Los Queules National Reserve

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Los Queules National Reserve
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) [1]
Copihue en la Reserva Nacional Los Queules.jpg
Copihue (Lapageria rosea) in Los Queules National Reserve
Location Maule Region, Flag of Chile.svg  Chile
Nearest city Cauquenes
Coordinates 35°56′57″S72°36′57″W / 35.9492°S 72.6159°W / -35.9492; -72.6159
Area1.47 km2 (0.57 sq mi)
DesignationNational Reserve
Established1995
Governing body CONAF

Los Queules National Reserve is a national reserve of Chile. It covers an area of 1.47 km2 in the Chilean Coastal Range. [1] The reserve ranges from 400 to 500 meters in elevation. [2]

The reserve contains one of the larger remaining patches of Maulino forest, a distinctive forest community at the transition between Mediterranean climate central Chile and the cool and humid Valdivian temperate forests further south. [3]

The reserve is named after the queule tree ( Gomortega keule ), a species native to the Maulino forest. Other characteristic Maulino forest species present in the reserve include Pitavia punctata, Nothofagus alessandrii , and Nothofagus glauca . Outside the reserve the Maulino forests have been mostly extirpated and replaced with plantations of non-native radiata pine (Pinus radiata) or converted to agriculture or livestock pasture. [2]

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References

  1. 1 2 UNEP-WCMC (2023). Protected Area Profile for Los Queules from the World Database on Protected Areas. Accessed 20 April 2023.
  2. 1 2 Hinojosa, L. F., Armesto, J. J., & Villagrán, C. (2006). Are Chilean Coastal Forests Pre-Pleistocene Relicts? Evidence from Foliar Physiognomy, Palaeoclimate, and Phytogeography. Journal of Biogeography, 33(2), 331–341. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3554890>}
  3. Bustamante, Ramiro O.; Simonetti, Javier A.; Grez, Audrey A.; San Martín, José (2005). "Fragmentación y dinámica de regeneración del bosque Maulino: diagnóstico actual y perspectivas futuras" [Fragmentation and regeneration dynamics of the Maulino forest: present status and future prospects](PDF). In Smith, C.; Armesto, J.; Valdovinos, C. (eds.). Historia, biodiversidad y ecología de los bosques costeros de Chile (in Spanish). pp. 529–539.