Magellanic moorland

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The Magellanic moorland or Magellanic tundra ({{langx|es|Tundra magallánica}}) is an ecoregion on the Patagonian archipelagos south of latitude 48° S. It is characterized by high rainfall with a vegetation of scrubs, bogs and patches of forest in more protected areas. Cushion plants, grass-like plants and bryophytes are common.{{WWF ecoregion|name=Magellanic subpolar forests|id=nt0402}}

At present there are outliers of Magellanic moorland as far north as in the highlands of Cordillera del Piuchén (latitude 42° 22' S) in Chiloé Island.{{cite journal |last1=Villagrán |first1=Carolina |author-link=Carolina Villagrán |date=1988 |title=Expansion of Magellanic Moorland during the Late Pleistocene: Palynological Evidence from Northern isla de Chiloé, Chile|journal=Quaternary Research |volume=30 |issue= 3|pages=304–314 |doi= 10.1016/0033-5894(88)90006-3|bibcode=1988QuRes..30..304V |s2cid=129510564 }}{{cite journal |last1=Ramírez |first1=Carlos |last2=San Martin |first2=Cristina|last3=Vidal |first3=Osvaldo|last4=Pérez |first4=Yéssica|last5=Valenzuela |first5=Jorge |last6=Solís |first6=José-Luís|last7=Toledo |first7=Gisela |date=2014 |title=Tundra Subantártica en la Isla Grande de Chiloé, Chile: Flora y vegetación turbosa de campañas|trans-title=Subantarctic Tundra in Chiloé Island, Chile: Flora and vegetation of "Campañas" peat bogs |journal=Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages= 17–37|doi=10.4067/S0718-686X2014000200002 |language=es |doi-access=free }} During the Llanquihue glaciation Magellanic moorland extended to the non-glaciated lowlands of Chiloé Island and further north to the lowlands of Chilean lake district (latitude 41° S).{{cite journal |last1=Moreno |first1=Patricio I. |last2=Denton |first2=Geoge H.|last3=Moreno |first3=Hugo |last4=Lowell|first4=Thomas V.|last5=Putnam |first5=Aaron E. |last6=Kaplan |first6=Michael R. |date=2015 |title=Radiocarbon chronology of the last glacial maximum and its termination in northwestern Patagonia|author-link2=George H. Denton |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |volume=122 |pages=233–249 |doi= 10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.05.027|bibcode=2015QSRv..122..233M |hdl=10533/148448 |hdl-access=free }}

The classification of Magellanic moorland has proven problematic as substrate, low temperatures and exposure to the ocean influences the development of the Magallanic moorland. It thus may qualify either as polar tundra or heathland.{{cite book |last=Longton |first=R.E. |date=1988 |title=Biology of Polar Bryophytes and Lichen |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=20 |isbn=0-521-25015-3 |series=Studies in Polar Research }}

Flora and plant communities

{{Prose|date=November 2019}}

Edmundo Pisano identifies the following plant communities for the Magellanic moorland:

  1. BogsPisano (1977), p. 219
  2. Sphagnum bogs
  3. Magellanic sphagnum tundra
  4. Juncus bogsPisano (1977), p. 223
  5. Non-sphagniferous bryophytic tundraPisano (1977), p. 225
  6. Non-sphagnum moss bogPisano (1977), p. 226
  7. Hepatica bogs
  8. Pluvinar miresPisano (1977), p. 229
  9. Hygrophytic mire tundra
  10. Montane pulvinar tundraPisano (1977), p. 230
  11. Bryophyte and dwarf shrub tundraPisano (1977), p. 231
  12. Gramineous miresPisano (1977), p. 232
  13. Tufty sedge tundraPisano (1977), p. 233
  14. Subantarctic gramineous mire
  15. Woody synusia tundrasPisano (1977), p. 236
  16. Tundras with Pilgerodendron uviferaPisano (1977), p. 237
  17. Association Pilgerodendretum uviferae
  18. Sub-association Pilgerodendro-Nothofagetum betuloidisPisano (1977), p. 239
  19. Sub-association Nano-Pilgerodendretum uviferaePisano (1977), p. 240
  20. Interior nanophanerophytic tundrasPisano (1977), p. 242
  21. Interior heath of low to medium elevation
  22. Montane nanophaneritic tundraPisano (1977), p. 244

Where forests occur they are made up of the following trees Nothofagus betuloides (coigüe de Magallanes), Drimys winteri (canelo), Pseudopanax laetevirens (sauco del diablo), Embothrium coccineum (notro), Maytenus magellanica (maitén), Pilgerodendron uviferum (ciprés de las Guaitecas) and Tepualia stipularis (tepú).{{cite book |last=Heusser |first=C.J. |date=2004 |title=Ice Age Southern Andes |publisher=Elsevier |pages=56–59|series=Developments in Quaternary Science }}

Soils and climate

Soils are usually rich in turf and organic matter and poor in bases. Often they are also water-saturated.Pisano (1977), p. 128 Granitoids, schists and ancient volcanic rocks make up the basement on which soils develop.Pisano (1977), p. 129 Any previously existing regolith has been eroded by the Quaternary glaciations. It is not rare for bare rock surfaces to be exposed in the interior of islands.Pisano (1977), p. 145

The climate where Magellanic moorland grows can be defined as oceanic, snowy and isothermal with cool and windy summers.{{cite book |last1=Arroyo |first1=M.T.K.|author-link=Mary Kalin Arroyo|last2=Pliscoff |first2=P.|last3=Mihoc |first3=R.|last4=Arroyo-Kalin |first4=M. |date=2005|chapter=The Magellanic moorland |title=The World's Largest Wetlands: Ecology and Conservation|editor-last=Fraser|editor-first=Lauchlan H.|editor-last2=Keddy|editor-first2=Paul A. |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=424–445 |isbn=978-0-52183404-9 }} In the Köppen climate classification it has a tundra climate ET.Pisano (1977), p. 144

References

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;Bibliography

  • {{cite book |last=Pisano Valdés |first=E.|author-link=Edmundo Pisano |date=1977|chapter=Fitogeografía de Fuego-Patagonia chilena. I.-Comunidades vegetales entre las latitudes 52 y 56º S|location=Punta Arenas |title=Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia|volume=VIII |ref=Pisano1977|language=es}}

Category:Shrublands

Category:Ecology of Patagonia

Category:Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests

Category:Temperate rainforests

Category:Ecoregions of Chile

Category:Andean forests

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Category:Ecoregions of South America

Category:Neotropical ecoregions

Category:Magellanic subpolar forests