High Living #2: plants above the treeline

In my last post we went soaring well above where most of us spend much time, way up in the mountains where the conditions are too harsh for trees to survive - ie above the treeline. Today I want to introduce a selection of the plants that survive up there; some exclusively, others have broader habitat ranges. If you missed part one you may want to catch up before reading this, to get some background on the ecology and the places where these plants and animals live. On the other hand if you just want to browse the pictures here and enjoy some plant life you may not have met, that of course is fine too! It's mostly just a photo essay.

Silver Snow Daisies Celmisia sp. and Mountain Celery Aciphylla glacialis brighten the alpine
meadows in summer in Kosciuszko NP, in the NSW Australian Alps.

All these photos were taken in Australia and South America (and, just, in North America). I've only once been above the treeline in Africa and while I have strong memories of that day high in Lesotho (including a magnificent Lammergeier sailing overhead), that was well before my digital photography days. And the closest I've got in Asia was the lower slopes of mighty Kinabalu. 

Let's start with some plants. 

Mataguanaco ('guanaco bush') Anarthrophyllum desideratum, Torres del Paine NP,
Chilean Patagonia. This spectacular spiny cushion bush pea thrives in the often frozen,
always windy treeless expanses of Patagonia. 

The next half dozen photos were also taken on the exposed Patagonian Steppes slopes of Torres del Paine NP; I've been there five times, not because I love the experience of cold, often wet, winds (I don't) but because it's an extraordinary landscape, and supports some appropriately extraordinary life.

A more 'conventional' pea, Paramela Adesmia boronioides, a tough aromatic low shrub
which grows on the edge of the open plains at the foot of the mountains.

Mariposa del Campo ('butterfly of the field') Alstroemeria patagonica, in the mostly 
South American lily family Alstroemeriaceae. This is a tiny plant, with flowers on 
5cm stems to keep their head down out of the wind.

Darwin's Slipper (but in Spanish Zapatito de la Virgen, 'our lady's slipper')
Calceolaria uniflora, family Calceolariaceae. This is another very low-growing
herb of the harshly exposed Patagonian meadows and mountainsides.
Astonishingly it is pollinated by the Least Seedsnipe, one of a small family 
of four shore waders which have become vegetarians in Patagonia
and the high Andes. Apparently the white 'lip' of the flower contains sugars which 
the seedsnipe appreciate; in pecking the flower they transfer pollen from on flower 
to another. Rather than make you wait for the animals section (by when you may have 
forgotten about it) I'll introduce this surprising mountain bird now.

 

Least Seedsnipe Thinocorus rumicivorus near Coyaique, northern Patagonia

Estrallita ('little star') Perezia recurvata, a daisy. It grows on rocky ground
in the Patagonian Steppe.

And finally, to my surprise at the time, there are orchids in this harsh wind-blasted steppe land; here are a couple which delighted me.

Porcelain Orchid Chlorea magellanica. There is nothing small and 'keeping head down' 
about this beauty, which is found as far south as icy Tierra del Fuego. It can spend 
8 months of the year under snow but when the snow melts its flowering spike
can grow to 50cm tall. 

Yellow Gavilea Gavilea lutea can also grow tall, to 60cm. While probably
most often found in Nothofagus forests, it also grows in wet areas
in the absence of trees.

Far to the north of Patagonia in the Andes of southern Peru near Chivay at 3600masl, conditions are much drier and many alpine plants must grow on the rock faces.

Air plants Tillandsia sp. growing on a road cutting. They are bromeliads which take
most of their nutrients from the air; bromeliads are probably better known as
abundant epiphytes in tropical cloud forests (though the most famous bromeliad
is doubtless the pineapple!).

Puya Puya sp., another genus of bromeliads, growing on the top of
the same high altitude road cutting.

Cactuses growing, perhaps unexpectedly, at the top of Colca Canyon, also
near Chivay at about 3600masl, above the trees.

