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Precipitation
Rainfall varies substantially with time and location
in the Tropical Andes. It is therefore particularly
important to recognize that trends of annual total
precipitation in the region do not represent the trends
Mindo Nambillo Forest Reserve, Ecuador
in specific places or times of the year. In the Central
Andes, Bolivia and Peru have highly differentiated rainy
and dry seasons. Approximately 50 to 80 per cent of the
yearly total precipitation falls in the rainy season in the
Central Andes (Vuille et al., 2000). In the Altiplano area,
more than 60 per cent of precipitation falls in the rainy
period (Thibeault, 2010). The northern Andes and
surrounding areas are generally more humid and
have less seasonally differentiated precipitation.
Changes in total annual precipitation over the
last century in the Tropical Andes have been less