In the Clouds
Cloud forests are exceedingly rare, making up just one percent of Earth’s total forests. These uniques forests are created when warm, wet air rises up the through the mountain slope, rapidly cooling off and condensing into fluffy clouds that float through the forest canopy. Epiphytic plants, like tree-bound bromeliads, have adapted to source all of their water from the clouds, appearing to grow out of the sky. Unsurprisingly, cloud forests serve as a biological hotspot, home to a multitude of endemic species, and are a critical water source for Andean communities.
