Cordillera Oriental montane forests

Cordillera Oriental montane forests (NT0118)
River in the Serranía del Perijá in the north of the ecoregion
Ecology
Realm	Neotropical
Biome	Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests
Geography
Area	67,858 km2 (26,200 sq mi)
Countries	Venezuela, Colombia
Coordinates	6°32′28″N 71°56′13″W / 6.541°N 71.937°W / 6.541; -71.937Coordinates: 6°32′28″N 71°56′13″W / 6.541°N 71.937°W / 6.541; -71.937
Climate type	Cfb": warm temperate, fully humid, warm summer

The Cordillera Oriental montane forests (NT0118) is an ecoregion in Venezuela and Colombia along the east slopes of the eastern cordillera of the Andes. The extensive region of submontane and montane forests includes distinctive flora and fauna in the north, center and southern sections. The ecoregion is home to numerous endemic species of fauna. Despite extensive changes due to logging, farming and ranching, large areas of the original habitat remain intact, and the ecoregion has rich biodiversity.

The Cordillera Oriental montane forests ecoregion extends along eastern slopes of the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes, mostly in Colombia but in the northwest of Venezuela to the west of Lake Maracaibo. It has an area of 6,785,768 hectares (16,768,000 acres).

At the northern end of the cordillera the ecoregion gives way to Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub. To the east, from north it south it adjoins Maracaibo dry forests, Catatumbo moist forests, Venezuelan Andes montane forests, Apure-Villavicencio dry forests, Llanos, Caqueta moist forests and Napo moist forests. At its southern extreme it merges into Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests. To the west, from north to south, the ecoregion adjoins Sinú Valley dry forests and Magdalena Valley montane forests. At the upper levels the ecoregion gives way to Northern Andean páramo.

The ecoregion covers the mid-level and high-level northern Andes, including foothills. There are three main sub-regions: the Serranía del Perijá in the north, somewhat isolated from the Cordillera Oriental and closer to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the northeastern slope of the Cordillera Oriental and the southeastern slope of the Cordillera Oriental. The southeastern slope extends southward from the west of the Tamá Massif past (and including) the Serranía de la Macarena. In the wider, northern section of this slope there are high, flat plains and páramos, and permanently snow covered peaks such as the 5,493 metres (18,022 ft) Sierra Nevada del Cocuy. Further south it is narrower and lower, with peaks under 3,000 metres (9,800 ft).