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Wildlife of Chile Wildlife of Chile has a diverse range of animals, fungi and plants. This condition is attributed, to a large extent, to the country's slender and elongated shape, which spans a wide range of latitude, and also its altitude, ranging from the windswept coastline of Pacific coast on the west to northern Andes to the sub-Antarctic, high Andes mountains in the east. Thus, there are many distinct ecosystems. Chile often called "the spine of South America" is often divided into fifteen administrative regions.

Geography
From the wildlife angle Chile in Southern South America stretched in a north-south direction, called the spine of South America, has terrestrial borders with Argentina and Peru, and has long coast line of 6,435 km on the South Pacific Ocean. The Atacama Desert is the most arid desert in the world. The Ojos del Salado, a crater lake which is the world's highest lake (at 6,390 m) is located here.

Climate
In the north, there is the harsh Atacama desert with typical desert wildlife such as cacti. In the country's middle part, there is a temperate Mediterranean climate, while the south has cold mountainous regions and numerous islands.

Protection enabling laws
Chile has brought nearly 20 % of its terrestrial area under conservation protection laws and 3.19 % of its marine jurisdiction under protection. The first national park was created in 1925 following an earlier protected area created in 1907. Since then several agencies both government (at the central and regional level) and private have been involved in biodiversity conservation and  preservation. Till 1984 the conservation actions of creation and management of protected areas was with the Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG), a government body. In 1970, the Chilean Forest Service (CONAF) was given the responsibility to create and manage protected areas. A centralized system for preservation of the biodiversity of Chile was, however, created in 1984 only under the Decree Law 18,362 which specified the cration of protected areas as "the continuity of evolutionary processes, animal migrations, genetic flow patterns and the regulation of the environment". Under this decree a national public system titled Sistema Nacional deÁreas Silvestres Protegidas (SNASPE) was established and charged with task of setting up of parks and reserves under set guidelines for management and conservation. The SNASPE followed the IUCN guidelines to set up protected areas under four categories of Virgin Region Reserves, National Parks, Natural Monuments, and National Reserves. Complementing the actions of SNAPE are initiatives taken by private agencies to protect specific areas. Both actions are tended towards ecotourism. As biodiversity outside the limits of the protected areas are equally important proposals have been mooted.

Laws regulating exploitation of wild life are in force since 1888 which have been improved upon since the 1990s with regulations of 1993 being the most stringent. This has resulted in almost total control of hunting and commercialization of vertebrates, except for exploitatiaon of bird species, two deer (introduced), vertebrate pests, and the indcuted lagomorphs species of European hare (Lepus timidus) and European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

While the laws have provided protection to reptiles and amphibians, animals with fur cover and game species of both birds and mammals are exploited to a reasonable level. However, cross border illegal traffic still persists and Chile acts as a conduit to for illegal trafficking in animals from other South American countries but the law enforcement in this regard is lax.

Protected areas
From the point of view of conservation of flora and fauna the protected areas are identified in the 15 administrative regions, apart from Metropolitan area and the M. de Santiago, which in the alphabetical order, (serial number of the region (based on information sourced to Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF)) are indicated in parenthesis) are: The total number of protected areas in the above listed regions are 100 covering a total area of 14.5 million hectares (20% of the country) in 36 National Parks, 49 National Reserves, and 15 National Monuments. The monuments category accounts for a miniscule percentage of 0.01 percent with the other two categories accounting 99.9%.
 * Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (XI)
 * Antofagasta (II)
 * Araucanía (IX)
 * Arica y Parinacota (XV)
 * Atacama (III)
 * Bío Bío (VIII)
 * Coquimbo (IV)
 * Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins (VI)
 * Los Lagos (X)
 * Los Ríos (XIV)
 * M. de Santiago
 * Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena (XII)
 * Maule (VII)
 * Metropolitana (R.M.)
 * Tarapacá (I)
 * Valparaíso (V)

In terms of world statistics of area covered under protection, Chile has the second place in Latin Amer- ica and seventh place in the world. However, the distribution of the protected area in the country is highly uneven with two of the 15 administrative regions garnering 84% of the protected area with the southern regions XI and XII having the major share of about 50% of the total area which adjoins the forest and protected areas of the Argentinean Andes of Patagonia. In the remaining regions the protected area covered is only 4.4% of total area which is less than the accepted international norm of 5%. The protected areas are governed by the “ice and rock” criterion adopted in the United States wilderness system. Under this criteria about 23% of the total area of SNASPE is covered by ice fields and other land types which have no vegetation and least habitation.

Apart from the 100 terrestrial Bird Areas which also partly included some marine areas, now 75 new critical bird areas of marine birdlife have been identified by Birdlife International Organization. Broadly a marine IBA is defined as “a colony of birds on land adjacent to the sea that serves as a means for them to feed themselves.” The IBAs cover the cliffs of Arica, the bays of Coquimbo, Mejillones, the mouths of Biobío and Maipu rivers, the Alejandro Selkirk islands, Choros, Damas, Punta de Choros, and Parque Nacional Cabo de Hornos.