Again in the southern Peruvian Andes a very different and moister habitat, perched on the brink of the Amazon basin above the cloud forest at 3800masl at Acjanaco Pass on the Manu road, has of course very different plants. 

Gentians Halenia sp. and hardy grasses in the mist at Acjanaco Pass.

And to balance the unexpectedness (to me at least) of yellow gentians, here's
a more familiarly coloured one - I'm thinking Gentiana sedifolia? - in El Cajas NP
in the southern Andes of Ecuador, at some 4000masl.

And finally, from further north again, in North America in fact, some ancient, non-flowering plants from the páramo of central Costa Rica at about 3400masl.

Lycopods, or club mosses, a Class of now small plants which appeared more than 400 million years ago,
long before the rise of the flowering plants, and which dominated forests for a long time.

But we'll finish this part with some Australian alpine plants, mostly from Kosciuszko NP. After an introductory 'wildflower meadow' photo, there are 11 photos of plants from 11 different families. All were growing above the treeline in Kosciuszko NP except where I've specified otherwise.

  December on the Main Range of Kosciuszko NP, with the flowering just 
getting underway; the flower spikes are mostly of Candle Heath Richea continentis.

A close-up of the Candle Heath, a striking plant which lives in boggy situations in 
the alps of NSW and Victoria.

The snow country is perhaps not where we expect to find ferns, but nature can
 enable life in almost any environment. Alpine Water Fern Blechnum (now 
usually known as Austroblechnum) penna-marina is extremely hardy and even 
lives on the sub-Antarctic islands, as well as New Zealand and South America. 
It likes a sheltered position, often among rocks, and spends part of the year under snow.

Bidgee Widgee Aceana novae-zelandiae is far from an alpine specialist - it can be found
at sea level - but it is also very much at home above the trees. It's in the rose family, and
the head of tiny white flowers later forms a bundle of sticky burrs. They evolved to
transfer seed on fur and feathers, but many high country walkers have discovered
that socks suit them equally well. 

Mountain Celery Aciphylla glacialis is indeed in the celery family (Apiaceae). It is found
almost entirely above the treeline and is recovering well from the ravages of
historical alpine cattle grazing.

 

Ribbony Grass Chionochloa frigida grows only in the Kosciuszko alpine zone;
it too has recovered well since the removal of stock grazing. (Actually I'm having slight
doubts about my identification here, from a long time ago. Any comments welcome.)

Tasmanian Mountain Gentian Chionogentias diemensis, Ben Lomond NP,
north-eastern Tasmania. The gentian family is associated with mountains
on every continent (except Antarctica of course). This species is 
limited to alpine and subalpine areas in Tasmania.

Silver Ewartia Ewartia nubigena, Main Range Kosciuszko NP. A small-flowered but
extensive mat-like daisy bush that only grows in exposed alpine herbfields, where
it can colonise bare areas of soil and rock..

Royal Bluebell Wahlenbergia gloriosa in the Snow Gums in Namadgi National Park
in the Australian Capital Territory. It does however extend above the treeline, and
as the ACT's official wildflower emblem (despite my reservations as to its 
appropriateness!) I thought I should give it a guernsey. 

Alpine Mint Bush Prostanthera cuneata, Kosciuszko NP. This lovely member of the true
mint family grows above the treeline (and just below it), often among granite boulders,
in the NSW and Victorian alps.

Alpine Rice-flower Pimelea alpina is another prostrate shrub when growing above
the treeline. It has a similar distribution to the Alpine Mint Bush. The hundred or so
species in Australia and New Zealand are otherwise all found at lower altitudes
and most are erect shrubs.

Alpine Orites Orites lancifolia belongs to a generally unfamiliar genus in a generally very
familiar family, Proteaceae (ie banksias, grevilleas, waratahs etc). This one is found high
in mountains from the ACT to the Victorian alps and grows erectly even above the treeline. 
The only other Australian species is a rainforest tree! 
(There are also four species in Tasmania and two in South America.) 

