Valle de la Luna Provincial Park, Argentina Photograph by Jim Reynolds   Southern South America: Central Argentina Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands   38,200 square miles (98,900 square kilometers) -- about the size of Virginia Vulnerable

· Arid in Argentina
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Arid in Argentina

If you were to visit the Arid Chaco in Argentina, you'd have a chance of stumbling upon such interesting animals as the pink fairy armadillo and the blue-crowned parakeet. Unfortunately, though, you'd also see a region undergoing radical change as human population pressures, especially overgrazing of livestock, degrade much of the region.

Special Features

The Arid Chaco ecoregion lies immediately west of Córdoba Montane Savannas, and immediately south of the Chaco proper. The climate in this region is relatively dry, as the name suggests, with annual rainfall usually averaging between 20 to 40 inches (500 to 1,000 mm). The landscape has been largely converted to agriculture, but many natural areas remain intact. The predominant vegetation is low lying and adapted to dry conditions--consisting of scattered deciduous trees and shrubs. For the most part the landscape appears barren, with low grasses and cactuses dominating areas of open soil and rocky outcroppings--especially where attempts at cultivation have left the ground completely cleared of vegetation.

	The mara, or cavy, is an unusual-looking rodent. In fact, it looks nothing like any other South American rodent--standing over two feet high (60 cm) on long skinny legs and measuring almost three feet (1 m) from head to tail.

Wild Side

Spend enough time in the Argentine Arid Chaco and you may find at least ten different types of armadillos, including the pink fairy armadillo--found here and nowhere else. The tuco-tuco, a medium-sized burrowing rodent, is also endemic to this ecoregion. Lesser maras and patagonian maras, long legged rodents that look like small deer, nibble on grasses. Crab-eating raccoons patrol the banks of streams, on the lookout for crayfish and other invertebrates, as well as fruits. Scientists believe an isolated population of pampas deer, currently listed as a threatened species, may also inhabit the region. Among the many birds you might find here are black-legged seriemas, blue-crowned parakeets, picui ground doves, guira cuckoos, little thornbirds, and many-colored chaco finches.

Cause for Concern

Much of the Arid Chaco is in various stages of alteration due to overgrazing and human overpopulation. Desertification caused by human development is the main threat to the ecoregion and its biodiversity. Of the original forestlands found in Argentina at the end of the 19^th century, only 10 percent remained 90 years later in the early 1990s. Paved roads have opened up many areas to hunting and agricultural development. Only a few protected areas exist.

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