The Gran Chaco Americano is, after the Amazon, the largest forested region in the American continent. Such is its extension that it covers southern Bolivia, western Paraguay, much of northern Argentina and even a small fraction of Brazil. Setting the spotlight on the forests of the Chaco region ArgentinaIt is worth mentioning that they are the subject of numerous investigations both because of the great biological and cultural diversity that it presents, and because of the continuous threats that degrade the ecosystems found in this area.
Therefore, from Ecologist Verde we will tell you in detail not only the particularities of the Chaco forest, its characteristics, flora and fauna, but also the environmental problems it has to deal with and its state of conservation.
Characteristics of the Chaco forest
Before we start with the features, we will first mention what is the location of the Argentine Chaco forest. To locate ourselves well in the area where we can find this great wooded biome, we will mention which provinces does the Argentine Chaco forest cover. Among them are: Formosa, Chaco, east of Santiago del Estero, north of Santa Fe, Córdoba, San Luis, east of Salta, Tucumán, Catamarca and La Rioja and west of Corrientes.
Regarding characteristics of the Chaco forest, we can summarize the following:
- With regard to Chaco forest relief, presents a marked heterogeneity that allows differentiating the region into two subregions: dry Chaco to the west, defined as a sedimentary plain, shaped by the rivers that cross the region and humid Chaco described as a plain with gentle slopes that form raised ridges with respect to the floodplain surroundings.
- Regarding the climate in the Chaco forest, is characterized by being warm subtropical. However, within the Chaco region there are differences in rainfall that, precisely, give rise to the name of the two aforementioned sub-regions: dry Chaco with rainfall varying between 500 to 700 mm per year, and humid Chaco with values between 750 to 1300 mm per year.
- Finally, referring to Chaco forest floorIn general, it has high contents of sand and clay and low percentages of organic matter.
Flora of the Chaco forest
The Chaco forest Actually, it has a great variety of environments, among which we can find: xerophilous forests or dry forests, savannas, jungles or gallery forests, palm groves, estuaries, lagoons and more. Because of this, the Chaco forest vegetation it is extremely diverse. Let's see here some of the species of Chaco forest plants more features:
- Quebrachos (Schinopsis spp. Y Aspidosperma spp.)
- Carob trees (Prosopis spp.)
- Lignum vitae (Bulnesia sarmientoi)
- Mistol (Ziziphus mistol)
- Chañar (Geoffroea decorticans)
- Timbo colorado (Enterolobium contortisiliquum)
- Ombú (Phytolacca dioica)
- Thatch (Panicum prionitis)
- Cattail (Schoenoplectus californicus)
Chaco forest fauna
Because of the marked difference between dry Chaco and wet Chaco, not all of the Chaco forest animals they are found in both subregions. For example, the giant armadillo or cart tattoo (Priodonts maximus) is exclusive to the dry Chaco, while those animals related to bodies of water, such as the nutria (Myocastor coypus), the alligators (Caiman spp.), the river wolf (Lontra longicaudis) and others are typical of the humid Chaco.
However, there are species of fauna that are distributed in both subregions, some of them are:
- Cougar (Puma concolor)
- Yaguareté or jaguar (Panthera onca)
- Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla)
- Tapir (Tapirus spp.)
- Honey bearTamanduca tetradactyla)
Environmental problems of the Chaco forest
Like the vast majority of the world's ecosystems, the Argentine Chaco forest is exposed to numerous environmental problems that lead to the destruction of ecosystems and the loss of species. What are the main environmental problems of the Chaco forest?
- To begin with, the advance of the agricultural-livestock frontier, commercial forestry and urbanization are the main reasons for the high rates of deforestation of the Chaco forest. Consequently, stripping causes habitat loss and fragmentation that increases the vulnerability of fauna to illegal hunters and road accidents, two other adversities that local biodiversity must face. Here you can learn more about Deforestation in Argentina: causes and consequences.
- In addition, fire is another environmental problem that affects the Chaco forest. most of the fires They are intentional, however, the Chaco region is not exempt from global warming and the higher temperatures recorded increase the chances of fires.
- Last but not least, another environmental problem of the Chaco forest biome is that it presents a long list of invasive species that compete with local biodiversity and in many cases end up displacing them. In this article you will learn about 12 invasive species in Argentina.
Conservation of the Chaco forest
The conservation of the Chaco forest rIt is urgent and essential: the human settlements that inhabit the area are being severely affected by ecosystem degradation and, as if that were not enough, many species of native flora and fauna are in danger of extinction.
Faced with this situation, it is worth highlighting the existence of more than 7 protected areas, between national parks and natural reserves, which are destined to the conservation of some of the different environments that the Chaco region presents. Fortunately, in those areas, multiple projects are being developed for reintroduction of species and restoration of ecosystems.
Despite this, there are no strong regulations that prohibit or, at least, limit the deforestation of the remnants (remnants of an ecosystem that is in a state of regression due to natural or human causes) of the Chaco forest and neither controls and restrictions that penalize those who are dedicated to hunting and the illegal trafficking of species or those who intentionally cause fires.
We recommend you read these other articles on The importance of nature reserves and protected areas and What is ecological restoration, types and examples.
If you want to read more articles similar to Chaco forest: characteristics, flora and fauna, we recommend that you enter our Ecosystems category.
Bibliography- The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Fundación para el Desarrollo Sustentable del Chaco (DeSdel Chaco), Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina (FVSA) and Wildlife Conservation Society Bolivia (WCS). 2005. Ecoregional Assessment of the Great American Chaco / Great American Chaco Ecoregional Assessment. (Buenos Aires). Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina: https://www.vidasilvestre.org.ar/?2980/evaluacin-ecorregional-del-gran-chaco-americano
