Los Ruiles National Reserve | |
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IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) [1] | |
Location | Maule Region, Chile |
Nearest city | Pelluhue |
Coordinates | 35°37′S72°21′W / 35.617°S 72.350°W |
Area | 0.45 km2 (0.17 sq mi) |
Designation | National Reserve |
Designated | 1982 |
Administrator | Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF) |
Los Ruiles National Reserve is a small nature reserve located in Cauquenes Province of Maule Region in central Chile. The reserve consists of two sections that protect enclaves of native forest, which are home to several threatened and endangered species.
Los Ruiles reserve lies in the foothills of the Chilean Coast Range (Cordillera de la Costa), and has an area of 45 hectares. [1] The reserve consists of two separate sections. The Los Ruiles section is 29 ha, in the valley of the Curanilahue River in Chanco municipality, on the boundary with Pelluhue municipality, near the road connecting Chanco and Cauquenes (72°30’30" W, 35°49’’30" S). The Los Ruiles section ranges from 200 to 400 meters elevation. [2] The El Fin section lies to the northeast, in the valley of the Pino Talca River in Empedrado municipality (72°21’0"W, 35°37’30"S). Both rivers flow westwards through shallow valleys to empty into the Pacific. The Curanilahue River flows year-round, and the Pino Talca is mostly dry during the summer months. [3]
The reserve is mostly forested. The predominant forest type is Chilean Coast Range mountain forest, also known as Maulino forest (bosque caducifolio Maulino) or the Nothofagus glauca– Azara petiolaris association. Maulino forest is a forest community at the transition between the humid Valdivian temperate forests of south-central Chile and the Mediterranean-climate Chilean matorral of central Chile. The reserve is rich in woody plants, with about 80 reported tree and shrub species. Dominant trees include several winter-deciduous species of Nothofagus or southern beech, including Nothofagus dombeyi, N. glauca , N. × leoni, and N. alessandrii . Other dominant trees include Luma apiculata, Podocarpus salignus, Lithraea caustica , boldo (Peumus boldus), and Quillaja saponaria . The reserve is home to 72 species of mosses, including several Valdivian and Patagonian species at their northern distribution limit. [3]
The reserve is the northern limit of some southern species, including the trees Weinmannia trichosperma and Embothrium coccineum . It is home to several threatened and endangered species, including ruil (Nothofagus alessandrii), after which the reserve is named, and Pitavia punctata, Nothofagus glauca, N. x leoni, and Citronella mucronata . Southern endemic mosses at or near their northern limit in the reserve include Achrophyllum magellanicum var. magellanicum, Ancistrodes genuflexa, Breutelia subplicata, Lembophyllum orbiculatum, Campylopus chilensis , Catagonium nitens subsp. nitens, Chrysoblastella chilensis, Cryphaea consimilis, Cryphaeophilum molle, Dendrocryphaea gorveana, Dendrocryphaea lechleri, Leptostomum menziesii, Lepyrodon patagonicus, Porothamnium panduraefolium, Symblepharis krausei, and Zygodon papillatus . [3]
The reserve is home to one of the northernmost populations of monito del monte (Dromiciops gliroides), a small marsupial which dwells in the mature forests of southern Chile and Argentina. [4]
The reserve is surrounded by plantations of radiata pine (Pinus radiata), an introduced species that has replaced most of the coastal forest. [3]
There is a reception area, several picnic tables and two footpaths.
The monito del monte, or colocolo opossum, is a diminutive species of marsupial native only to south-western South America. It is the only extant species in the ancient order Microbiotheria, and the sole New World representative of the superorder Australidelphia, being more closely related to Australian marsupials than to other American marsupials. The species is nocturnal and arboreal, and lives in thickets of South American mountain bamboo in the Valdivian temperate forests of the southern Andes, aided by its partially prehensile tail. It consumes an omnivorous diet based on insects and fruit.
The Valdivian temperate forests (NT0404) is an ecoregion on the west coast of southern South America, in Chile and Argentina. It is part of the Neotropical realm. The forests are named after the city of Valdivia. The Valdivian temperate rainforests are characterized by their dense understories of bamboos, ferns, and for being mostly dominated by evergreen angiosperm trees with some deciduous specimens, though conifer trees are also common.
The Magellanic subpolar forests are a terrestrial ecoregion of southernmost South America, covering parts of southern Chile and Argentina, and are part of the Neotropical realm. It is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion, and contains the world's southernmost forests.
The Maule Region is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. Its capital is Talca. The region derives its name from the Maule River which, running westward from the Andes, bisects the region and spans a basin of about 20,600 km2. The Maule river is of considerable historic interest because, among other reasons, it marked the southern limits of the Inca Empire.
Austrocedrus is a genus of conifer belonging to the cypress family (Cupressaceae). It has only one species, Austrocedrus chilensis, native to the Valdivian temperate rain forests and the adjacent drier steppe-forests of central-southern Chile and western Argentina from 33°S to 44°S latitude. It is known in its native area as ciprés de la cordillera or cordilleran cypress, and elsewhere by the scientific name as Austrocedrus, or sometimes as Chilean incense-cedar or Chilean cedar. The generic name means "southern cedar".
