Alerce trees, Lenca, Chile Photograph by Marco Cortez   Southern South America: Chile and Argentina Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests   95,800 square miles (248,100 square kilometers) -- about the size of Oregon Critical/Endangered

· Timeless Trees
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Timeless Trees

Only five temperate rain forest ecosystems exist in the world, and the Valdivian is the second largest, smaller only than the Pacific Northwest of North America. The shores of the Pacific Ocean carve the western edge of the Valdivian Temperate Forests, while the resplendent rise of the Andean Cordillera marks the boundary on the east. Currents of Pacific air rise from the Andean foothills, creating the plentiful rainfall that sustains the emerald green of these forests. Here, one can find Patagonian tyrants, green-backed firecrowns, and monkey puzzle trees among the many species.

Special Features

At the edge of this forest, snowcapped volcanoes carve a stunning silhouette against the sky. The vegetation is predominantly temperate evergreen broadleaf forest mixed with needle-leafed trees, which gives way to glacial meadows at higher altitudes. Several national parks fall within this ecoregion and offer some protection to Chile’s temperate rain forest habitat. Typically, the forests are very dense, with epiphyte-laden trees reaching up to 150 feet (46 m) in height. The most abundant trees are Antarctic beech, but many other trees are also present, including the threatened guaitecas cypress, as well as the monkey puzzle tree. Many poorly draining bogs are present, and in the southern portion, evergreen swamp forest prevails. A careful ear may pick up the calls of two of the endemic birds in the region, the Chilean tinamou and the slender-billed parakeet.

	The Valdivian forest includes some of the world's oldest trees, including the alerce tree, which can reach heights of over 375 feet (114 m) and live for more than 3,000 years!

Wild Side

Beneath the majestic crowns of beech and pine, an endemic Chilean shrew opossum pokes through leaf litter in search of insects, while high in the canopy above, the squawks of austral parakeets fill the air. In a clearing, a curious black-throated huet-huet sits on a rock, bobbing its small erect tail as it calls a deep hoop hoop. A pichi, a small hairy armadillo, digs into a riverbank in search of worms, as the regionally endemic kokod, the smallest feline in South America, watches curiously from across the stream. A small flock of Chilean pigeons flies along the forest edge, seeking berries in the thick vegetation. An endemic pine rat scampers across the forest floor collecting abundant pine seeds. At higher elevations, a spectacled duck shares a shallow bog with an ashy-headed goose and a white-tufted grebe.

Cause for Concern

Of the 54,000 square miles (139,859 sq. km) that originally constituted this forest, only 40 percent remains in tact. A Chilean forestry company is responsible for one of the most devastating examples of forest destruction: In converting rain forest to eucalyptus plantations, the company has already destroyed extensive portions of these fragile forests in violation of Chilean law. Exotic invasive species are also a huge problem as they displace endemic and sensitive species. Increasing urbanization, agriculture, and road-building are also cause for concern.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.