This ecoregion is the light mauve area in the image below, constituting the high-altitude puna area of Peru and, in a disjunct block, the puna area of Peru/Bolivia around Lake Titicaca and northward.
Adjacent ecoregions include, from the east, the Peruvian Yungas (NT0153) and to the west, the Sechura Desert (NT1315). To the north it transitions to the Cordillera Central páramo, to the south, the Central Andean puna.
Description of the Ecoregion
As summarized in Wikipedia, the ecoregion can be described as an area of montane grasslands and shrublands. The ecoregion can be subdivided into three subregions: the high andean puna, wet puna, and wet montane grassland.
The high Andean puna lies between 4,200 and 5,000 metres. The wet puna is located in the altiplano at elevations between 3,700 and 4,200 metres. It is wetter in the north, where the wet season lasts eight months, and drier in the south, where the wet season lasts two months. The wet montane grasslands occur in the eastern section of the ecoregion, at elevations between 3,800 and 4,200 metres. They form in deep mountain valleys with glacial origins. They are more humid than the puna.
Birds of the Ecoregion
Wikipedia notes:
Endemic bird species in the northern section of the ecoregion include the Ash-breasted tit-tyrant (Anairetes alpinus), the royal cinclodes (Cinclodes aricomae), Berlepsch’s canastero (Asthenes berlepschi), the line-fronted canastero (Asthenes urubambensis), the olivaceous thornbill (Chalcostigma olivaceum), the scribble-tailed canastero (Asthenes maculicauda), the short-tailed finch (Idiopsar bracyurus), and the gray-bellied flower-piercer (Diglosa carbonaria).
Endemic bird species found in the southern section of the ecoregion tend to live in dense montane scrub and shrubby forest with cacti. Most of these birds live in the puna region, but others live in subtropical and temperate zones. These include the plain-tailed warbling-finch (Poospiza alticola), the rufous-breasted warbling-finch (Poospiza rubecula), Taczanowski’s tinamou (Nothoprocta tacaznowskii), the white-cheeked cotinga (Zaratornis stresemanni), Kalinowski’s tinamou (Nothoprocta kalinowskii), the white-browed tit-spinetail (Leptasthenura xenothorax), the rufous-eared brush-finch (Atlapetes rufigenis), the white-tufted sunbeam (Aglaeactis castelnaudii), the bearded mountaineer (Oreonympha nobilis), the striated earthcreeper (Upucerthia serrana), the rusty-fronted canastero (Asthenes ottonis), the rusty-bellied brush-finch (Atlapetes nationi), the chesnut-breasted mountain-finch (Poospiza caesar), and the brown-flanked tanager (Thlypopsis pectoralis). The southern section of the ecoregion includes the Cochabamba mountain-finch (Poospiza garleppi), Berlepsch’s canastero (Asthenes berlepschi), the maquis canastero (Astenes heterura), the rufous-bellied saltator (Saltator rufiventris), the citron-headed yellow-finch (Sicalis luteocephala), the scribble-tailed canastero (Asthenes maculicauda), the short-tailed finch (Idiopsar brachyurus), the grey-bellied flower-piecer (Diglossa carbonaria), and Berlepsch’s canastero (Asthenes berlepschi).