wheeler and J. Trenton Kostbade (2005); Essentials of World Regional Geography 2nd Edition. NY: Harcourt Brace. p.464-465.
↑ Middle America: Altitudinal Zonation
↑ http://www.andix.com/huaraz_maps/huaraz.html Maps of the Cordillera Blanca - Peru
↑ WWF Global 200: World Map of 14 Terrestrial Biomes and 867 Ecoregions
↑ "Bolivian Yungas". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
1 2 "Peruvian Yungas". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
1 2 "Southwest Amazon moist forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
↑ "Central Andean dry puna". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
1 2 "Central Andean puna". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
↑ "Central Andean wet puna". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
↑ "Atacama desert". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
↑ "Sechura desert". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
↑ "Gurupa varzea". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
↑ "Monte Alegre varzea". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
↑ "Purus varzea". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
↑ "Iquitos varzea". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
↑ "Central Andean wet puna". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
↑ Klimadiagramme weltweit - Europa
↑ Seibert, Paul; Farbatlas Südamerika, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, 1996.

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