Southern Cone Mesopotamian Savanna
The Southern Cone Mesopotamian savanna, also known as the Argentine Mesopotamian grasslands, is a flooded grassland ecoregion of Argentina and southern Paraguay. Setting The ecoregion covers an area of , lying west of the Uruguay River in Argentina's Corrientes Province, extending north into the adjacent portion of Misiones Province. Flora The ecoregion is covered by a mosaic of seasonally wet habitats, including grasslands, marshes, woodland, and gallery forests. Fauna The Mesopotamian savanna is an endemic bird area An Endemic Bird Area (EBA) is an area of land identified by BirdLife International as being important for habitat-based bird conservation because it contains the habitats of restricted-range bird species (''see below for definition''), which are the ..., with three endemic species, two of which are threatened. External links * * References Ecoregions of Argentina Grasslands of Argentina Flooded grasslands and savannas Neotropical ecoregions {{ecoregi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Capybara
The capybaraAlso called capivara (in Brazil), capiguara (in Bolivia), chigüire, chigüiro, or fercho (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru). or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris'') is a giant cavy rodent native to South America. It is the largest living rodent and a member of the genus ''Hydrochoerus''. The only other extant member is the lesser capybara (''Hydrochoerus isthmius''). Its close relatives include guinea pigs and rock cavies, and it is more distantly related to the agouti, the chinchilla, and the nutria. The capybara inhabits savannas and dense forests, and lives near bodies of water. It is a highly social species and can be found in groups as large as 100 individuals, but usually live in groups of 10–20 individuals. The capybara is hunted for its meat and hide and also for grease from its thick fatty skin. It is not considered a threatened species. Etymology Its common name is derived fro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paraguay
Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. It has a population of seven million, nearly three million of whom live in the capital and largest city of Asunción, and its surrounding metro. Although one of only two landlocked countries in South America (Bolivia is the other), Paraguay has ports on the Paraguay and Paraná rivers that give exit to the Atlantic Ocean, through the Paraná-Paraguay Waterway. Spanish conquistadores arrived in 1524, and in 1537, they established the city of Asunción, the first capital of the Governorate of the Río de la Plata. During the 17th century, Paraguay was the center of Jesuit missions, where the native Guaraní people were converted to Christianity and introduced to European culture. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Grasslands Of Argentina
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur naturally on all continents except Antarctica and are found in most ecoregions of the Earth. Furthermore, grasslands are one of the largest biomes on earth and dominate the landscape worldwide. There are different types of grasslands: natural grasslands, semi-natural grasslands, and agricultural grasslands. They cover 31–69% of the Earth's land area. Definitions Included among the variety of definitions for grasslands are: * "...any plant community, including harvested forages, in which grasses and/or legumes make up the dominant vegetation." * "...terrestrial ecosystems dominated by herbaceous and shrub vegetation, and maintained by fire, grazing, drought and/or freezing temperatures." (Pilot Assessment of Global Ecosystems, 2000) * "A r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ecoregions Of Argentina
An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species. The biodiversity of flora, fauna and ecosystems that characterise an ecoregion tends to be distinct from that of other ecoregions. In theory, biodiversity or conservation ecoregions are relatively large areas of land or water where the probability of encountering different species and communities at any given point remains relatively constant, within an acceptable range of variation (largely undefined at this point). Three caveats are appropriate for all bio-geographic mapping approaches. Firstly, no single bio-geographic framework is optimal for all taxa. Ecoregions reflect the best compromise for as many taxa as possible. Sec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Endemic Bird Area
An Endemic Bird Area (EBA) is an area of land identified by BirdLife International as being important for habitat-based bird conservation because it contains the habitats of restricted-range bird species (''see below for definition''), which are thereby endemic to them. An EBA is formed where the distributions of two or more such restricted-range species overlap. Using this guideline, 218 EBAs were identified when Birdlife International established their Biodiversity project in 1987. accessed 10 May 2011 A secondary EBA comprises the range of only one restricted-range species, or an area which is only the partial breeding range of a range-restricted species. EBAs contain about 93% of the world's restricted-range bird species, as well as su ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gallery Forest
A gallery forest is one formed as a corridor along rivers or wetlands, projecting into landscapes that are otherwise only sparsely treed such as savannas, grasslands, or deserts. The gallery forest maintains a more temperate microclimate above the river. Defined as long and narrow forest vegetation associated with rivers, gallery forests are structurally and floristically heterogeneous. The habitats of these forests differ from the surrounding landscapes because they are, for example, more nutrient-rich or moister and/or there is less chance of fires. The forests are sometimes only a few meters wide, because they depend on the water they lie along. Ecology characteristics The riparian zones in which they grow offer greater protection from fire which would kill tree seedlings. In addition, the alluvial soils of the gallery habitat are often of higher fertility and have better drainage than the soils of the surrounding landscape with a more reliable water supply at depth. As a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Uruguay River
