A Queñua tree growing on the high altitude of the Altiplano of southwestern Bolivia

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Queñua, the Aymará word used to describe what biologists know as the tree genus Polylepis, once covered much of the high Andes of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and northern Argentina. Its 20 species make up the highest forests in the world. Today, however, the Polylepis ecosystem is greatly reduced in area and highly fragmented; several bird species that make their home exclusively in these woodlands are threatened with extinction. Polylepis tarapacana, shown here at 4,850 meters above sea level in southwestern Bolivia, grows under the most extreme conditions of any Andean tree. The extraordinarily high elevation subjects it to low temperatures, high winds and intense sunlight. The area also receives less than 100 millimeters of rainfall per year.

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Size: 5302px × 3477px
Location: Bolivia Andes South America Latin America Altiplano Andes
Photo credit: © Bert de Ruiter / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: altiplano, altitude, america, andes, bert, bolivia, de, flora, grassland, high, horizontal, latin, montane, polylepis, quenua, ruiter, south, tarapacana, travel, tree