Cordillera Central páramo
| Cordillera Central páramo (NT1004) | |
|---|---|
Cordillera of Cajamarca
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| Ecology | |
| Realm | Neotropical |
| Biome | Montane grasslands and shrublands |
| Geography | |
| Area | 12,173 km2 (4,700 sq mi) |
| Countries | Peru, Ecuador |
| Coordinates | 6°56′17″S 78°34′05″W / 6.938°S 78.568°WCoordinates: 6°56′17″S 78°34′05″W / 6.938°S 78.568°W |
| Climate type | Cfb: warm temperate, fully humid, warm summer |
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. Despite many human settlements and some destruction of habitat by agriculture and mining, the ecoregion is relatively intact.
The Cordillera Central páramo is found in the upper regions of the Andes in northern Peru and southern Ecuador. The ecoregion has an area of 1,217,294 hectares (3,008,000 acres). The páramo covers ridges and mountains in the high basins of the Piura and Cajamarca regions of Peru and in the south of Ecuador. The northern part of the ecoregion is surrounded by the Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests ecoregion. Further south it adjoins or is surrounded by Tumbes-Piura dry forests, Marañón dry forests, Peruvian Yungas, Ucayali moist forests, Sechura Desert and Central Andean wet puna.
The Cordillera Central páramo begins at the treeline around 3,200 metres (10,500 ft) of elevation and extends upward to the permanent snowline at about 4,500 metres (14,800 ft). Some mountains are volcanic in origin from the Tertiary period, but there are also Paleozoic metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, Paleocene batholiths and areas of Precambrian rock. Terrain includes steep slopes on the high peaks, and flat or rolling tablelands cut by deep valleys in which the climate is milder. Soils are wet or marshy, with rocky regions and rock outcroppings. The páramo is the source of many streams that run down the east and west slopes of the Andes and provide an important source of water to the human populations lower down. In Peru it supplies the Quirós, Huancabamba and Chinchipe rivers.
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Wikipedia