Southern Andean Yungas
RESOLVE 504
The Southern Andean Yungas stretch along the eastern slope of the Andes through southwestern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina, a band of tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest set between roughly 800 and 3,000 metres in elevation. The habitat is evergreen montane and cloud forest with a canopy typically under 15 metres; upper montane belts are dominated by Andean alder (Alnus acuminata), the conifer Podocarpus parlatorei, and queñoa (Polylepis australis), while lower elevations form a mosaic rich in the laurel and myrtle families. The climate is wet and humid, fed by northern trade winds that bring substantial rainfall, with mist and cloud cover adding further moisture at mid-elevations. The region supports high endemism, and the rufous-throated dipper, an aquatic songbird of its swift mountain streams, serves as a flagship species; conservation strongholds include Calilegua and Baritú National Parks in Argentina. For gardeners, the native Polylepis and Podocarpus are notable cool-climate ornamental and landscape genera adapted to these high Andean conditions.
About the tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome
Warm, wet, highly productive forests — including tropical rainforests — with closed canopies, near year-round growing seasons, and the richest terrestrial biodiversity on Earth. Low seasonality and high rainfall sustain dense, layered vegetation from canopy to forest floor.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.