The Valdivian temperate forests (NT0404) is an

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

on the west coast of southern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

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 ...

. It is part of the

Neotropical realm The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropics, tropical Ecoregion#Terrestrial, terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperat ...

. The forests are named after the city of

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...

. The Valdivian temperate rainforests are characterized by their dense understories of bamboos,

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

s, and for being mostly dominated by

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

angiosperm Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed within a fruit ...

trees with some deciduous specimens, though

conifer Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

trees are also common.

Setting

Temperate rain forests comprise a relatively narrow Chilean coastal strip, between the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

to the west and the southern

Andes Mountains The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

to the east, from roughly 37° to 48° south latitude. North of 42°, the Chilean Coast Range stretches on, with just the north–south running Chilean Central Valley between it and the Andes. South of 42°, the coast range continues as a chain of offshore islands (including Chiloé Island and the Chonos Archipelago), while the "Central Valley" is submerged and continues as the Gulf of Corcovado. Much of the ecoregion was once covered by the

Patagonian Ice Sheet The Patagonian Ice Sheet was a large elongated and narrow ice sheet centered in the southern Andes that existed during the Llanquihue glaciation. The ice sheet covered all of Chile south of Puerto Montt plus the western fringes of Argentine Pa ...

and other

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

s during the peak of the last

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

, with ice descending from the Andes mountains; numerous bodies of water within the Chilean Lake District (in the central part of the ecoregion) are the remnants of ancient glacial valleys. The southern part of the region features many glacier-carved

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

To the north, the Valdivian forests give way to the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub of the Chilean Matorral ecoregion. A few coastal enclaves of Valdivian forest grow in north-central Chile (such as Bosque de Fray Jorge National Park) as remains of the

last glacial maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...

. To the south lies the

Magellanic subpolar forests The Magellanic subpolar forests () are a terrestrial ecoregion of southernmost South America, covering parts of southern Chile and Argentina, and are part of the Neotropical realm. It is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion, and ...

ecoregion. The temperate Valdivian, matorral, and Magellanic ecoregions are isolated from the subtropical/tropical forests that dominate northern South America by such landscapes as the Atacama desert (north of the matorral), the Andes Mountains, and the dry, rain-shadow

Patagonian steppe The Patagonian Desert, also known as the Patagonian Steppe, is the largest desert in Argentina and is the list of deserts by area, eighth-largest desert in the world by area, occupying approx. 673,000 square kilometres (260,000 mi2). It is l ...

east of the Andes. As a result, the temperate forest regions have evolved in relative isolation, with a high degree of

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 ...

species. Due to a similar location geographically and geologically (along the Pacific Plate), the coast-hugging temperate rainforests of the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

(from

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

to Southern Alaska, roughly 40°-60° north latitude) exist in similar settings, with the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. East of the Rocky Mountains, the North American

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

grassland stretches from south-central Canada to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, not unlike the Argentine grasslands to the east of the Andes. Similar to the Atacama region of Chile, the

Baja California Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...

and Sonoran deserts in the US/Mexican states of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and

act as climatic borders for the northwest’s rainforests.

Climate

Since the forest is located at around 40 degrees south, it is strongly influenced by the

westerlies The westerlies, anti-trades, or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes (about ...

. The water vaper held by the westerlies condenses as they encounter the windward slope of the Chilean Coast Range and the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, create orographic rainfall. Average annual precipitation varies from 1,000 mm at the northern edge of the ecoregion to more than 6,000 mm per year in the south. The northern portion of the ecoregion has a Submediterranean climate, with rainfall concentrated in the winter months. This seasonality decreases towards the south. Average annual temperatures are fairly uniform within the area, especially at coastal locations where annual temperature differences between localities never exceed 7 °C. The northward-flowing oceanic Humboldt Current creates humid and foggy conditions near the coast. In the summer the temperature can climb to 16.5 °C (62 °F), while during winter the temperature can drop below 7 °C (45 °F). Winter temperatures are lower at higher elevations. The tree line is at about 2,400 m in the northern part of the ecoregion (35° S), and descends to 1,000 m in the south of the Valdivian region.

