In the northern Andes of Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, the upper limit of the Andean forest lies at approx. 3500 m elevation.
The Andes has a variety of forest and woodland habitats that, are largely determined by the altitude they grow.
The simplest way to characterize Andean forests is to divide into three main segments
*The Northern Andes, harboring tropandean rain forests and wet piramos
*The Central Andes, with yungas and dry punas
*The Southern Andes, housing temperate forests and fjords
Piramos grassland is more human and mixed, with shrubby vegetation, it replaces the drier punas vegetation in areas of central and northern Peru and is often dominated by plants from the Compositae family, such as Espeletia.
The yungas and dry punas are very important for the subsistence of the human population because they offer a series of environmental goods and services such as timber for construction, firewood for cooking and forage for livestock.
The forests also protect the soil from erosion and protect rover basin headwaters.
Andean forests
