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Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests

{{Infobox ecoregion

|name = Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests (NT0121)

|image = File:Sumaco.JPG

|image_size =

|image_alt =

|caption = Sumaco volcano viewed from Tena

|map= Ecoregion NT0121.png

|map_alt =

|map_caption = Ecoregion territory (in purple)

|biogeographic_realm = Neotropical

|biome = Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

|animals =

|bird_species =

|mammal_species =

|border =

|borders =

|area = 102,565

|countries = Colombia, Ecuador, Peru

|elevation =

|coordinates = {{coord| -1.927| -78.127 |region:CO|display=it}}

|geology =

|rivers =

|climate = Aw (equatorial; winter dry)

|soil =

|conservation =

|global200 =

|habitat_loss =

|protected =

}}

The Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests (NT0121) is an ecoregion in the eastern range of the Andes of southern Colombia, Ecuador and northern Peru.

The ecoregion covers the eastern slopes of the Andes, and includes montane forest that rises from the Amazonian rain forest, with cloud forest and elfin forest at higher elevations.

It is rich in species, including many endemics.

It is threatened by logging and conversion for pasturage and subsistence agriculture.

Geography

=Location=

The ecoregion is on the eastern slopes of the central Andes.

The forests cover an almost continuous band about {{convert|1500|km}} long but sometimes no more than {{convert|30|km}} wide due to the limited area of the slopes with suitable elevations.{{sfn|Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo}}

They extend along the southern part of the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia, the eastern part of the Cordillera Real of Ecuador and the northern part of the Andes of Peru.

The ecoregion has an area of {{convert|10,256,352|ha}}.{{sfn|Eastern Cordillera real montane forests – Myers|loc=WWF Abstract}}{{efn|The World Wide Fund for Nature gives the area of the ecoregion as {{convert|39,600|sqmi}} and elsewhere as {{convert|84,442|km2}}.{{sfn|Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo}} }}

In the extreme north the ecoregion transitions into the Magdalena Valley montane forests and Cordillera Oriental montane forests ecoregions.

The north and central parts of the ecoregion merge into the Napo moist forests to the east and the Northwestern Andean montane forests to the west.

The southern part transitions into the Ucayali moist forests to the east, Marañón dry forests to the south and Tumbes–Piura dry forests to the west.

The north and central parts of the ecoregion adjoin or surround regions of Northern Andean páramo at the upper levels, and the southern part surrounds regions of Cordillera Central páramo.{{sfn|WildFinder – WWF}}

=Terrain=

The ecoregion covers rugged premontane terrain on the eastern slopes of the Andes with elevations that range from {{convert|900|m}} to above {{convert|2100|m}}.

In Peru part of the ecoregion extends west to the Pacific slope.

The southern part of the Cordillera Real contains the Huancabamba Depression, the lowest pass in the Andes at about {{convert|2000|m}} above sea level.

The mountains south of the Huancabamba Depression were mostly formed in the Miocene (23–5.3 Ma{{efn|Ma – Million years ago}}) while the mountains to the north formed between the end of the Pliocene (5.3–2.6 Ma) and the Pleistocene (2.6 Ma to 11,700 years ago).{{sfn|Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo}}

The Pacific slope forests in Peru have a dry, seasonal climate and are mostly small patches of woods with relatively few species, but several endemic species.

On the eastern, Amazon side of the Andes the montane forests start around {{convert|1500|m}} and receive plentiful rainfall from moist air from the Amazon basin.

=Climate=

The ecoregion gets {{convert|1500|to|2000|mm}} of rain in a typical year, but in some years may get up to {{convert|4500|mm}}.{{sfn|Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo}}

At a sample location at coordinates {{coord|-2.75 | -78.25}} the Köppen climate classification is Aw (equatorial; winter dry).{{sfn|Eastern Cordillera real montane forests – Myers|loc=Climate Data}}

Mean temperatures vary from {{convert|19|C}} in July to {{convert|20.2|C}} in April.

Yearly total precipitation is about {{convert|2400|mm}}.

Monthly precipitation varies from {{convert|130.7|mm}} in August to {{convert|263.5|mm}} in March.{{sfn|Eastern Cordillera real montane forests – Myers|loc=Climate Data}}

Ecology

The ecoregion is in the neotropical realm, in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome.{{sfn|Eastern Cordillera real montane forests – Myers|loc=WWF Abstract}}

The ecoregion is part of the Northern Andean Montane Forests global ecoregion, which includes the Magdalena Valley montane forests, Venezuelan Andes montane forests, Northwestern Andean montane forests, Cauca Valley montane forests, Cordillera Oriental montane forests, Santa Marta montane forests and Eastern Cordillera real montane forests terrestrial ecoregions.{{sfn|Northern Andean Montane Forests – WWF Global}}

The Huancabamba Depression allows movement of species between the Pacific lowlands and the Amazon region, and has great influence on the ecoregion's flora and fauna, which have elements from the Amazon rainforest, the Inter-Andean dry forests and the hills of southern Ecuador.