Flora

The Valdivian temperate rain forests are temperate broadleaf and mixed forests. The Valdivian and Magellanic temperate rainforests are the only temperate rain forests in

and one of a small number of temperate rain forests in the world. Together they are the second largest in the world, after the Pacific temperate rain forests of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

(which stretches from Alaska to northern California). The Valdivian forests are a refuge for the

Antarctic flora Antarctic flora are a distinct community of vascular plants which evolved millions of years ago on the supercontinent of Gondwana. In 2025, species of Antarctica flora reside on several now separated areas of the Southern Hemisphere, including ...

, and share many plant families with the temperate rainforests of

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Fully half the species of woody plants are

to this ecoregion. ''

Chusquea quila ''Chusquea quila'', or , is a perennial bamboo that grows in the humid temperate forests of Chile and Argentina. In contrast to most bamboos, it grows as a dense, climbing or decumbent shrub. Its aerial culms are solid, unlike most bamboos, w ...

'' is a

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

that grows in humid areas below 500 m, where '' Chusquea culeou'' becomes more dominant above. ''Chusquea quila'' can form pure stands called ''quilantales''. Very few plants can grow under this species. Other notable species are the '' nalca'' or Chilean rhubarb (''Gunnera tinctoria'') and the ferns ''

Lophosoria quadripinnata ''Lophosoria quadripinnata'' (J.F.Gmel.) Carl Christensen (botanist), C.Chr. is a species of fern that, according to DNA molecular analysis, belongs to the family Dicksoniaceae, where it is placed in the genus ''Lophosoria''. It is found in the ...

'' and '' Parablechnum cordatum''. Chile's national flower, the '' copihue'' (''Lapageria rosea'') is a pioneer species that grows in disturbed areas of the Valdivian rain forest. The maximum plant species richness is found at latitudes 40 to 43° S.

Forest ecosystems

There are four main types of forest ecosystems in the Valdivian ecoregion. Deciduous forests. At the northern end of the ecoregion are deciduous forests, dominated by deciduous species of southern beech, including ''rauli'' ('' Nothofagus alpina'') and ''roble'' ('' N. obliqua''). This is a transitional zone to the Mediterranean-climate region to the north. It grows from 35 to 36º S latitude along Chilean Coast Range, where it is known as Maulino forest. '' Nothofagus glauca'' and '' N. Alessandrii'' are predominant trees in Maulino forest.Moreira-Munoz, Andres (2011). ''Plant Geography of Chile''. Springer Dordrecht, January 2011. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8748-5 Deciduous ''Nothofagus'' forests also grow along the

of central Chile as far north as 33º S latitude, from approximately 1,200 meters elevation up to the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

at 2,400 meters elevation. A krummholz of '' Nothofagus antarctica'' and '' N. pumilio'' grows near the tree line. The southern limit of these forests is 38º S latitude. Tall coniferous pehuén monkey-puzzle trees (''Araucaria araucana'') grow at the southern edge of the deciduous forests, from the coast at Nahuelbuta National Park to the Andes. Valdivian laurel-leaved forests. Valdivian laurel-leaved forests, characterized by a variety of broadleaf evergreen trees, including '' Laureliopsis philippiana'', '' Aextoxicon punctatum'', '' Eucryphia cordifolia'', '' Caldcluvia paniculata'', and '' Weinmannia trichosperma'', with an understory of '' Myrceugenia planipes'', the '' arrayán'' (''Luma apiculata'') and other plants. Old-growth Valdivian evergreen forest (siempreverde) tend to form stratified canopy made up of two or three layers. Patagonian Andean forests. The third forest type is the Patagonian Andean forests, which are distributed at higher elevations along the Andes mountain front, and are dominated by evergreen

s, including ''pehuén'' (''Araucaria araucana'') and '' alerce'' (''Fitzroya cupressoides''). The ''alerce'' looks like a giant sequoia, and is a rival in longevity to the bristlecone pine, some with growth rings recording 3,625 years of local weather cycles. Closer to the treeline, the conifers give way to Andean scrublands of deciduous '' Nothofagus antarctica''. Northern Patagonian forests. The fourth and last type is the Northern Patagonian forests, which dominate the southern half of the ecoregion, with evergreen species such as the broadleaf '' Nothofagus dombeyi'', ''

Nothofagus betuloides ''Nothofagus betuloides'', Magellan's beech or ''guindo'', is a tree native to southern Patagonia. In 1769, Joseph Banks, Sir Joseph Banks collected a botanical specimen, specimen of the tree in Tierra del Fuego during James Cook, Captain Cook's ...

