Peru - Lonely Planet Publications [45]
On the coast, most life is found in the ocean. The waters of Peru’s coast teem with tuna, marlin, swordfish, sea bass and flounder, as well as manta rays, scallops, shrimp, mussels and other mollusks.
Plants
At high elevations in the Andes, especially in the Cordillera Blanca Click here and Huayhuash (Click here), outside Huaraz, there is a cornucopia of distinctive alpine flora and fauna. Plants encountered in this region include native lupins, spiky tussocks of ichu grass, striking quenua (Polylepis) trees with their distinctive curly, red paperlike bark, in addition to unusual bromeliads (see boxed text, Click here). Many alpine wildflowers bloom during the trekking season, between May and September.
* * *
LEAF-CUTTER ANTS
One of hundreds of ant species in the Amazon’s rainforests, leaf-cutter ants live in colonies numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Their homes are huge nests dug deep into the ground. Foraging ants search the vegetation for particular types of leaves, cut out small sections and, holding the leaf segments above their heads like a small umbrella, bring them back to the nest. Travelers frequently come across long lines of them in the jungle, scurrying along carrying leaf sections back to the nest. Amazingly, they consume more than 10% of all available leaves in the world’s neotropical zones each year.
Workers within the nest sort out the leaves that will easily decompose into a type of compost (unsuitable material is ejected from the nest). The leaves are then composted to form a mulch, which quickly grows a fungus. The ants tend these fungal gardens, which serve as the colony’s main source of food. Queen ants will genetically secrete an antibiotic strain of bacteria to combat any alien fungi that might try to invade these gardens.
Army ants and other species prey upon this ready and constant supply of foragers. To combat this, leaf-cutter ants are morphologically separated by size and jaw structure into different castes. Some specialize in tending the fungal gardens, others have vibrating jaws designed for cutting leaf segments, and yet others are soldier ants (armed with huge mandibles) which accompany the foragers to protect them from attackers. Close observation reveals yet another caste – a microscopic ant that rides along on the leaf segments without disturbing the foragers. The riders’ function is unclear, but biologists suggest that they act as protection against parasitizing insects that try to lay eggs on the leaves before they are carried into the nest.
* * *
* * *
GIANT FLOWERS OF THE MOUNTAINS
Reaching the staggering height of more than 10m, with an explosive, flower-encrusted cigar shape that looks to be straight out of a Dr Seuss book, the Puya raimondii can certainly take the award for most unusual flora. The world’s tallest flowering plant is a member of the pineapple family and can take up to a century or more to mature. In full bloom, each plant flaunts up to 8000(!) white flowers, each resembling a lily. It blooms only once in its lifetime, after which the plant dies. Some of the most famous stands of Puya raimondii can be found in the Peruvian Andes, in the rocky mountainscape outside Huaraz, near Catac (Click here) and Punta Winchus (Click here). Both of these sites can easily be visited on organized day tours from Huaraz (Click here).
* * *
In the highlands, particularly in the south, you’ll find the distinctive puna ecosystem. These areas have a fairly limited flora of hard grasses, cushion plants, small herbaceous plants, shrubs and dwarf trees. Many plants in this environment have developed small, thick leaves that are less susceptible to frost, and curved leaves to reflect extreme radiation. In the north of the country there is some páramo, which has a harsher climate, is less grassy and has an odd mixture of landscapes, including peat bogs, glacier-formed valleys, alpine lakes, wet grasslands and patches of scrubland and forest.
* * *
A good guide to the flora of the Andes is Alwyn Gentry’s Field Guide to the