Marañón dry forests

Marañón dry forests (NT0223)
River valley near Tactago in Cumba District
Ecology
Realm	Neotropical
Biome	Tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests
Geography
Area	11,396 km2 (4,400 sq mi)
Countries	Peru
Coordinates	5°56′S 78°40′W / 5.94°S 78.67°W / -5.94; -78.67Coordinates: 5°56′S 78°40′W / 5.94°S 78.67°W / -5.94; -78.67
Climate type	Cfb: warm temperate; fully humid; warm summer.

The Marañón dry forests (NT0223) is an ecoregion in northern Peru. It covers the lower valley of the Marañón River and its tributaries along the eastern edge of the Andes. It has a dry climate due to rain shadow from mountains further east. The habitat has long been modified by farming, ranching and logging and is now threatened by construction of hydroelectric and irrigation dams.

The Marañón dry forests ecoregion in northwestern Peru has an area of 1,139,594 hectares (2,816,000 acres). It extends along the upper valley of the Marañón River and its tributaries. To the north the ecoregion adjoins the Eastern Cordillera real montane forests. The northern part of the ecoregion extends from the Tumbes-Piura dry forests in the west to the Ucayali moist forests in the east. The ecoregion extends to the southeast through the Peruvian Yungas and patches of the Cordillera Central páramo.

The Marañón River rises on the Nevado de Yapura glacier, and runs northwest through northern Peru between the western and eastern cordilleras of the Andes. It then turns northeast, breaks through the mountains and flows into the Amazon lowlands, where it meets the Ucayali River and forms the Amazon River.

The ecoregion's most southern part is in the Tayabamba District to the west of the Rio Abiseo National Park. It extends downstream along the river valley in a northwest direction to the region south of Jaén where it is joined by the Chamaya River and turns to the northeast. It includes the valley of the Chotano River, which flows northwest parallel to and west of the Marañó. The Chotano joins the Huancabamba River to form the Chamaya below Pucará. The Chamaya flows northeast to join the Marañó. Beyond Jaén the ecoregion extends along the southeast bank of the Marañó, and includes the valleysof the Utcubamba and Chiriaco rivers, which enter the Marañó from the southeast, and the eastern part of Cordillera de Colán National Sanctuary in the Chiriaco valley.