The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La Mesopotamia from the other two countries. It passes between the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil; forms the eastern border of the provinces of Misiones, Corrientes, and Entre Ríos in Argentina; and makes up the western borders of the departments of Artigas, Salto, Paysandú, Río Negro, Soriano, and Colonia in Uruguay. Course The river measures about in length and starts in the Serra do Mar in Brazil, where the Canoas River and the Pelotas River are joined, at about above mean sea level. In this stage the river goes through uneven, broken terrain, forming rapids and falls. Its course through Rio Grande do Sul is not navigable An unusual feature of the Uruguay River is a submerged canyon. This canyon fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Misiones Province
Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes Province of Argentina to the southwest. This was an early area of Roman Catholic missionary activity by the Society of Jesus in what was then called the Province of Paraguay, beginning in the early 17th century. In 1984 the ruins of four mission sites in Argentina were designated World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. History Indigenous peoples of various tribes lived in the area of the future province for thousands of years. At the time of European encounter, it was occupied by the Kaingang and Xokleng tribes, later followed by the Guarani tribe. The first European to visit the region, Sebastian Cabot, discovered Apipé Falls while navigating the Paraná River in December 1527. In 1541 Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca reached the Iguazú ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Uruguayan Savanna
The Uruguayan savanna, also known as the Brazilian-Uruguayan savanna, is a subtropical grassland and savanna ecoregion which includes all of Uruguay and southernmost Brazil, along with portions of Argentina along the Uruguay River, In Brazil, this ecoregion is know as Pampas Geography The Uruguayan savanna covers an area of 353,573 km2, covering the entirety of Uruguay and much of Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state. It is bounded on the east by the South Atlantic Ocean and on the south by the Río de la Plata estuary. The Uruguay River forms the western boundary. To the north it transitions to the Alto Paraná Atlantic forests and Araucaria moist forests of southern Brazil. The topography is generally low, extending from sea level up to 500 meters elevation. There are coastal lagoons along the Atlantic shore including Lagoa dos Patos in Brazil, which rise to rolling hills in the eastern part of the ecoregion. The western portion of the ecoregion is drained by tributaries of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gobernador Virasoro
Gobernador Virasoro (formally ''Gobernador Ingeniero Valentín Virasoro'') is a city in the province of Corrientes in the Argentine Mesopotamia. It had about 30,000 inhabitants at the . The city lies in the north-east of the province, 64 km north from the city of Santo Tomé and 90 km from Posadas, Misiones, on National Route 14. The Iberá Wetlands are located 80 km to the west. Gobernador Virasoro as such was founded on 23 September 1926. The original settlement, called Villa Vuelta del Ombú since the time the Jesuits established a ranch there, was renamed in homage to Valentín Virasoro ''Valentín'' is a 2002 Argentine- French-Italian drama film written and directed by Alejandro Agresti. The film features Rodrigo Noya as Valentín and Carmen Maura as the grandmother. Director Alejandro Agresti also stars as Valentín's fathe ..., a field engineer who measured terrains and studied the Iberá lagoon and wetlands working for the provincial government. Ref ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Humid Chaco
The Humid Chaco (Spanish: ''Chaco Húmedo'' or ''Chaco Oriental'') is tropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion in South America. It lies in the basin of the Paraná River, covering portions of central Paraguay and northern Argentina, and with a small portion of southwestern Brazil and northwestern Uruguay. The natural vegetation is a mosaic of grasslands, palm savanna, and forest. Geography The Humid Chaco lies in the lowlands of the Paraná river and its tributaries, including the Paraguay River. It is bounded on the west by the Dry Chaco, a semi-arid region of dry forests and savannas. The Alto Paraná Atlantic forests lie to the east, and the Cerrado grasslands to the northeast. It borders on some large flooded grasslands and savannas, including the Paraná flooded savanna along the lower Paraná and Paraguay rivers, the Pantanal to the north, and the Southern Cone Mesopotamian savanna to the southeast between the Paraná and Uruguay rivers. The topography is ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Argentine Espinal
The Espinal (NT0801) is an ecoregion of dry, thorny forest, savanna and steppe in Argentina. It has been extensively modified by large scale cattle ranching, but remnants of the original flora remain. It is threatened by the advance of the irrigation-based agricultural frontier. Location The espinal is a broad arc of arid land in the interior of Argentina to the north and west of Buenos Aires, extending from the northern Uruguay border west through Santa Fe to Cordoba and south to the Atlantic coast south of Bahía Blanca. It includes central Santa Fe Province, Córdoba Province and the northern part of San Luis Province. It has an area of . The name "''espinal''" (thorny) refers to the thorny deciduous shrubland forest of the region between the flooded wetlands along the Paraná River to the east and the Sierras de Córdoba to the west. The northern part of the ecoregion adjoins the Humid Pampas around Buenos Aires to the south, the Uruguayan savanna to the east, and the Humi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |