Imagine

The drizzle continues. It seems the late rains from last month are only reaching the highlands now, the weather changing here. There are plenty of things to do on a rainy day though and we had class planned today, perfect for a rainy day. Coral and I spent the day lecturing and facilitating discussion for our first conservation biology class. We alternated between taking the lead on biodiversity and cloud forests through the morning. In our down time the students and I have gotten in the habit of quizzing each other on geography. Capital cities to mountain ranges, seas, rivers, mountains, oceans and everything in between. It has become a fun game for me to try to completely stump them. In that spirit I drew a huge map of South America and did my best to explain the forces of geography, winds, climate, and elevation that shape the ecosystems here. On the Eastern slopes of the Andes the trade winds blow all the moisture from the Amazon basin West towards the cordillera. As the air masses ascend into the cooler elevations climbing up the mountains they drop their moisture since cold air cannot hold as much moisture as warm humid air. As you ascend the slopes you will go from lowland tropical rainforest to montane forest, dripping wet cloud forest to gnarled dwarfen elfin forest, and finally into paramo and puna before reaching the snows of the very highest peaks.

Here we are at the edge of the cloud forest transitioning into the paramo. All adrip in this life giving moisture and bountiful in vegetation and life everywhere. The forests here receive some of the highest rainfall on the slopes and the same forces that shape the weather also help to shape speciation, endemism, and diversity converging to create some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on planet Earth. Right here where we stand listening to the paramo frogs chorus outside...

El arte de creation, no?