About the Biome: Chile

© Phil Rundel Photos

Geography and topography

The mediterranean portion of Chile covers a 1,800-kilometer stretch of the country’s 4,200-kilometer length. The landscape of this region is richly varied: high mountains, semi-arid deserts, and long valleys, with low mountains and hills along the ocean to the west. The southern portion of this region resembles California in topography, with a long central valley running north to south, flanked by snow-covered mountains to the east, and lower coastal mountains and the Pacific Ocean to the west (Dallman, 1998).

Vegetation and plant life

Vegetation here is comparable in structure to California vegetation types in similar ecological settings. Fire is relatively infrequent in this region, due in part to sparse vegetation, mild summers, and the lack of summer lightning. Vegetation types include shrubland matorral, coastal matorral (which drops its leaves in drought conditions), cacti, sclerophyllous forests (consisting of hard-leafed plants), coniferous forests, and nothofagus forests (which enjoy temperate, oceanic climates). The mattoral hosts an abundance of vines, bulbs, and other herbaceous plants. An estimated 23% of all plant species are uniquely native to this region (Arroyo and Cavieres, 1990).

Chile's central valley is characterized by espinal, a savanna-type vegetation dominated by the spiny legume tree Acacia caven, as well as variety of Mediterranean Basin annual grasses and flowering plants (Ovalle et al. 1996). The espinal is largely a creation of human activity, formed after several hundred years of clearing of the indigenous matorral woodlands, and the gradual invasion of the Acacia caven (Oberdorfer 1960; Schlegel 1966).

Fast Facts

• With 24% of the region converted from natural habitat to other uses, and only 1% currently protected, this region is in the most urgent need of protection (TNC Analysis, In Prep)
• There was a 6% urban expansion between 1990 and 2000 (TNC Analysis, In Prep).
• With more than 87% of its 15 million residents living in cities, Chile is now primarily an urban nation. Forty percent of the population (6 million people) lives in the capitol city of Santiago (INE, 2002, Bertrand & Romero, 1993).
• Chile is the Mediterranean region with the greatest increase in population – 19.7% from 1990 to 2000  (TNC Analysis, In Prep).

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