Yunga
The Yunga (from Quechua Yunka , "area with an unhealthy, hot and humid climate"; also Yunca ) is an altitude level on both sides of the tropical Andes at altitudes of 500 to 2300 meters (according to Javier Pulgar Vidal ).
There are many narrow valleys and steep slopes with no vegetation in the Yunga. The climate is very hot. In the western Yunga towards the coast ( yunga costal ) it is only slightly humid, while the eastern Yunga towards the Amazon basin ( yunga fluvial ), which is largely covered by tropical mountain rainforest and cloud forest, has high relative humidity and heavy rainfall.
The valley floor of the Yunga is very fertile. Some important indigenous crops of the Yunga are Peruvian pepper tree ( molle or Quechua mulli ), avocado (Quechua palta ), lucuma , cherimoya and guava ( sawintu ). In addition, naturalized crops are grown, including plums , citrus fruits and sugar cane .
Two common native birds are a mockingbird species , Mimus longicaudatus (Quechua: chawkatu ), and the similar taurigaray ( tawriqaray , "Give me lupine seeds!").
gallery
Rio San Lorenzo in the Argentine Yungas near Salta, Argentina
Yungas near Salta, Argentina
Typical branches overgrown with epiphytes near Salta, Argentina
literature
- Pulgar Vidal, Javier: Geografía del Perú; Las Ocho Regiones Naturales del Perú. Edit. Universo SA, Lima 1979.