And that I think is probably enough for one posting! I wonder sometimes if my longer postings aren't a bit off-putting, but I'm unlikely to get feedback from people who don't want to read that much, so I'm only speculating. 

It's not the time to be going to admire the flowers in the high country in the Southern Hemisphere, but perhaps you can bear this in mind for the coming summer. It's made me think we should plan another expedition to Kosciuszko, probably before or after the school holidays. Meantime, thanks for accompanying me on this particular wildflower walk; I've enjoyed it, hope you have too.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 13 AUGUST

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High Living; above the treeline: #1

This is another in an irregular (and hitherto informal) series on habitats. Earlier ones were on intercontinental habitats mangroves and sandstone, and a uniquely Australian one, the mallee. I have ideas for future ones on rainforests (probably with separate offerings on tropical and temperate rainforests and cloud forests), deserts, woodlands, grasslands and wetlands, but any other suggestions welcomed!

Today however I'm starting at the top, as it were. 'Alpine' is a term used often just to refer to mountains (originally specifically referring to European mountain ranges, though the etymology, from Latin, is unclear), but ecologically it has a more precise definition. It is that area above the treeline, where conditions are too harsh - specifically with insufficient solar energy - to support trees. It is defined around the world as the elevation at which the mean temperature of the warmest month is below 10 degrees Celsius. Below that there is simply not enough available solar energy to build and maintain the massive trunks and supporting root systems that define a tree. The line is often quite abrupt, though locally the altitude will vary locally depending on the landscape; trees might grow higher in sheltered situations on sunny slopes. And of course it is lower towards the poles and higher in the tropics, so some of what follows on the treeless zones in the far south of South America does not necessarily relate to high mountains. 

Treeline at 1800 metres above sea level (masl from here on) in the Australian alps
in Kosciuszko NP, far southern NSW, at 36.5 degrees south.

Across the Pacific and much further south at 52 degrees of latitude, the treeline at
Puerto Natales in Chilean Patagonia is at only 1200masl. 

However nearby in Torres del Paine National Park, the influence of constant winds from the huge Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the second largest ice field in the world* outside the polar regions, brings the tree line down to 500masl. (*The only larger one is in south-eastern Alaska.) The vast grassy and heathy plains there are part of the Patagonian Steppe, most of which is found in Argentina.

The spectacular Torres del Paine skyline from the south.

These lakes at Torres del Paine are less than 100masl; the forest doesn't extend far above
them on the Horns. 

This spectacular range however is not in the Andes chain. It is instructive (and equally, I hope, attractive!) to look at some Andean mountains up the chain from Tierra Del Fuego to northern Ecuador, almost on the equator, noting how the treeline rises as we go north.

Here near Ushaia in Argentinian Tierra del Fuego at 55 degrees south, the world's longest 
(and second highest) mountain range ends - or rather rather disappears under the ocean 
to reappear briefly as Cape Horn. The treeline here is at 500-600masl.

Volcano Calbuco, in the Lake District of northern Chilean Patagonia at 41 degrees south
 (a little further north than Hobart). Here the trees end at approximately 1300masl.

Nearby, above Lago Llanquihue ('yahn-KEE-way') is the perfect volcanic dome of Orsono.

This is not a particularly high mountain by Andean standards at 2600masl, and 
as we'd expect from the situation on Calbuco, the trees only go about halfway up.

Then we go much further north, deep into the tropics in Ecuador (I'll show some landscapes in between soon, but they mostly don't involve specific mountains). 

Volcano Chimborazo, in the centre of the Ecuadorian Andes, a truly mighty mountain and
the highest in Ecuador. It's snowy peaks are 6300masl, and the clearly delineated treeline is
 here at 3500masl (much higher than the highest point in Australia, on top of Mt Kosciuszko),
as it is for the next two Ecuadorian volcanoes, not much further north.

