Tierra Caliente

the low-elevation forest zone in the mountains of Central and South America from 11° N lat. to 18° S lat. The tierra caliente has elevations reaching 800 m in Central America and 1,000–1,500 m in South America. It is characterized by a torrid, chiefly moist, climate, by evergreen forests, and by lateritic mountain soils. The topography is typified by steep slopes, extensive debris cones, and widening river valleys with terraces. Average monthly temperatures range from 22° to 27°C. There is precipitation year-round on windward slopes, totaling more than 2,000 mm annually (in western Colombia, more than 7,000 mm). In the Northern Andes and in Bolivia summer rainfall totals 1,000 mm or less. The precipitation rate on leeward slopes is 500 mm or less annually.

Slopes having precipitation year-round are covered with mountain tropical forest (palms, trees with colored wood, rubber trees, ceibos, balsas) and have red-yellow soils. Lianas and epiphytes are abundant. Leeward slopes marked by summer precipitation have mixed evergreen and deciduous forests, thin forests, and scrub vegetation; there are red-brown soils. Crops cultivated in the tierra caliente include cacao, bananas, and sugarcane; in arid regions coffee, tobacco, cotton, and coca are raised.