The Chala or "Coast" is one of the eight

natural regions A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate. From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and f ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It is formed by all the western lands that arise from sea level up to the height of 500 meters. The coastal desert of Peru is largely devoid of vegetation but a unique fog and mist-fed ecosystem called

Lomas ''Lomas'' (Spanish for "hills"), also called fog oases and mist oases, are areas of fog-watered vegetation in the coastal desert of Peru and northern Chile. About 100 lomas near the Pacific Ocean are identified between 5°S and 30°S latitude, a ...

is scattered among hills near the Pacific coast as elevations up to . In this region, the flora includes vegetation that grows near the rivers, like the

carob tree The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit, which takes the form of seed pods, and as an ornament ...

, the palo verde, salty grama grass, manglar or mangrove tree, the carrizo or giant reed and the Caña brava (ditch reed); and plants that grow in the hills, such as the Amancay or Peruvian daffodil (''Hymenocallis amancaes''), the

wild tomato ''Lycopersicon'' was a genus in the flowering plant family (biology), family Solanaceae (the nightshades and relatives). It contained about 13 species in the tomato group of nightshades. First removed from the genus ''Solanum'' by Philip Miller ...

, the mito or Peruvian papaya (''

Vasconcellea candicans ''Vasconcellea candicans'' is a small tree native to the western slopes of the Andes in southern Ecuador and Peru. Description Small dioecious shrub or tree to 8 m high. Leaves ovate or almost rounded, with a slightly cordate base, margin enti ...

''), and the divi-divi (''Cæsalpinia coriaria''). The coastal fauna of the Chala includes

sea lions Sea lions are pinnipeds characterized by external ear flaps, long foreflippers, the ability to walk on all fours, short and thick hair, and a big chest and belly. Together with the fur seals, they make up the family Otariidae, eared seals. ...

, the

anchovy An anchovy is a small, common forage fish of the Family (biology), family Engraulidae. Most species are found in marine waters, but several will enter brackish water, and some in South America are restricted to fresh water. More than 140 speci ...

and several seabirds. Common trees in the north are the faique, the

zapote Zapote the fifth district of the San José canton, in the San José province of Costa Rica. It is one of the administrative units surrounding San José downtown (officially composed of the districts of El Carmen, Merced, Hospital and Catedral) ...

, the zapayal, the '' barrigon'' and other thorny

tropical savanna Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. The biome is dominated by grass and/or shrubs located in semi-arid to semi-humid climate regions of subtropical and t ...

trees of the equatorial dry

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s on the northern coast of

Piura Piura is a city in northwestern Peru, located north of the Sechura Desert along the Piura River. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. Its population was 484,475 as of 2017 and it is the 7th most populous city in Peru. ...

and Tumbes.

Páramo Páramo () may refer to a variety of alpine tundra ecosystems located in the Andes Mountain Range, South America. Some ecologists describe the páramo broadly as "all high, tropical, montane vegetation above the continuous timberline". A narrower ...

and the northern coast of the Piura region are not under the influence of the cold

Humboldt Current The Humboldt Current, also called the Peru Current, is a cold, low-salinity ocean current that flows north along the western coast of South America.Montecino, Vivian, and Carina B. Lange. "The Humboldt Current System: Ecosystem components and pro ...

has a tree line at the border, even on the westside of the continental divide.Pulgar Vidal, Javier: Geografía del Perú; Las Ocho Regiones Naturales del Perú. Edit. Universo S.A., Lima 1979. First Edition (his dissertation of 1940): Las ocho regiones naturales del Perú, Boletín del Museo de historia natural „Javier Prado“, n° especial, Lima, 1941, 17, pp. 145-161.

Overview

Andean Continental Divide Mountain top: * Mountain passes - 4,100 m *

Puna grassland The puna grassland ecoregion, part of the Andean montane grasslands and shrublands biome, is found in the central Andes Mountains of South America. It is considered one of the eight Natural Regions in Peru,Pulgar Vidal, Javier: Geografía del Per ...

* Andean-alpine desert *

Snow line The climatic snow line is the boundary between a snow-covered and snow-free surface. The actual snow line may adjust seasonally, and be either significantly higher in elevation, or lower. The permanent snow line is the level above which snow wil ...

- about 5,000 m *

Janca Janca is one of the eight Natural Regions of Peru (''Janq'u'' is Aymaran for “White”). It is located in the frozen heights where the condor lives. The fauna in this region is limited because of the very cold weather. The only plant that ...

- rocks, snow and ice * Peak

Loma-vegetation

Loma-vegetation, is found between and and it is situated at the first westside slope near the coast in Peru.Seibert, Paul (1996); Farbatlas Südamerika: Landschaften und Vegetation, Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart, pp. 288. This subregion has a

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

climate with little rainfall along the central and southern coast (drier as one goes south). The average year round day temperature is (max 33 °C, min 8 °C). Orientation: *

, fog and mist-fed ecosystems on hills near the ocean and scattered along the nearly-rainless coastal desert. *

Lomas de Lachay Lachay National Reserve () is a protected area in the region of Lima Region, Lima, Peru.https://www.gob.pe/institucion/sernanp/informes-publicaciones/1718927-reserva-nacional-de-lachay Lomas de Lachay - SERNANP (in spanish) The reserve is located ...

, Huaral Province in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, a protected example of a mist-fed ecosystem.

References

{{peru-geo-stub Physiographic regions of Peru

Overview

Loma-vegetation

See also

References