The Argentine Chaco forest It is one of the great plant formations of this South American country. In fact, this type of forest is one of the largest forest masses in South America.
The Chaco covers areas of Bolivia, Argentina, Paraguay and a small part of Brazil, its main natural cover being the dry forest. It is an extensive plain that goes from the foothills of the Andes to the west to the Paraguay and Paraná rivers to the east.
This plain has a slope from west to east, interrupted by various watercourses and isolated mountain ranges. Different types of forests, savannas, estuaries and lagoons develop in it. Of the approximately 1,141,000 kmtwo that occupies the Chaco, Argentina has 675,000 kmtwo, which represents the 59% occupied by 13 provinces of this country. However, much of the Chaco has been deforested to develop agriculture and livestock..
The Chaco forest is mostly a xerophyte forest, which depending on the area of the Chaco, appears as a deciduous or semi-deciduous forest. The first being predominantly towards the arid Chaco to the west and the second towards the humid Chaco to the east.
These Chaco forests have a structure formed by two to three tree strata, where the highest is around 25 meters. In addition to an abundant epiphytism and an understory or lower part formed by herbs and shrubs.
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The Chaco forest develops on the extensive plains of the Gran Chaco, located in central South America, with an average altitude of 102 meters above sea level. A plain that extends from the Andean foothills to the west to the Paraguay and Paraná rivers to the east. As well as between the Bañados del Izozog to the north and the Salinas Grandes to the south.
Towards the east, the plain is gently sloping, alternating strips of higher lands and forests with low areas forming estuaries. While to the west, in the Semi-arid Chaco the plain presents mountains and rivers. Then, when approaching the Andean foothills, in the area of the Arid Chaco, the relief rises to 500 or 600 meters above sea level..
Finally, to the west, the Chaco connects with the Andes, forming the ecotone or ecological limit with the Yunga. In Argentina, the highest altitude in this limit is the Champaquí hill with 2,790 meters above sea level..
The Chaco forest is affected by a gradient of increasing aridity that runs from east to west. In the dry period, temperatures exceed 40ºC, while in the rainy period they can drop to 0ºC in the south and southeast, the region being subject to periods of both droughts and heavy floods..
To the east the humid and sub-humid Chaco develops, then in a western direction are the Semi-arid Chaco, the Arid Chaco and the Serrano Chaco. In the more humid Chaco, the climate is warm subtropical with rainfall between 750 and 1,300 mm per year..
The Semi-arid Chaco in Argentina comprises the western half of the Formosa and Chaco provinces. As well as the eastern part of Salta, almost all of Santiago del Estero and north, northeast and center of Córdoba.
In this semi-arid Chaco the climate is continental, warm subtropical, with annual rainfall between 500 and 700 mm. Then, to the southwest is the driest area, the Arid Chaco, with few rivers and a warm subtropical climate, where rainfall is between 300 and 500 mm per year..
In the western Chaco or Arid Chaco, the Argentine Chaco forest manifests itself as a subtropical xerophilous forest. This is a forest that is deciduous in some areas and semi-deciduous in others. That is, the species in the dry season lose their foliage to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the water supply in the soil..
Structurally they are characterized by presenting a continuous arboreal layer with occasional emergent trees. In addition, in the lower part a shrub layer develops, also continuous with abundant herbs.
In these Chaco forests, trees such as the white quebracho predominate (Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco) and the red quebracho from Santiago (Schinopsis lorentzii). Also the Chaco (Schinopsis balansae), carob trees (Prosopis spp.) and palo santo (Bulnesia sarmientoi).
There are also palms such as the carandilla palm (Thrithrimax campestris), cacti and bromeliads.
In the eastern Chaco or humid Chaco, gallery forests, hydrophilic forests, open low forests, savannas with palm trees and estuaries, ravines and lagoons develop. These forests show at least two arboreal strata, an upper one with trees between 12 and 25 meters high, and another 8 to 12 meters high..
Among the tree species of the upper stratum are the lapacho (Tabebuia spp.), ivirá-pitá (Peltophorum dubium) and the stone stick (Diplokeleba floribunda). Like the guayacán (Caesalpinia paraguariensis) and the red timbo or black ear (Enterolobium contortisiliquum).
While in the lower layer is the Tembetari (Fagara spp.), water and (Chrysophyllum gonocarpum) and the ñangapirí (Eugenia uniflora). As well as palm trees, like the palm pindó (Arecastrum romanzoffianum) and mbocayá (Acrocomia totai).
Accompanied by epiphytism (plants that live on trees), such as orchids (Brassavola spp., Oncidium spp.). Like bromeliads (Aechmea distichantha) and ferns (Microgramma spp.).
Also cacti, such as the old man's beard or angel hair (Tillandsia spp.) and epiphytic prickly pears (Rhipsalis, Epiphyllum). While in the understory or lower part there are various grasses, ferns, terrestrial bromeliads and cacti.
