Editing Andes (section)

== Climate and ecology ==
Climate in the Andes varies according to latitude and elevation. Temperatures decrease with altitude, allowing cold highland environments to occur close to the equator. The mountains also redirect moist air and create strong differences in rainfall between opposing slopes.

The northern Andes receive moisture from the Caribbean and the [[Amazon Basin]]. Forest covers the lower slopes, while persistent cloud produces humid forests at higher elevations. Above the tree line, grasslands and shrub vegetation occupy exposed ridges or plateaus. Conditions become drier in the central Andes, where high-altitude grasslands surround salt basins and desert margins.

Pacific weather systems bring heavy precipitation to parts of the southern Andes. Temperate forests grow on the wetter western slopes. Snowfields and glaciers occupy higher elevations in Patagonia. The range prevents much of this moisture from reaching the eastern plateau, producing a dry rain-shadow climate across much of Argentine Patagonia.