The ecoregion affects migration of species and formation of species, and has marked local endemism, notably in the Cajamarca Region of Peru.{{sfn|Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo}}

=Flora=

Vegetation consists of evergreen broadleaf forest, with the composition varying considerably depending on elevation.

In the lower areas (ceja de montaña) the forests is closed and exuberant.

Higher up the trees are lower, and transition into cloud forest and then into elfin woodland.

There are various species specialized to a given altitude, some of which are endemic due to physical barriers to mobility.

The montane forests may once have held 30,000 to 40,000 species of flora, more than are found in the Amazon basin.{{sfn|Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo}}

=Fauna=

File:White-breasted Parakeets (Pyrrhua albipectus).jpg (Pyrrhura albipectus) is vulnerable.]]

Mammal species include Venezuelan red howler (Alouatta seniculus), white-fronted capuchin (Cebus albifrons), yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda), spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), taruca (Hippocamelus antisensis), guanaco (Lama guanicoe), kinkajou (Potos flavus) and perhaps mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque).{{sfn|Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo}}

A 1982 study of bats showed that 37% of the species found on the western slopes were endemic.{{sfn|Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo}}

Endangered mammals include equatorial dog-faced bat (Molossops aequatorianus), giant otter (Pteronura brasiliensis), mountain tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) and white-bellied spider monkey (Ateles belzebuth).{{sfn|Eastern Cordillera real montane forests – Myers|loc=All Endangered}}

Bird species include masked mountain tanager (Buthraupis wetmorei), chestnut-bellied cotinga (Doliornis remseni), cinnamon screech owl (Megascops petersoni), neblina metaltail (Metallura odomae) and Andean condor (Vultur gryphus).{{sfn|Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo}}

Endangered and endemic birds include white-breasted parakeet (Pyrrhura albipectus), coppery-chested jacamar (Galbula pastazae), and bicolored antvireo (Dysithamnus occidentalis).{{sfn|Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo}}

Other endangered birds include royal sunangel (Heliangelus regalis) and black-and-chestnut eagle (Spizaetus isidori).{{sfn|Eastern Cordillera real montane forests – Myers|loc=All Endangered}}

File:Excidobatesmysteriosusbigetitel.jpg (Excidobates mysteriosus)]]

Endangered reptiles include Catamayo Coral Snake (Micrurus catamayensis), Lojan lancehead (Bothrops lojanus), Parker's Pholiodobolus (Macropholidus annectens), Parker's Ground Snake (Atractus carrioni), Riama balneator and Riama petrorum.{{sfn|Eastern Cordillera real montane forests – Myers|loc=All Endangered}}

Endangered amphibians include:{{sfn|Eastern Cordillera real montane forests – Myers|loc=All Endangered}}

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Status

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) gives the region the status of "Vulnerable".

The forest are fairly accessible, and are increasingly threatened by logging of commercially valuable Podocarpus and Prumnopitys species.

Large areas of the original forest have been cleared for pasturage or subsistence agriculture, or replaced by thickets.{{sfn|Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo}}

Protected areas include the Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve, Podocarpus National Park and Noroeste Biosphere Reserve.{{sfn|Eastern Cordillera real montane forests – Myers|loc=WWF Abstract}}

Notes

{{notes}}{{reflist|30em}}

Sources

{{refbegin}}

  • {{citation|ref={{harvid|Eastern Cordillera real montane forests – Myers}}

|title=Eastern Cordillera real montane forests|work=Global Species|publisher=Myers Enterprises II

|url=http://www.globalspecies.org/ecoregions/display/NT0121|access-date=2017-06-18}}

  • {{citation |title=Eastern South America: Ecuador into Colombia and Peru|publisher=WWF

|author= Juan Carlos Riveros Salcedo |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/nt0121|access-date=2017-06-18}}

  • {{citation|ref={{harvid|Northern Andean Montane Forests – WWF Global}}

|title=Northern Andean Montane Forests|publisher=WWF Global

|url=http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/northandean_montane_forests.cfm|access-date=2017-06-15}}

  • {{citation|ref={{harvid|WildFinder – WWF}}

|title=WildFinder|publisher=WWF: World Wildlife Fund

|url=http://www.worldwildlife.org/science/wildfinder/|access-date=2017-04-26}}

{{refend}}

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Category:Neotropical tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests

Category:Ecoregions of Colombia

Category:Ecoregions of Ecuador

Category:Ecoregions of Peru

Category:Andean forests

Category:Montane forests