The word "chaco" derives from Quechua chacu, which refers to an ancient form of hunting carried out by the indigenous people of South America. This consisted of narrowing the animals in a circle until they were hunted, so it can be inferred that this region has always been very rich in fauna.
In fact, the Chaco forest is home to a diverse fauna, although increasingly reduced by habitat deterioration and hunting. Here live species such as the jaguar or jaguar (Panthera onca) and the puma (Puma concolor), the two largest cats in America.
There are primates like the howler monkey or common carayá (Aloauatta caraya). There is also the tapir (Tapirus terrestris) and will water guazú or maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), large mammals.
Other species are the wild cat (Oncifelis geoffroyi) and the jaguarundí (Herpailurus yaguarondi). As well as the yurumí or giant anteater (Myrmecophagidae trydactila), the honey bear or tamanduá (Tamandua tetradactyla) and the collared peccary (Peccary tajacu).
Like the coatiNasua nasua), the older ferret or will go (Eira barbara) and the armadillo or quirquincho bola or tatú pelita (Tolypeutes matacus).
While linked to rivers and lagoons are the capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) and the small river otter or River Plate (Lontra longicaudis). Likewise, the Chaco alligator or Chaco caiman (Caiman latirostris chacoensis).
While species of birds also inhabit, such as the striped tataupá (Cryturellus undulatus) and the Chaco tawny owl (Strix chacoensis). Like the scrapOrtalis canicollis) and the black carpenter (Dryocopus schulzi).
The main environmental problem facing the Chaco forest is deforestation. In fact, the Chaco is one of the areas with the highest level of deforestation on the planet. It is estimated that each month, an area equivalent to 1.7 times the city of Buenos Aires is lost.
Between 1985 and 2013, more than 20% of the Chaco forests (142,000 kmtwo) were converted into pasture and cropland From the late 1970s to 2011, in Argentina 7.9 million hectares of the Chaco were deforested and in 2012 a total of 235,601 ha were cleared.
Official data indicate that during 2014, in the Argentine Chaco deforestation caused by cattle ranchers devastated more than 100,000 hectares. This results in landscape fragmentation, loss of biodiversity, increased erosion and alterations in energy balances..
The Chaco forest is affected, in addition to deforestation, by another series of environmental problems, both global and local.
Global warming is a global problem, having pointed out that arid areas are the most affected. In this sense, studies indicate that the Chaco forest is already being impacted by this phenomenon and will be even more so in the future.
Among other things, the rainfall regime is already changing, with more frequent periods of less precipitation or even drought. Similarly, the frequency of extreme weather events, such as large storms, has increased..
In addition, it has been determined that the confluence area of the Argentine provinces of Salta, Chaco and Santiago del Estero is the "heat pole" of South America. With which, it can reach absolute temperatures close to 50 ° C.
All these changes occur at very accelerated rates, so they directly affect the adaptive capacity of the species.
Agricultural and livestock development is the greatest threat to the Chaco forest, especially cattle ranching and soybean cultivation. These two items are the fundamental cause of deforestation of the forest, in order to expand the land for production.
The economic interest pushes to deforest to commercialize the valuable woods such as the quebracho colorado from Santiago and then allocate the land to livestock and soybeans. In addition, this expansion is carried out without any ecological criteria, large areas are simply razed to sell the wood and put livestock or soybeans..
Suffice it to mention that provinces such as Córdoba, Chaco and Santiago de Estero doubled the area planted with soy in the 2003-2004 period. In this process, more than 800,000 hectares were intervened,
Burning has traditionally been used in the Gran Chaco, both for hunting and clearing areas. Similarly, in livestock it is used to achieve the greening of pastures. Being an arid and semi-arid area, uncontrolled burns spread easily causing serious damage to the ecosystem..
Hunting for both subsistence due to high levels of poverty, and hunting for the illegal trade of species, is a serious problem. Despite formal protection measures, hunting pressure continues on many species.
In itself, a large part of the region's soils are clayey and therefore with poor permeability. If to this is added poor management of rivers and soil tillage, the problem increases. This is how flooding is an environmental problem that mainly affects northeast Salta and northwest Formosa in Argentina..
Another serious problem, which is associated with the increase in intensive agriculture, is pollution. Especially the contamination of water by pesticides and organic waste.
Due to both poor management of the land and water resources, salinization has become a serious problem, mainly due to the use of poor quality water for irrigation. About 500,000 hectares between Santiago del Estero, Chaco and Santa Fé, suffer from salinization due to bad irrigation practices.
The extensive livestock farming that is practiced in the area, with a high animal load, puts excessive pressure on the ecosystems, especially the soil. This creates compaction problems, which in turn facilitates flooding and erosion..
Water erosion, product of increased runoff, carries large amounts of sediment to estuaries, marshes and lagoons. These sediments fill or fill the bodies of water. It is estimated that in the Chaco forest areas, around 100,000 hectares are affected by this problem.
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