This EBA embraces the temperate forest zone of southern South America, mainly in southern Chile but also in extreme western Argentina. The northern limits of these forests are at the Bío Bío river on the Pacific coast and further inland north along the Andes, the boundary marking the beginning of an extensive region characterized by a Mediterranean climate of hot, dry summers and wetter, mild winters (see EBA 060). In this EBA there is c.2,000 mm of rainfall annually and 40 days of rain during the summer in the central part at Puerto Montt (Stone 1992).

Immediately south of the Bío Bío river, and south to Valdivia, Nothofagus forest (comprising deciduous species such as N . obliqua and N. procera) is dominant, and further inland on the Andean slopes at this latitude the forest is dominated by Araucaria araucana, with also some Nothofagus and Podocarpus species. South of Valdivia a wetter, more luxuriant and species-rich forest persists (often referred to as the Valdivian rain forest) supporting evergreen trees (principal genera being Libocedrus, Fitzroya, Aextoxicon, Laurelia, Nothofagus and Drymys), some as tall as 50 m and laden with epiphytes and lianas (Stone 1992), and some estimated to be 4,000 years old. Further south still, cold deciduous forests of Nothofagus and evergreen swamp forests are the dominant habitat (Dinerstein et al. 1995).

All the restricted-range species are forest-dwellers, many apparently occurring in secondary forest and forests fragmented among cultivation. Columba araucana, Enicognathus leptorhynchus and Eugralla paradoxa do not occur as far south as Pteroptochos tarnii and Scelorchilus rubecula; in fact E. paradoxa is shared with Central Chile (EBA 060), also occurring in the semi-humid sclerophyllous forests in the southern part of that EBA. Both C. araucana and E. leptorhynchus wander widely north into the Central Chilean region outside the breeding season and also occur in cultivated areas, where in certain parts they are considered to be agricultural pests.

Intensive logging and timber plantations are especially severe threats to the EBA, and other threats include firewood-gathering and, in the southern part of the EBA, overgrazing from domestic animals and introduced rabbits (Dinerstein et al. 1995). Large areas of old-growth forest have already been lost to logging concessions, and the industry is still active.

However, none of the restricted-range species is currently considered threatened, although two are judged to be Near Threatened. Columba araucana populations were decimated in the 1950s by an epidemic of Newcastle disease (Johnson 1967), but the species has recovered well and is again fairly common.

There are a high number of protected areas throughout the EBA. Indeed, most of its southern end is covered by very large national reserves and national parks, especially part of Katalalixar (6,745 km²) and Laguna San Rafael (17,420 km²).

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Endemic Bird Area factsheet: Chilean temperate forests. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/eba/factsheet/76 on 22/11/2024.