Life zones of Peru

• Chala or Coast
• Yungas
• * Fluvial Yunga
• * Loma-Vegetation
• Quechua
• Suni or Jalca
• Puna
• Janca
• Rupa - Rupa or Highland Jungle
• Omagua or Lowland Jungle

  Example: Andes 10°S

Classic version, Amazonic side

• Sea level
• * Estimated 22 - 24°C, but the cold Humboldt Current generates fog on the coast side
• Tierra caliente up to 2,500 ft.
• * Crops: Cacao, Banana, Sugarcane, Manioc, Sweet Potatoes, Yams.
• Tierra templada up to 6,000 ft
• * The warmest month has an average temperature of below 22°C or 72°F.
• * Crops: Coffee, Tobacco, Maize, Coca, Peruvian Pepper, Avocado, Guave, Cherimoya, Plum, Citrus fruits.
• Tierra fría below 12,000 ft
• * 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 above 12,000 ft
• * 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 , above the snow line, 15,000 ft
• * Just warmer than -1°C over rocks or just warmer than -3°C over snow, annual mean temperature).

  Javier Pulgar Vidal's version

• Chala 0– 500 m
• Omagua 80– 400 m
• Rupa-Rupa 400– 1,000 m
• Yungas
• *Loma-Vegetation 450– 600 m
• *Fluvial Yungas 1,000- 2,300 m
• Quechua 2,300– 3,500 m
• Suni 3,500– 4,100 m
• Puna 4,100– 4,800 m
• Janca above 4,800 m, permafrost, rocks, snow and ice

  Overview - Amazonic side

• Mouth of the Amazon River, Atlantic Ocean
• * Belém, Brazil, 24 m, annual mean temperature 26.0°C
• * Gurupa várzea
• * Manaus, Brazil, 72 m, annual mean temperature 26.6°C
• * Monte Alegre várzea
• * Purus várzea
• Colombia - Peru - Brazil border
• * Leticia, Colombia, 84 m, annual mean temperature 25.8°C
• * Tierra Caliente or Tropical rainforest
• ** Omagua or Selva baja
• ** Iquitos, Peru, 126 m, annual mean temperature 26.2°C
• ** Rupa-Rupa or Selva alta
• * Yunga fluvial
• ** Peruvian Yungas
• * Quechua
• Tree line
• * Tierra Helada
• ** Suni
• Mountain pass
• * Puna
• ** Central Andean wet puna
• ** Central Andean puna
• * "Andean-Alpine desert"
• Snow line
• * Tierra Nevada or Janca
• Peak

  Estimated temperatures - Continental Divide

• Region, altitude ; avg annual precipitation ; avg annual temperature ;
• Peruvian Highland Rainforest, Cloud forest and Temperate forest ;
• Cusco reference, estimated avg annual temperature ;
• Snow line reference, Humboldt cold current/ Pacific climate influence, estimated avg annual temperature.
• * 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 ; avg annual precipitation 15 mm.

Example: Kallawaya Region, Bolivia

• 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,, ; Fallow land: more than 8 years.
• Shrub Zone
• * Satureja Shrub, Baccharis pentandii Shrub, with Berberis,
• **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, Baccharis pentlandii Shrub, with Siphocampylus,
• **Altitude: 3,600- 2,700 m, Annual mean temperature: 11.5- 16.5 °C, Farming: sheep, cattle; Agriculture: wheat,, 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.

  Gallery