Flora
The lie of the thin strip of land divided into set of latitudes dictates the vegetation in Chile; the soil conditions of the lands and the climatic conditions are key factors in this respect. In the northern desert region (Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth ) which is the desert region of sand there is no precipitation at all but it still sustains not only vegetation but also fauna; the coastal fogs moving up sustain them. The desert vegetation consists of a spiny acacia tree, varieties of cacti as well as shrubs and spiny brambles. In the high plateau area of northern Chile, the common speciesof flora are llareta and grasses of ichu and tola varieties. The semiarid region of central Chile, cacti, espino and algarrobo hardwood, and Adesmia shrubs are the notable flora. In the humid and temperate region of central Chile, vegetation is defined by the term matorral which consists of thick growth of hardwoods, shrubs, cacti, and green grass; however the vegetation is thinning due to heavy anthropogenic pressure on land. South of the Biobío River, mixed deciduous forest and evergreen trees are the common vegetation types; the species reported are rauli or southern cedar, the roble beech, the ulmo(an evergreen shrub), and the evergreen laurel. The vegetation types in the western slopes of the Andes are formed of thick forests of monkey puzzle tree (Chile pine). The Lake District of Chile has dense rain forests of timber species. To the south of the lake, the dominant vegetation consists of Antarctic beech, the Chilean cedar, and the giant alerce (this tree in southern Chile is reported to be 3000 years old and the "second largest living organism in the world" ). In the Chilean Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego Island]], due to weather conditions only dwarf variety of southern beech and hard grasses are noted.

Of all the floral vegetation in Chile, the pristine floral vegetation of sub-Antarctic forests (including deciduous lenga forests, peat bogs, Andean meadows) are found in the Tierra del Fuego (meaning "Land of Fire"), in the eastern part in Chile and the western part in Argentina, part of which is the Bernardo O'Higgins National Park, which is the largest protected areas in South America. This park covers an area of 35,259 km2 (13,614 sq mi) in both the Aysén and Magallanes and Antártica Chilena regions. In the southern part of Chile, 50 percent of the flora (part of temperate rain forest called the Valdivian forests) is endemic, a unique feature in the world.

Lapageria rosea (Chilean bellflower), a twining climber, considered as one of the most beautiful flowering vines in the world, is the national flower of Chile.

Fauna
In view of its geographic setting with formidable High Andes mountain on its eastern border and the arid deserts of north, deterring moment from its neighouring countries, the terrestrial mammals species in Chile is limited to 103, out of a total mammals species count of about 148. The land mammals are mostly nocturnal and avoid human contact due to fear of being hunted for meat or trade or attack by hawks. Hence, they are largely found living in burrows. in such a situation, the national parks which provide protection to the mammals are locations where these animals can be seen. The endemic mammal species are 18. Marine species of mammals (such as whales, otters, sea lions, dolphins) and birds are quite easily seen along the long coast line in the large ocean to the east of the country.

Some of the species noted are: Guanacos (a form of the wild llama), feral minks, rockhopper colonies, Magellanic penguins, armadillos, rheas, Culpeo foxes, opossums, large flock of flamingos (pink coloured in altiplano salt pans). Some of species reported from Southern Chile are pudú (world’s smallest deer), and the opossum-like mountain monkey, said to be a “living fossil." Patagonian pumaalso called as mountain lions or cougars are found throughout Chile and its population (once hunted ins indiscriminately) has been restored due to protection provided by the government.

Aqua fauna
Some of the notable Aqua fauna species reported are elephant seals and sea lions. Blue whales (in the Gulf of Corcovado) (the largest mammal in the world), humpback, sei and sperm whales, sea otter, and dolphin species are also reported.

Avi fauna
Avi faunal species sighted in Chile are in very large numbers of both resident and migrant (wintering) category. The most prominent of the species recorded are the species of waterfowl, wading birds, song birds, raptors, game birds, swifts and nighthawks and so forth. The national bird of Chile is Andean Condor The avifauna species in Chile as reported by Birdlife International, as of 2012, are 530 which include 14 endemic species (two are breeding type) and 37 globally threatened species and also 7 introduced species. .

The globally endangered, endemic and introduced species are the following.

Critically Endangered Endangered Near Threatened
 * Podiceps gallardoi (Hooded Grebe)
 * Phoebastria irrorata (Waved Albatross)
 * Pterodroma magentae (Magenta Petrel)
 * Pterodroma phaeopygia (Galapagos Petrel)
 * Numenius borealis (Eskimo Curlew) May be extinct
 * Phoebetria fusca (Sooty Albatross)
 * Pterodroma atrata (Henderson Petrel)
 * Pterodroma alba (Phoenix Petrel)
 * Nesofregetta fuliginosa (Polynesian Storm-Petrel )
 * Pelecanoides garnotii (Peruvian Diving-Petrel)
 * Phalacrocorax gaimardi (Red-legged Cormorant)
 * Phalacrocorax bougainvillii (Magellan Cormorant)
 * Sternula lorata (Peruvian Tern)


