Alerce Andino National Park

by Martin Mergili

Those travelling from Santiago de Chile along the coast 1000 km in northern direction will find themselves in one of the most arid deserts in the world (you can learn more by exploring the transect Iquique - Catamarca). 1000 km south of Santiago, in contrast, the situation is very different: westerly winds move in from the Pacific Ocean. The humid air masses have to rise at the western slopes of the Andean mountans, vapour condensates, and there is plenty of precipitation. The result is the mysterious world of the Valdivian Rainforest. An ancient conifer species has found its last refuge here: the alerce or Fitzroya cupressoides. Unfortunately, particlarly those forests in the coast ranges and in the Central Valley were destroyed by human. The Alerce Andino National Park, which can be reached relatively conveniently from Puerto Montt, still offers an insight into this formerly widely distributed type of ecosystem.

The alerce: a methusalem among the trees

The alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides), an up to 60 m high conifer, is name-giving for the national park. The alerce can reach trunk diameters of several metres. It grows very slowly and can reach biblic ages: an age of more than 3600 years has been confirmed for one tree. In contrast to the monkey puzzle tree, the alere belongs to the cypress family of plants, which is also common on the Northern Hemisphere. Fitzroya cupressoides, however, has become rare - on the one hand due to long-term changes of the climate, on the oher hand due to extensive logging. Today, the areal of the alerce concentrates to a zone of limited size along the western slopes of the Andes. Its occurrence in the coast ranges, in ontrast, is considered relict.

Interestingly, extremely old and large conifers are often bound to temperate and subtropical rainforests. One of several examples is the coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in western North America, whereas another example is the kauri (Agathis australis) on the North Island of New Zealand.

A walk through the Alerce Andino National Park

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Explore the national park by clicking on the arrows or into the photograph.

The Valdivian Rainforest belongs to the temperate rainforests, which differ from the more famous tropical rainforests in various respects, but show many similarities with mountain rainforests (compare the contributions on the yungas and on Machu Picchu). Farther south, the Valdivian Rainforest connects to the Magellanic Rainforest (compare the contribution on the Southern Patagonian Andes). Similarly to mountain rainforests, also temperate rainforests are rich in ferns and epiphytes (here, mainly mosses and lichens).

How unique is the Valdivian Rainforest?

Temperate rainforests require very particular environmental conditions: on the one hand, plenty of precipitation has to occur over most of the year whereas on the other hand, temperatures should be neither too high nor too low. This means that temperate rainforests are bound to a certain range of geographic latitude, but that also the relative position with regard to coasts and mountain ranges plays an important role.

Use your knowledge on the global climate system to select - by clicking on them - those circles in the map where you expect temperate rainforests. The Valdivian Rainforest has already been selected.

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Click on the arrows or into the photo to visit different temperate rainforests.

In the mid latitudes, temperate rainforests can be found in those places where the westerly winds, after a long journey over the sea, are forced to rise due to north-south stretching mountain ranges. Farther towards the equator, where the tradewinds blow from a rather easterly directon, suitable conditions can also prevail in the vicinity of east coasts. In these cases, the forests are often referred to as subtropical rainforests.

This image shows the Hoh Rainforest in Washington on the west coast of the United States.

Donoso, C., Sandoval, V., Grez, R. & Rodriguez, J. (1993): Dynamics of Fitzroya cupressoides forests in southern Chile. Journal of Vegetation Science: 303-312 [Access source]

Lara, A. & Villalba, R. (1993): A 3620-year temperature record from Fitzroya cupressoides tree rings in southern South America. Science 260(5111): 1104-1106 [Access source]

Veblen, T.T., Delmastro, R.J. & Schlatter, J.E. (1976): The conservation of Fitzroya cupressoides and its environment in southern Chile. Environmental Conservation 3(4): 291-301 [Access source]

Walter, H. & Breckle, S.-W. (1999): Vegetation und Klimazonen. Ulmer, Stuttgart

Spanish-language CONAF entry on the Alerce Andino National Park [Access source]

Wikipedia article on Fitzroya cupressoides [Access source]

Wikipedia article on Fuchsia magellanica [Access source]

Wikipedia article on Gunnera tinctoria [Access source]

Wikipedia article on the Valdivian Rainforest [Access source]