Gomortega keule is a species of tree endemic to Chile. It is the sole species of the genus Gomortega and, according to the APG IV system of 2016, of the monotypic family Gomortegaceae, assigned to the order Laurales in the clade magnoliids.
Pelluhue is a town and commune in the Cauquenes Province of central Chile's seventh region of Maule.
The Maule river or Río Maule is one of the most important rivers of Chile. It is inextricably linked to the country's pre-Hispanic (Inca) times, the country's conquest, colonial period, wars of Independence, modern history, agriculture, culture, religion, economy and politics. The Maule River marked the southern limits of the Inca Empire. Many famous men and women in Chile's history have been born in the Region named after the river. The river has also lent its name to one of the viticultural regions of the country, the Valley of Maule, a subregion of the Central Valley.
Tolhuaca National Park is a protected area created on October 16, 1935, in an area of 3,500 ha that was previously part of the Malleco National Reserve. In 1985, a second section of Malleco National Reserve was also made part of the national park. Malleco National Reserve was the first protected wildlife area in both Chile and South America, so the land within Tolhuaca National Park is one of the oldest protected areas on the continent.
The chestnut-throated huet-huet is a large passerine bird of the family Rhinocryptidae. At an average mass of 165 grams (5.8 oz), it is, with the related black-throated huet-huet, the largest rhinocryptid and the third-heaviest tracheophone suboscine behind the giant and great antpittas. It is a stockily-built bird, averaging 23 centimetres (9.1 in) in length with a predominantly dark brown plumage except for a dark red throat and a pale buff bar on its wind – lacking in the black-throated species. For many decades intense debate existed as to whether these two were one species or two, but molecular studies in the 1990s demonstrated that the two species had been separated since before the Patagonian Ice Sheet first formed in southern Chile.
Nothofagus alessandrii, the ruil, is a species of plant in the family Nothofagaceae, commonly known as the southern beeches. It is endemic to Chile, occurring chiefly in the Chilean matorral ecoregion. It is threatened by habitat loss. The species is protected within Los Ruiles National Reserve.
Nothofagus glauca, commonly known as hualo or roble Maulino, is a species of plant in the family Nothofagaceae. It is a deciduous tree endemic to Chile. It grows from 34° to 37° South latitude. It is a typical tree of the maritime mediterranean-climate Maulino forest of Central Chile, its current range spanning over 330 km from north to south. The species grows on a variety of soils and is mostly found on gentle to steep slopes.
Pitavia punctata is a species of tree endemic to Chile in the family Rutaceae. It is known by the common names Pitao and Pitran. It grows in native deciduous forests in the Chilean Coast Range of central Chile. It is threatened with habitat loss, and is assessed as Endangered.
Nothofagus obliqua, commonly known as Patagonian oak, roble, pellín, roble pellín, and hualle in its early state of growth or roble beech, is a deciduous tree from Chile and Argentina. It grows from 33 to 43° south latitude. The northern extent of this tree's range in Chile is considered to be the Vizcachas Mountains and La Campana National Park. N. obliqua was proposed to be renamed Lophozonia obliqua in 2013.
The native flora of Chile is characterized by a higher degree of endemism and relatively fewer species compared to the flora of other countries of South America. A classification of this flora necessitates its division into at least three general zones: the desert provinces of the north, Central Chile, and the humid regions of the south.
The Chilean Matorral (NT1201) is a terrestrial ecoregion of central Chile, located on the west coast of South America. It is in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, part of the Neotropical realm.
Los Queules National Reserve is a national reserve of Chile. It covers an area of 1.47 km2 in the Chilean Coastal Range. The reserve ranges from 400 to 500 meters in elevation.
Bosque Andino Patagónico, also known as Patagonian Andean forest, is a type of temperate to cold forest located in western Patagonia in Argentina and also in southern Chile, at the southern end of South America. The climate here is influenced by humid air masses moving in from the Pacific Ocean which lose most of their moisture as they rise over the Andes. The flora is dominated by trees, usually of the genus Nothofagus.
Maulino forest is a forest type naturally growing in the Chilean Coast Range of Central Chile from latitude 35°55 to 36°20 S. The forest grows in the transition zone between Mediterranean climate and humid temperate climate. Precipitation varies from 1000 to 700 mm/a and is concentrated in winter. According to geographers Humberto Fuenzalida and Edmundo Pisano the forest is one of mesophytes on the transition zone of temperate rain forests.
Nothofagus × leoni is a hybrid tree in the family Nothofagaceae. It is a naturally-occurring interspecific hybrid of Nothofagus glauca and Nothofagus obliqua which is endemic to central Chile. It is a characteristic tree of the Maulino forest, a plant community of the Chilean Coast Range.