 * Rhea pennata (Lesser Rhea)
 * Speculanas specularis (Spectacled Duck)
 * Phoenicopterus chilensis (Chilean Flamingo)
 * Phoenicoparrus jamesi (James's Flamingo)
 * Aptenodytes forsteri (Emperor Penguin)
 * Pygoscelis adeliae (Adelie Penguin)
 * Pygoscelis papua (Gentoo Penguin)
 * Spheniscus magellanicus (Magellanic Penguin)
 * Thalassarche bulleri (Buller's Albatross)
 * Phoebetria palpebrata (Light-mantled Albatross)
 * Pterodroma ultima (Murphy's Petrel)
 * Pterodroma inexpectata (Mottled Petrel)
 * Procellaria cinerea (Gray Petrel)
 * Puffinus griseus (Sooty Shearwater)
 * Pelecanus thagus (Peruvian Pelican)
 * Vultur gryphus (Andean Condor)
 * Buteo ventralis (Rufous-tailed Hawk)
 * Fulica cornuta (Horned Coot)
 * Phegornis mitchellii (Diademed Sandpiper-Plover)
 * Pluvianellus socialis (Magellanic Plover)
 * Calidris pusilla (Semipalmated Sandpiper)
 * Tryngites subruficollis (Buff-breasted Sandpiper)
 * Gallinago stricklandii (Fuegian Snipe)
 * Larosterna inca (Inca Tern)
 * Thalasseus elegans (Elegant Tern)
 * Chaetura pelagica (Chimney Swift)
 * Phalcoboenus australis (Striated Caracara )
 * Falco deiroleucus (Orange-breasted Falcon)
 * Aratinga erythrogenys (Red-masked Parakeet )
 * Anairetes fernandezianus (Juan Fernandez Tit-Tyrant)
 * Oreomanes fraseri (Giant Conebill)
 * Xenospingus concolor (Slender-billed Finch)

Vulnerable


 * Tachyeres leucocephalus (White-headed Steamer-Duck)
 * Phoenicoparrus andinus (Andean Flamingo)
 * Spheniscus humboldti (Humboldt Penguin)
 * Eudyptes chrysolophus (Macaroni Penguin)
 * Eudyptes schlegeli (Royal Penguin)
 * Thalassarche chrysostoma (Gray-headed Albatross)
 * Thalassarche salvini (Salvin's Albatross)
 * Thalassarche eremita (Chatham Albatross)
 * Pterodroma externa (Juan Fernandez Petrel)
 * Pterodroma cookii (Cook's Petrel)
 * Pterodroma defilippiana (Masatierra Petrel)
 * Procellaria aequinoctialis (White-chinned Petrel)
 * Procellaria parkinsoni (Parkinson's Petrel)
 * Procellaria westlandica (Westland Petrel)
 * Puffinus creatopus (Pink-footed Shearwater)
 * Puffinus bulleri (Buller's Shearwater)
 * Austral Rail Rallus antarcticus (Austral Rail )
 * Numenius phaeopus or Numenius hudsonicus or (Whimbrel or Hudsonian Curlew)
 * Agriornis albicauda (White-tailed Shrike-Tyrant)
 * Progne murphyi (Southern Martin)
 * Conirostrum tamarugense (Tamarugo Conebill)

Endemic


 * Nothoprocta perdicaria (Ornate Tinamou)
 * Pterodroma longirostris (Stejneger's Petrel) Breeding type (V)
 * Eulidia yarrellii (Chilean Woodstar) (EN)
 * Enicognathus leptorhynchus (Slender-billed Parakeet )
 * Pteroptochos castaneus (Chestnut-throated Huet-huet)
 * Pteroptochos megapodius (Moustached Turca)
 * Scelorchilus albicollis (White-throated Tapaculo)
 * Scytalopus fuscus (Dusky Tapaculo)
 * Aphrastura masafuerae (Mas Afuera Rayadito) (CR)
 * Sephanoides fernandensis (Juan Fernandez Firecrown) (CR)
 * Mimus thenca (Chilean Mockingbird)

Threats
There are many reasons for the decline of fauna and flora in Chile. These generally relate to encroachment of land for agriculture and mining (widespread deforestation), hunting for felt, food and trade of animals, and attack by other animals and birds. It is reported that nearly 33% of the mammals species face threat of extinction.

In the marine area, the threats posed are from industrial fishing (Salmon farming and cultured mussel) and aquaculture particularly in the Gulf of Corcovado, intensive exploitation of marine resources, with large maritime traffic of trawls, associated fishing.

Conservation
In this context mammals species in Central Chile, a highly populated region, is of conservational concern. Even in the arid areas of northern Chile the concern conservation is essential. Chilean authorities, with international assistance, have made progress in addressing these problems but much remains to be done that will require continued international assistance if many unique forms are to be preserved.

Conservation of wildlife is achieved through protected areas set up and managed by both the government organizations such as the SNAPPE and its implementation wing the CONAF, and also private initiatives. Commercial exploitation is controlled by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of IUCN to which Chile is a signatory and CITES Annexure II gives the list of endangered species. International assistance has contributed richly in this activity.

As part of conservation of its wildlife, Chile is signatory (but not ratified) to the international agreements/protocols /Laws such as the Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Seals, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands, Whaling.