Volcano Cotopaxi, a 5900m active volcano clearly visible from Quito; this however was
taken from Papallacta Pass about 80km away, while heading east over the Andes to the Amazon basin.

Sunrise on Volcano Antisana, 5800masl, from the deck of the lovely Wild Sumaco Lodge
on the eastern slope of the Andes, 70km away. It is only 50km from the equator.

And before we take a much closer look at the ground on some very high mountain ranges, here are three more tropical mountains that I feel privileged to have seen as well, on a couple of other continents. 

The spectacular mass of Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, 6.5 degrees 
north of the equator. It's peak is at 4100masl and the clear treeline is 3400masl.

Mount Kenya (for which the country was named, incidentally) is less than 20k south
of the equator, which actually runs across its lower slopes. A fraction of the original
glaciers can just be seen in this somewhat murky photo; the Kenyan Wildlife Service
predicts that they will disappear by about 2050. The treeline is at 3500m and 
with a high point of 5200masl, only one African mountain is taller...

Young Cheetahs playing in front of magnificent Mount Kilimanjaro, in fading light
in northern Tanzania (taken from Amboseli NP, to the north across the border in Kenya). 
It is 3 degrees south of the equator, rises to 5900masl (4900 metres above the plains)
and the treeline is at 3800 metres - two vertical kilometres above Kosciuszko's
highest Snow Gums!

Treelines themselves are interesting, as a transition zone from forest or subalpine woodland to treeless heathland or grassland (or a mix of the two). Generally up here the trees are sparser and more stunted as they struggle at their ecological limits. The understorey here includes species that are shared with the true alpine zone above it, though up there are also plants which specialise in the harsh treeless zone. 

Elfin forest at Acjanaco Pass at about 3800masl on the Manu Road from Cusco to
the Amazon basin in the southern Peruvian Andes.

At the upper edge of the elfin forest we can just see the start of the high altitude 
treeless grasslands of the Puna in the mist.

Within the elfin forest though is a wealth of flowering plants, especially orchids, and birdlife. 

Epidendrum ardens, endemic to the Peruvian cloud forests.

Odontoglosssum (or Cyrtochilum) mystacinum, another cloud forest specialist,
also found in Ecuador and Bolivia. 

In some places bamboos form part of the highest forests.

Bamboo Chusquea sp. just below the treeline at 3400masl in the Talamanca Range
in central Costa Rica.

In El Cajas National Park near Cuenca in southern Ecuador there is an interesting situation. The treeline in general is around 3300masl as we'd expect in the tropics, but there is an exception. The remarkable Queñoa trees Polylepis spp. (family Rosaceae) can form thickets far above the treeline, to over 4000masl, at the highest elevation of any tree in the world. 

Polylepis thicket high in El Cajas NP.

Polylepis growing above the otherwise treeless boggy páramo in El Cajas NP.

In Australia the trees that form the treeline are Snow Gums - Eucalyptus pauciflora on the mainland and E. coccifera in Tasmania. Beneath them are plants which continue upwards to grow on the harsh treeless alpine heaths.

Old gnarled Snow Gums at 1770masl at Charlottes Pass, Kosciuszko NP, 
only just below the treeline.

Daisies growing among the Snow Gums at about 1700masl on Mount Ginini
in the Brindabella Ranges above Canberra. This is below the Kosciuszko treeline,
but in addition this is a bit north of Kosciuszko so we'd expect the treeline to be a bit higher.
There is very little true alpine habitat in the ACT.

Pineapple Grass Astelia alpina (actually a lily, family Asteliaceae) growing
under Tasmanian Snow Gums at Mount Field NP, Tasmania. It is a common
plant in alpine bogs in Tasmania. The treeline here is at 1200masl, which
matches that of mountains at the same latitude in Patagonia.