'' and '' Drimys winteri'' and the coniferous podocarps, including '' Podocarpus nubigenus''. Distribution of plants follow Rapoport's rule with plant species distribution increasing at higher latitudes and decreasing at those closer to the equator, incidents of endemism becoming more frequent as one moves equatorward. Lowland

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

s near the coast contain more available nutrients than more inland soils.

Origin and evolution

The flora of the forests has inherited and developed its characteristics due to a variety of causes. Its Neotropical affinities reflect its current geographic connection to the remaining South America. Its "Gondwanan" species are a legacy of the ancient

supercontinent In geology, a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth's continent, continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass. However, some geologists use a different definition, "a grouping of formerly dispersed continents", ...

Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...

, a landmass formerly composed of South America, Africa, India, Antarctica and Australia. The high degree of

species and

monospecific In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

genera is thought to be linked to the geographic isolation came into being as result of the uplift of the Andes. There are a few " boreal" components in the Valdivian temperate rain forest which arrived by long-distance transport. Yet another component are the species from nearby South American ecosystems that adapted to the temperate rainforest. During the Llanquihue glaciation much of the area west of Llanquihue Lake remained ice-free during the

Last Glacial Maximum The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), also referred to as the Last Glacial Coldest Period, was the most recent time during the Last Glacial Period where ice sheets were at their greatest extent between 26,000 and 20,000 years ago. Ice sheets covered m ...

and had sparsely distributed vegetation dominated by ''

Nothofagus ''Nothofagus'', also known as the southern beeches, is a genus of 43 species of trees and shrubs native to the Southern Hemisphere, found across southern South America (Chile, Argentina) and east and southeast Australia, New Zealand, New Guin ...

'' species. Valdivian temperate rain forest proper was reduced to scattered remnants in to the west of the Andes. More specifically the refugia of the Valdivian temperate rain forest between latitudes 41 and 37° S were; the coastal region, the lower slopes of the Chilean Coast Range and the westernmost Chilean Central Valley all of which remained free of disturbance by the glacial, glacifluvial and periglacial disturbance through the glaciation.

Fauna

Some of the threatened mammals of the Valdivian forests include the '' monito del monte'' ''(Dromiciops gliroides)'', an arboreal

marsupial Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are natively found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of marsupials' unique features is their reproductive strategy: the young are born in a r ...

, the southern ''pudú'' ''(Pudu puda)'' the world's smallest

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

, and the kodkod ''(Leopardus guigna)'', South America's smallest cat. Since the beginning of the 20th century, there have also been nonnative

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

s living in the Valdivian forests. The Chilean climbing mouse (''Irenomys tarsalis'') and Chilean shrew opossum (''Rhyncholestes raphanurus'') are endemic to the ecoregion."Valdivian temperate forests"
Encyclopedia of Life. Accessed 3 March 2023. Most mammal genera in Valdivian forests are also found in semi-arid parts of Patagonia. Relative to similar forest in North America there is a low diversity of mammals in Chilean temperate forests. The slender-billed parakeet (''Enicognathus leptorhynchus'') is endemic. Near-endemic and limited-range birds include the Chilean pigeon (''Patagioenas araucana''), Black-throated huet-huet (''Pteroptochos tarnii''), Chucao tapaculo (''Scelorchilus rubecula''), and Ochre-flanked tapaculo (''Eugralla paradoxa'').BirdLife International (2023)
Endemic Bird Areas factsheet: Chilean temperate forests
Accessed 4 March 2023. Hummingbirds are common in the Valdivian forests because of the presence of plants like the '' maqui'' (''Aristotelia chilensis'') and the '' copihue''.

