Northwestern Andean montane forests


The Northwestern Andean montane forests is an ecoregion on the Andes mountains in the west of Colombia and Ecuador.
Both flora and fauna are highly diverse due to effect of ice ages when the warmer climate zones were separated and the cooler ones combined, and interglacial periods when the reverse occurred. Because the environment is hospitable to humans, the habitat has been drastically modified by farming and grazing since the Pre-Columbian era.

Geography

Location

The Northwestern Andean montane forests ecoregion extends along the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes in Colombia and the Cordillera Occidental of Ecuador.
It covers an area of.
In the extreme north the ecoregion merges into the Magdalena-Urabá moist forests ecoregion.
Through most of its length in Colombia it transitions on the west into the Chocó-Darién moist forests and on the east into the Cauca Valley montane forests.
The higher levels of the ecoregion give way to Northern Andean páramo.
In the central section it almost completely surrounds the Patía Valley dry forests.
In its southern section the ecoregion transitions into the Western Ecuador moist forests to the west and the Eastern Cordillera Real montane forests to the east.
The southern end of the ecoregion transitions into the Tumbes-Piura dry forests ecoregion.

Terrain

The ecoregion covers the western range of the Andes with a wide band of elevations including isolated peaks and massifs at the upper levels.

Climate

At a sample location at coordinates the Köppen climate classification is Af: equatorial, fully humid.
Mean temperatures range from in November to in March.
Total annual rainfall is about.
Monthly rainfall ranges from in August to in June.

Ecology

The ecoregion is in the neotropical realm, in the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome.
It is part of the Northern Andean Montane Forests global ecoregion.
This ecoregion contains 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.
The cooling during glacial periods isolated plants and animals adapted to warmer climates into isolated pockets, while the cooler zones expanded and became connected.
During the warmer inter-glacial periods the warmer zones rose higher and reconnected, while the cooler zones became isolated.
The result was steady formation of new species, creating high levels both of diversity and endemism.

Flora

The flora of the ecoregion have been the subject of many studies, in South America second only to the Northern Andean páramo and High Monte ecoregions.
About 50% of the ecoregion's flora is strictly endemic.
The flowering plant species are very diverse, with as many as 300 species in a single tract.

Fauna

Endangered mammals include Baird's tapir, black-headed spider monkey, cotton-top tamarin, equatorial dog-faced bat, Geoffroy's spider monkey, Hammond's rice rat and mountain tapir.
Endangered reptiles include the Western Ground Snake, Tropical Lightbulb Lizard and Haensch's Whorltail Iguana.
The ecoregion contains many endemic birds.
Endangered birds include the black-and-chestnut eagle, black-breasted puffleg, chestnut-bellied flowerpiercer, Chocó vireo, colorful puffleg, El Oro parakeet, gold-ringed tanager, pale-headed brush finch, rufous-brown solitaire, turquoise-throated puffleg, violet-throated metaltail and yellow-eared parrot.
Endangered amphibians include
Atelopus stubfoot toads:
Centrolene glass frogs:
Pristimantis rain frogs, or robber frogs:
Other frogs:
The World Wide Fund for Nature gives the region the status of "Vulnerable".
The climate is hospitable to humans, who have lived in the region since pre-Columbian times, farming and grazing livestock.
The environment has thus been greatly modified, although there are still some sizable stands of continuous forest stands.
Protected areas include the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve.