Tierra templada (Spanish for temperate land) is a pseudo-climatological term used in Latin America to refer to places which are either located in the tropics at a moderately high elevation or are marginally outside the astronomical tropics, producing a somewhat cooler overall climate than that found in the tropical lowlands, the zone of which is known as the tierra caliente.

In countries situated close to the equator, the tierra templada typically has an elevation span of between 750 and 1,850 metres (2,460 and 6,070 ft).[1][2][3][4][5] These thresholds become lower as the latitude increases. The Peruvian geographer Javier Pulgar Vidal used following altitudes:

  • 1,000 m as the border between the tropical rainforest and the subtropical cloud forest
  • 2,300 m as the end of the subtropical cloud forest (Yunga fluvial)
  • 3,500 m as the treeline
  • 4,800 m as the puna end[6]

Tierra templada has mean average temperature between 18 and 22 °C (64 and 72 °F).[1] Coffee is grown extensively as a cash crop, with grains such as wheat and corn being cultivated for subsistence purposes - in contrast to the warmer tierra caliente, where tropical fruits predominate.[1] Xalapa in Mexico is an example of a city that lies in the tierra templada,[7] having a subtropical highland climate under the Köppen climate classification.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Altitude zones of Mexico". Geomexico. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  2. ↑ Schütt, Brigitta (2005). "Azonale Böden und Hochgebirgsböden" (PDF) (in German). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-27.
  3. ↑ Zech, W; Hintermaier-Erhard, G (2002). Böden der Welt – Ein Bildatlas (in German). Heidelberg. p. 98.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ↑ Christopher, Salter; Hobbs, Joseph; Wheeler, Jesse; Kostbade, J. Trenton (2005). Essentials of World Regional Geography (2nd ed.). New York: Harcourt Brace. pp. 464–465.
  5. ↑ "Middle America: Altitudinal Zonation". Archived from the original on 2009-07-24. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
  6. ↑ Pulgar Vidal, Javier (1941). "Las ocho regiones naturales del Perú". Boletín del Museo de historia natural "Javier Prado" (in Spanish). Lima. 17 (especial): 145–161.
  7. ↑ "Mexico". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
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