Conservation

The Valdivian forests include stands of huge trees, especially ''

'' and '' Fitzroya'', which can live to a great age. These magnificent rainforests are endangered by extensive logging and their replacement by fast-growing

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

s and

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

, which are more sought-after by the pulp and paper industry. The native trees that are cleared to make way for these monocultures are often exported as

woodchips Woodchips are small- to medium-sized pieces of wood formed by cutting or chipping larger pieces of wood such as trees, branches, logging residues, Tree stump, stumps, roots, and wood waste. Woodchips may be used as a biomass solid fuel and are r ...

to Japan. A start at conservation was made in November 2003 when a consortium of conservation groups, both local and international, bought at auction of a bankrupt logging firm 147,500 acres (600 km²) of biologically rich rainforest in the Valdivian Coastal Range. Gianni Lopez, Executive Director of CONAMA, Chile's national environmental agency remarked, "Ten years ago the existence of protected areas not owned by the government was unthinkable." Among the efforts supporting conservation, has been a growing ecotourism industry.

Protected areas

24.16% of the Valdivian temperate forests ecoregion is in protected areas.

List of protected areas

Argentina

* Los Alerces National Park * Los Arrayanes National Park * Lago Puelo National Park * Lanín National Park * Nahuel Huapí National Park

Chile

:Public: * Alerce Andino National Park * Alerce Costero National Park * Altos de Lircay National Reserve * Altos de Pemehue National Reserve * Bosque de Fray Jorge National Park * Carlos Anwandter Sanctuary * Chiloé National Park * China Muerta National Reserve *

Conguillío National Park Conguillío National Park is in the Andes, in the provinces of Cautín Province, Cautín and Malleco Province, Malleco, in the Araucanía Region of Chile also known as Araucanía Region, Region IX. Its name derives from the Mapudungun, Mapuch ...

* Corcovado National Park * Coyhaique National Reserve * Futaleufú National Reserve * Hornopirén National Park * Huerquehue National Park * Isla Guamblin National Park * La Campana National Park * Lago Rosselot National Reserve * Laguna del Laja National Park * Laguna San Rafael National Park * Lahuen Ñadi Natural Monument * Llanquihue National Reserve * Los Bellotos del Melado National Reserve * Los Huemules de Niblinto National Reserve * Los Queules National Reserve * Los Ruiles National Reserve * Melimoyu National Park * Mocho-Choshuenco National Reserve * Nahuelbuta National Park * Nonguén National Park * Península de Hualpén Nature Sanctuary * Pumalín Douglas Tompkins National Park * Puyehue National Park * Queulat National Park * Radal Siete Tazas National Park * Ralco National Reserve * Río Los Cipreses National Reserve *

Tolhuaca National Park Tolhuaca National Park () is a protected area created on October 16, 1935, in an area of 3,500 ha that was previously part of the Malleco National Reserve. In 1985, a second section of Malleco National Reserve was also made part of the national ...

* Vicente Perez Rosales National Park * Villarrica National Park :Private: * Huilo-Huilo Biological Reserve (owned by Víctor Peterman) * Llancahue (administered by the Austral University of Chile) * Los Vertientes Private Nature Reserve * Meullín-Puye Nature Sanctuary (administered by the Kreen Foundation) * Oncol Park (owned by Celulosa Arauco y Constitución) * Área Costera Protegida Punta Curiñanco (owned by CODEFF) * Tantauco Park (owned by Sebastián Piñera) * Valdivian Coastal Reserve (owned by

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

)

Notes and references

External links

Explore the Valdivian Coastal Reserve
*
Valdivian temperate rain forests/Juan Fernandez Islands (World Wildlife Fund)Flora species from Valdivian rain forests
{{coord, 41, 19, 48.39, S, 73, 39, 40.96, W, display=title, name=CHECKME Valdivian temperate forests, 01 Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Ecoregions of Argentina Ecoregions of Chile Andean forests Ecology of Patagonia Natural history of Chile Flora of Chile, * Flora of Argentina, * Trees of Argentina, * Trees of Chile, * Chilean Coast Range Geography of Los Lagos Region Geography of Los Ríos Region Neotropical ecoregions