So what does it look like above the snowline where the trees can't survive? I can only offer photos from South and Central America and Australia - I've not been that high in either Borneo or Africa. (I was planning to include Ireland but have realised that the landscape has been so cleared of trees over the last couple of millennia that the original treeline does not exist.) 

Mat plants and 'cushions' - opposites to a tree - reduce wind resistance and enable shoots to be protected inside the foliage. 

Hard cushions of Azorella sp., Family Apiaceae, are prominent in the landscape around
Chivay and the Colca Canyon, at over 3600masl in the southern Peruvian Andes.

In the Australian Alps (and elsewhere in the world) many unrelated species form dense mats across
the ground and rocks. This is Snow Beard-heath Leucopogon montanus. 
Most other Leucopogons I know grow as shrubs.

In the central-southern Andes of southern Peru, Bolivia and Patagonia (ie Chile and Argentina) the puna comprises vast areas of dry grasslands.

Puna as far as we can see, at 4000masl in the Andes above Cusco, southern Peru.

Puna below the Horns, Torres del Paine NP, Chilean Patagonia.

Further north (from northern Peru), the páramo is boggier and with a more heathy/shrubby vegetation.

The view from 4200masl of El Cajas NP, páramo and ponds.

Páramo at 3400masl in the central highlands of Costa Rica, dominated by low shrubs.

Eventually there are altitudes where very little grows at all. I'm no mountaineer; the highest I've been on the ground is 4900masl (by vehicle!) at Patapampa Pass in southern Peru, where the landscape is as barren as anything I've seen, beyond which is a magnificent vista of volcanoes on the horizon. I am fortunate in not being particularly susceptible to altitude sickness, but the short walk from the vehicle to the little lookout was a bit of a struggle! Needless to say, the local women selling crafts by the roadside were entirely unfazed by it.  

This is far from the upper limits of plant growth, which is over 6000masl in 
the Himalayas, and I think that this is literally a scorched landscape 
from past eruptions by the nearby volcanoes.

Volcanoes Ampato, Sabancaya and Hualca Hualca, between 10 and 20km away from
Patapampa Pass. Sabancaya is very much an active volcano and erupts constantly
(part of the cloud just above it is actually smoke), but I don't know when lava last flowed this far.

And finally some Australian alpine landscapes, which provide less than 0.1% of the continent's landmass; it is a very old and eroded continent and the mean altitude is only 300masl. 

Looking east from near the summit of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest point of Australia (not
including the sub-Antarctic territories) at a mere 2228masl.

Looking across the granite landscape to Lake Cootapatamba, the highest lake in Australia.
It is a cirque lake, gouged out by glaciers in the most recent glaciation, 
some 15,000 to 20,000 years ago.

The brief summer flowering is spectacular; here is a field of snow daisies Celmisia sp. on the
Main Range of Kosciuszko NP.

Along with the adjoining Victorian Alps, the only other Australian alpine areas of significance are in Tasmania to the south, where its higher latitude compensates for the lower altitudes.

Granites and heath on kunanyi / Mount Wellington above Hobart.

Cloud, granite and heath on Ben Lomond NP, a spectacular mountain plateau
in north-eastern Tasmania.

Wombat Moor on Mount Field, west of Hobart.

And that might be enough of mountains for one sitting. Next time I'll conclude this blog with a post on some high altitude plants; I'd been planning to do a joint post on plants and animals, but it would have been a long one, perhaps testing your patience unreasonably. So two posts still to come on this topic. Thanks for staying with me, despite the cold and the thin air.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 23 JULY

I love to receive your comments and I will notify you personally by email when a new posting appears, if you'd like me to. This will mean one email every three weeks at the current rate of posting. I promise never to use the list for any other purpose and will never share it. Should you wish to be added to it, just send me an email at calochilus51@internode.on.net. You can ask to be removed from the list at any time,or you could simply mark an email as Spam, so you won't see future ones.
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