Categories · Geographic Regions

Temperate southern America

The Temperate Southern South America Threatened Conifer Region is confined to Argentina and Chile with the majority of conifer populations occurring in Chile. The conifers have a discontinuous range from latitude 32°29' S in San Felipe de Aconcagua (Chile), south to 55°30' S in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina).

Within this range they occur from the Pacific coast (sea-level), up to the tree line on both sides of the Andes and on the Patagonian steppe in Argentina. In the northern part of the range in Chile, a Mediterranean-type climate with hot dry summers predominates and Austrocedrus chilensis is the only conifer. Further south, conifers occur in Valdivian rainforest, North Patagonian rainforest or Magellanic rainforest, depending on the latitude. Small extensions of these rainforests occur in adjacent parts of Argentina. The region contains only nine conifer species, two of which are endemic to Chile. Of the nine species, six are globally threatened with the remainder (Podocarpus nubigenus, Lepidothamnus fonkii and Saxegothaea conspicua) being nationally threatened either in Argentina or Chile. Threats in the region include fire, forest conversion to commercial plantations, flooding due to hydroelectric schemes and grazing.

There are 9 taxa in the category – Temperate southern America:

Download full list of taxa in this category as CSV