Valdivian Rainforest Research Articles

Project Pudu

The southern pudu Pudu pudu, a small forest deer, now occurs only in the temperate Valdivian rainforests of Chile and Argentina. Ninety per cent of its historic habitat, the lowland forest, has been occupied and cleared by man, bringing the pudu increasingly into contact with both man and his domestic livestock. This, coupled with increased predation, livestock diseases and competition from introduced exotic deer, has made the pudu extremely rare and locally extinct in many areas, especially in Argentina. In the IUCN Red Data Book it is classed as vulnerable.

Moraine In-Transit as Parent Material for Soil Development and the Growth of Valdivian Rain Forest on Moving Ice: Casa Pangue Glacier, Mount Tronador (Lat. 41°10's), Chile

Casa Pangue glacier is a regenerated valley glacier, covered by supraglacial moraine of variable thickness (1 to 3 m). Seven moraine in-transit arcs have originated from avalanches falling on the ice from the steep walls at the head of the valley. The debris has been relocated by glacier movement, and vegetation has become established on areas with sediment cover. Primitive soil has developed very rapidly, probably in less than 100 a. Chemical analysis of soil samples show that it is acid (pH 4.6 to 4.7), nitrogen and organic matter are absent, calcium content is low, and potassium content is high. Pedogenic processes are mostly related to intense chemical weathering, under conditions of more than 4 000 mm a−l of total precipitation.The plant communities established on the moraine are essentially similar to the Va1divian rain forest that characterizes the region. The most frequent tree is “coihue” (Nothofagus dombeyi), followed by “teniú“ (Weinmannia trichosperma) and “notro” (Embothrium coccineum). One specimen of N.dombeyi was found to be 18 m tall and 0.62 m in diameter; many others were taller than 12 m and reproduction was abundant. Dendrochronological analysis indicates a minimum age of 45 a for the oldest tree. Other plants found here are shrubs, some hemiparasitic and creeping plants, mosses, lichens, ferns, and fungi.Using air photographs of 1942, 1953, 1970, and our own oblique photographs of 1978, taken from the summit of a neighbouring peak 1 200 m above the glacier tongue, average surface velocity of the glacier tongue was estimated at 22.5 m a−l for the lower and intermediate sectors where the trees are growing. If the total length of the regenerated valley glacier is taken into account, the mean annual movement rate is 35.0 m a−l. If this value is extrapolated over the last 45 a, the trees have moved an average distance of at least 1 000 m in that time.The discovery of established communities (also observed at Río Blanco glacier, southwest of Mt Tronador) on moving ice constitutes an event not previously recorded in glaciological literature. Some significant aspects are discussed: time lapse for soil development on moraine deposits, primary plant succession on moraine deposits, the need of stable ground for plant colonization, the absolute validity of radiocarbon dating of glacier advances using fossil wood found within terminal moraines, and the validity of lichenometric techniques in deglaciated terrain.