The vegetation of Chile and the EcoVeg approach in the context of the International Vegetation Classification project

Abstract

Aims: Chilean vegetation has previously received considerable attention, and several classifications are currently available. The most recent of these was presented for the first time in 2006 and updated in 2017 by the authors. Although widely utilized by researchers both in Chile and Latin America, this information is only available in Spanish, which hampers its usefulness for a broader scientific audience. Here, we provide an overview of the methods and the resulting classification and propose a correspondence between Chilean classification and the International Vegetation Classification (IVC) following the EcoVeg scheme. Study area: Continental Chile. Methods: Based on the criteria of the EcoVeg approach, we established a linkage of zonal and azonal vegetation units to the macrogroup level and to the formation classes of the IVC. We also generated a map to facilitate crosswalk between the classifications. Results: We recognize 23 macrogroups, 13 divisions and 11 formations of zonal vegetation, including three newly proposed macrogroups, one division and one formation. We further recognize 23 macrogroups, 23 divisions and 17 formations of intrazonal vegetation. Together, they encompass all six formation classes of natural vegetation of the IVC. We highlight those units so far not mentioned for Chile in the IVC. Finally, we provide a map of macrogroups and discuss the limitations and prospects of this approach for the classification of Chilean vegetation. Conclusions: Chilean zonal vegetation was successfully accommodated in the IVC down to the macrogroup level. The process of linking Chilean zonal vegetation and macrogroups led us to a few suggestions that may be used to improve the IVC. Taxonomic reference: Zuloaga et al. (2008). Abbreviations: IVC = International Vegetation Classification

Climatic definitions of the world’s terrestrial biomes

“…In North America, these occupy a vast extension in the center of the continent, where the Rocky Mountains buffer the influence of the Pacific Ocean and are separated from the east coast and the influence of the Atlantic Ocean by the wide rainy regions of the east and the Appalachi-ans. Though some authors recognise similar biotic units in the SH like the Patagonian steppe and grasslands in South America (Luebert and Pliscoff 2022), in our scheme they are not presented at all due to the lower levels of continentality which, we believe, are crucial for their development.…”

“…In the cooler areas of the montane levels, conifers such as Araucaria araucana, Fitzroya cupressoides and Pilgerodendron uviferum become dominant. As mentioned in biome 3, at mid elevations there is a level of deciduous southern beech forests occupying a narrow strip in the western slopes of the southern Andes (Luebert and Pliscoff 2022).…”

“…In southern Tierra del Fuego, a small area is subjected to a climate corresponding to that of the Boreal forest biome -in a very oceanic variant -where the vegetation is dominated by broadleaved Nothofagus species (Magellanic forest) combined with dwarf conifers of the genera Araucaria, Austrocedrus, Fitzroya, Pilgerodendron or Podocarpus, in a mosaic with extensive moss-mire areas. This unit has been named the Magellanic Antiboreal Evergreen Forest (Luebert and Pliscoff 2022). This modest area, in spite of being a lowland territory, fits climatically better in the 2.b subbiome than in 2.a due to its markedly oceanic character.…”

“…This is likely due to the lower continentality of the SH emerged lands in comparison to those of the north (Box and Fujiwara 2015). The only representation of this biome in the SH is a narrow strip in the southern Andes at altitudes between 900 and 1600 m asl in which several species of deciduous Nothofagus constitute forests: N. antarctica, N. alessandri, N. alpina, N. glauca, N. macrocarpa, N. obliqua and N. pumilio (Luebert and Pliscoff 2022), and a small area at the highest elevations of western Tasmania in Australia where it occurs with the deciduous Nothofagus gunni. Its small extent prevent it from being represented in the accompanying map.…”

Eco-epidemiology of rodent-associated trombiculid mites and infection with Orientia spp. in Southern Chile

“…In this area, sampling was carried out at two sites, Aumén (S5) and Laguna Caiquenes (S6), about 18km southeast of the village Caleta Tortel. The vegetation consists of Valdivian temperate rainforest with bushy thicket with a lower floor of hardy perennial grassland [ 22 ].…”