Manu National Park Peru Cloud Forest

Crossing over the eastern edge of the Andes, travelers to Manu National Park, often encounters a thick blanket of clouds.

This is the beginning of the Cloud Forest, this mysterious, ghostly forest live the spectacular Cook of the Rock, Spectacled bear and scores of dripping tree ferns, bromeliads and Orchids. Ranging in elevation from 11,500 to 4,500 feet (3,500 to 1,500m.a.s.l.), the Cloud Forest is one of the least studied of environments, at least 50% of its plant species are found nowhere else on earth.

Heavy mists and frequent rains (up to 23 feet, or 6 meters annually) support the cloud forest's dense, stunted canopy of evergreen trees. In a process called "cloud stripping", the leaves cause the condensation of the moisture from the clouds. Water is therefore continually forming on the plant surfaces and dripping towards the ground.

The perpetual humidity of the Cloud forest makes an ideal home for epiphytes - plants that live on other plants and take their moisture and nutrients from their surroundings, not the ground. As a dirt accumulate on branches, lichens and mosses begin a colonization process that soon followed by ferns, bromeliads and orchids.