The Altiplano, Chile Photograph by Laurenz Bobke   South America: Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile. Montane Grasslands and Shrublands   118,700 square miles (307,400 square kilometers) -- about the size of New Mexico Relatively Stable/Intact

· High and Dry
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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High and Dry

These high-elevation grasslands, called dry puna, can go without rain for up to 8 months out of the year and receive less than 16 inches (400 mm) of precipitation each year. The extremely dry montane landscape is dominated by tussock grassland and interspersed with small acidic wetlands, areas of barren dirt, and rocky outcroppings. Found roughly between the tree line and the snow line, and extending through western Bolivia, northern Chile, and Argentina, this ecoregion hosts a number of plant and animal high-altitude specialists.

Special Features

Sparsely scattered in the landscape are tall tussocks of bunchgrass and other grasses, tropical alpine herbs, dwarf shrubs, cushion plants, and a variety of forbs, lichens, mosses, and ferns. A number of wetlands occur here even though there is low rainfall. And very distinct high-altitude flora and fauna thrive in the dry puna. An unusual and characteristic ecological feature--natural salt and soda lakes--dot the landscape and are host to populations of the puna flamingo, puna plover, and many other kinds of shorebirds and waterfowl.

	The dry puna contains saline and soda lakes that support populations of flamingos. The alkaline levels in these waters are so high that the skin on a person’s leg would dissolve in a matter of seconds. But a flamingo has skin so tough on its legs that it can easily withstand such a harsh environment as it wades and feeds in the shallow waters.

Wild Side

Taking refuge among the bunchgrass stems, a small rodent called a pericote andino hides from a hungry Andean mountain cat. A hog-nosed skunk emerges from its den at dusk and begins to forage for insects and other small invertebrates. A long-legged ground tyrant (a small gray bird) darts after insect prey among the rocky mountain slopes. A variety of shorebirds and waterfowl, including the Chilean flamingo, the Andean goose, and the rarest shorebird in the world--the diademed sandpiper-plover--take advantage of the numerous fresh- and saltwater lakes in this ecoregion. Looking across the dry grasslands, a visitor might notice strange ostrich-like birds called lesser rheas in the distance, sharing an open pasture with llama-like vicuñas and guanacos. Among the grassy tufts, an Andean hairy armadillo excavates a burrow for protection from the cold, dry climate.

Cause for Concern

Grazing herds of domestic llamas, alpacas, goats, and sheep have degraded much of the puna. Burning and the collection of any woody material for domestic heating have altered the landscape, too. Introduced and invasive species also pose problems for the native wildlife and plants.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.