Near Rodeo, Argentina Photograph by Jim Reynolds   Southern South America: Western Argentina into Chile Montane Grasslands and Shrublands   68,800 square miles (178,200 square kilometers) -- about the size of Missouri Relatively Stable/Intact

· A Mountain Mosaic
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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A Mountain Mosaic

The Southern Andean Steppe hosts a diversity of habitats, including grassland, sparse sub-Antarctic forest, scrub forest, deciduous thicket, and wetland. This habitat mosaic extends north and south through the western edge of Argentina into Chile. To the east, the steppe blends into the great expanse of temperate grasslands in the neighboring Argentine Monte ecoregion.

Special Features

The Southern Andean Steppe leads into the Andes Mountains where elevations range from 4,900 to 9,800 feet (1,500 to 3,000 m), with isolated peaks as high as 19,685 feet (6,000 m) in the northwestern portion. The vegetation is predominantly deciduous thicket in the south, interspersed with bunchgrasses and cushion plants. In the northern, higher-elevated areas, the steppe consists of tuft grass and herbaceous communities dominated by Festuca, Poa, and Baccharis.

	Slightly larger than a housecat, the elusive Andean mountain cat resembles a small snow leopard but has orange-spotted gray fur and a bushy ringed tail. This rare cat lives exclusively in the high Andes.

Wild Side

Elaborately colored torrent ducks easily negotiate whitewater streams in search of insect larvae and mollusks. Black-necked swans nest among shrubs along the edges of the ecoregion’s many lagoons. An endemic Steinbach’s canastero flicks and bobs its dark brown tail to attract a mate. A Patagonian opossum seeks shelter among rocks at the base of a tall cliff, where an Andean condor perches, displaying its enormous majesty. A lesser pink fairy armadillo curls up in a ball to protect itself from an approaching Andean cat. In mountain pastures, guanacos and vicuñas, two neotropical members of the camel family, graze among grasses, while a small group of lesser rheas (large, ostrich-like birds) keep their eyes out for predators such as the cougar.

Cause for Concern

The growth of tourism and large-scale agriculture such as vineyards and cattle-ranching are still minor threats, since this region has not yet been overdeveloped. In the future, road-building, urban sprawl, and agricultural conversion may have greater impacts. The hunting of large mammals has become problematic, as has the introduction of exotic species.

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