Puna grassland

The Puna grassland ecoregion, of the 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 Bolivia, as far as northern Argentina and Chile. The term puna encompasses diverse ecosystems of the high Central Andes above 3200–3400 m.

The puna is found above the treeline at 3200–3500 m elevation, and below the permanent snow line above 4500–5000 m elevation. It extends from central Peru in the north, across the Altiplano plateau of Peru and Bolivia, and south along the spine of the Andes into northern Argentina and Chile.

Other sources claim that it goes on Suni (high plateaus and cliffs, some agriculture) and from 4000 m to the snow line (permafrost and alpine desert) of Puna grassland (mountain tops and slopes, much colder).

The puna is a diverse ecosystem that comprises varied ecoregions labeled wet/moist puna, dry puna and desert puna.

This ecoregion is a high elevation, wet, montane grassland in the southern high Andes, occurring from northern Peru to northern Bolivia. The wet puna shares its border on the west with the Sechura desert and the east with the wet Peruvian Yungas. The characteristically mountainous landscape contains high lakes, mountain valleys, snow-covered mountains, and plateaux. The high elevation of the wet puna (4200 to 5000 m) causes the area to have large temperature differences between night and day. The average annual temperature is low, ranging from 5 to 7 °C; with night frost periods from March to October. Temperatures shift from characteristic summer highs in the day and drop to winter lows at night. This extreme temperature shift has caused selective adaptation to occur and many endemic plants such as the Culcitium, Perezia, and Polylepis center their diversity in the wet puna. The ecoregion contains snow-capped peaks, glacial lakes, and several rivers that originate in the Cordilleras. The biggest lake in the ecoregion is Lake Titicaca, which is the highest navigable lake in the world, at an elevation of 3800 m (above sea level). The Suches and Tiwanacu rivers in Bolivia are the lakes tributaries. The areas in the north surrounding Lake Titicaca have eight wet months, and the areas in the south have one to two wet months. The average precipitation in this region ranges from 400 to 2000 mm.

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Wikipedia