Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities in Chile

There are places on Patagonia that are both biologically rich and deeply threatened, and should be a priority for conservation.

Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities are defined as regions that contain  exceptional concentrations of endemic species undergoing exceptional loss of habitat due to human actions.

To date, 34 hotspots have been defined across the world, being the "Chilean winter rainfall-Valdivian forests" one of them, located in southern Chile, with summer and winter rains.

The great diversity of species and high levels of endemism in the Chilean hotspot is due to the country’s geographical and climatic characteristics. It is said that Chile behaves like an island because of its strong geographic isolation from the rest of the South American continent thanks to the Andes mountain range, the coastal mountain range and the Atacama desert.

Regarding vegetation, the Chilean hotspot contains a total of 3,893 native species, and 50.3% of them are endemic. While the diversity of vertebrates in it is comparatively low to other hotspots, its endemism turns to be remarkably high, particularly among reptiles and amphibians. 67% of the 43 species of amphibians that inhabit the hotspot are endemic and can be found mainly in central Chile.

Chilean winter rain-Valdivian forest biodiversity is threatened by the degradation of the original habitat, the expansion of forest plantations, forest fires, overgrazing, the dispersion of exotic species and the commercialization of native species.

It is urgent to develop an integrated conservation strategy to save the biodiversity of the affected areas, with the collaboration of the government, the private sector and civil society. Patagonia can not wait.

Source: El hotspot chileno, prioridad mundial para la conservación