''Podocarpus parlatorei'' is a species of

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

in the family

Podocarpaceae Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly southern hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pres ...

and native to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

, where it grows on steep hillsides on the eastern flanks of the Andes. It has been harvested commercially in the past but is now protected under

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has assessed its status as being "

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

Description

''Podocarpus parlatorei'' is an evergreen shrub or tree that grows up to 15 (occasionally 30) meters high. The trunk is straight and cylindrical and branches often grow from close to the ground. The leaves are linear to falcate (sickle-shaped), straight, long, wide, with an acute pungent apex. The seeds are spherical, long.

Distribution and habitat

''Podocarpus parlatorei'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the eastern flanks of the Andes in northwestern Bolivia and Argentina. It occurs at elevations between and occupies a strip of countryside about long in a north/south direction and up to wide. The population is fragmented into a number of subpopulations by the lowland forests and dry river valleys that dissect the steep-sided foothills.

Ecology

In the south of its range, this species forms pure stands, but further north it tends to grow under a canopy formed by ''

Alnus acuminata Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species e ...

'', ''

Cedrela angustifolia ''Cedrela angustifolia'' is a species of tree in the mahogany family, Meliaceae. Local common names include ''cedro de Tucumán'', ''cedro bayo'', ''cedro coya'', and ''cedro del cerro''. It is native to South America, where it occurs in Argentin ...

'', and ''

Juglans australis ''Juglans australis'', the nogal criollo, is a species of plant in the Juglandaceae family. This large, fast-growing tree can grow to tall at elevations of 0.5—1.5 km in the Southern Andean Yungas, montane cloud forests on the eastern sl ...

''. The flowers are wind pollinated and the seed is dispersed by birds and mammals that eat the fleshy fruits. These include guans (''Penelope'' spp.),

band-tailed pigeon The band-tailed pigeon (''Patagioenas fasciata'') is a pigeon native to the Americas, and the largest pigeon native to North America. They are a native species throughout the Southwestern United States and Mexico, extending south to Peru. Taxo ...

s (''Patagioenas fasciata''), and the hog-nosed skunk (''Conepatus chinga''). The gray grass mouse (''Abrothrix illuteus'') lives on steep hillsides amongst the ''Podocarpus parlatorei'' and ''Alnus acuminata'' trees.

Uses

The timber is lightweight, soft and easy to work. It has been used commercially for making

pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail of ...

s and for building construction, flooring,

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

making, veneers, posts and utensils. Its international commercial trade has now been banned by its listing in Appendix I of

because excessive logging was depleting populations, but it is still harvested for local use. It is also used in field boundaries and around houses as hedges.

Status

In the past, this tree was listed by the

as being "

data deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

", however more recent research has enabled the IUCN to evaluate its status. The population is naturally fragmented because of geographical features and although in the past much logging has reduced populations, the remaining populations are more secure, being in remote areas or on steep hillsides where access is difficult. Though vulnerable to man-made disturbances such as logging and fires, it is a

pioneer species Pioneer species are resilient species that are the first to colonize barren environments, or to repopulate disrupted biodiverse steady-state ecosystems as part of ecological succession. Various kinds of events can create good conditions for pi ...

and able to regenerate in grassland or at forest fringes. For these reasons, the IUCN has assessed its population size as stable and its conservation status as

. As a cold-tolerant, subtropical

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

conifer with a fragmented population, this species might be expected to be affected by

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

. However research suggests that it is able to shift its range to higher altitudes during warmer periods and will cope with

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

as it has in the past during climatic fluctuations.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1056656 parlatorei Trees of Argentina Trees of Bolivia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Plants described in 1866 Flora of the Southern Andean Yungas