Socompa features autotrophic communities associated with fumaroles and thermal anomalies at high altitude, between of elevation. The autotrophic communities on Socompa are the highest known in the world, and they occur both on the actual fumaroles and on cold fumaroles. The various species are often extremophiles since the environment on Socompa is harsh, and the communities also include heterotrophic species. Such heterotrophs include ascomycota and basidiomycota, the latter of which have noticeable similarity to Antarctic basidiomycota.