ArtAndes Blog

The most Bio-diverse Countries in the World

Posted March 27, 2014 @ 6:36pm | by Melanie

Peru and Ecuador, are arguably the most biologically diverse nations on earth. A few unique highlights both of these countries have to offer is their cloud forests and bird populations.
Out of aprox 10,000 bird species in the world ( US and Canada combined has aprox 925 species) there are aprox 3,000 species in South America with a staggering total of aprox 1870 in Peru alone. By far the largest concentration of bird species are found in South America, 1/5 of the world population!
Cloud Forest is created because weather in the southern hemisphere moves from east to west. The air moves over the tropical amazon west, towards the eastern flanks of the mountains, picking up moisture along the way. The humid environment reaches the Andes generally at 6,000-9,000 ft, as the air rises it is cooled and turns cloudy. There are more nutrients in cloud forest soil than in the amazon! And smaller tarantulas and snakes!
The extraordinary bio-diversity in this part of South American is partly due to the huge range of habitats occurring so close to the equator because of the presence of the Andean mountain range. This, combined with the variations in lowland forest habitats in the upper amazon, and in Peru's case, the aridity of the pacific slope and the cold food-rich Humboldt current. It all adds up to a multitude of habitat types supporting a fantastic variety of flora & fauna.  

 
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