Semi-arid Pampas
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Semi-arid Pampas
The Semi-arid Pampas, also known as the Dry Pampas, is a temperate grassland ecoregion of central Argentina. Setting The Semi-arid Pampas cover an area of , including western Buenos Aires Province, southern Cordoba and San Luis Provinces and most of La Pampa Province. The area is, in all, home to no more than a million people, who generally enjoy some of the nation's lowest poverty rates. The Humid Pampas grassland lies to the east, while the drier Argentine Espinál (thorny) grassland lies to the west. The soil tends to be sandier in this region than to the east, though both regions are characterized by their mostly minimal incline and frequent finger lakes. Generally more similar than not, these two biomes are mostly distinguished by their contrasting rainfall quantities, soil quality and land use; this section of the pampas typically sees about a third less rainfall (700 mm, 27 in) than the humid pampas. Flora Not unlike the more humid pampas to the east, this ...
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Arid Pampas Red
A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and morphogenesis, development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called Deserts and xeric shrublands, xeric or desertic. Most arid climates straddle the Equator; these regions include parts of Africa, Asia, Arid Diagonal, South America, Southwestern United States, North America, and Australia. Change over time The distribution of aridity at any time is largely the result of the general circulation of the atmosphere. The latter does change significantly over time through climate change. For example, temperature increase by 1.5–2.1 percent across the Nile Basin over the next 30–40 years could change the region from Semi-arid climate, semi-arid to arid, significantly reducing the land usable for agriculture. In addition, changes in land use can increase demands on soil water and thereby increase aridity. See also ...
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Cougar
The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. It is an adaptable, Generalist and specialist species, generalist species, occurring in most American habitat types. This wide range has brought it many common names, including puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther (for the Florida sub-population). It is the second-largest cat in the New World, after the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Secretive and largely solitary by nature, the cougar is properly considered both nocturnal and crepuscular, although daytime sightings do occur. Despite its size, the cougar is more closely related to smaller felines, including the domestic cat (''Felis catus'') than to any species of the subfamily Pantherinae. The cougar is an ambush predator that pursues a wide variety of pre ...
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Stork
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family called Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ibises, but those families have been moved to other orders. Storks dwell in many regions and tend to live in drier habitats than the closely related herons, spoonbills and ibises; they also lack the powder down that those groups use to clean off fish slime. Bill-clattering is an important mode of communication at the nest. Many species are migratory. Most storks eat frogs, fish, insects, earthworms, small birds and small mammals. There are 19 living species of storks in six genera. Various terms are used to refer to groups of storks, two frequently used ones being a ''muster'' of storks and a ''phalanx'' of storks. Storks tend to use soaring, gliding flight, which conserves energy. Soaring requires thermal air currents. Ottomar Ans ...
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Coot
Coots are medium-sized water birds that are members of the rail family, Rallidae. They constitute the genus ''Fulica'', the name being the Latin term for "coot". Coots have predominantly black plumage, and—unlike many rails—they are usually easy to see, often swimming in open water. They are close relatives of the moorhen. However, the Coot typically appears 'dumpier' and lacks the distinctive red frontal face of the moorhen. Taxonomy and systematics The genus ''Fulica'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. The genus name is the Latin word for a Eurasian coot. The name was used by the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gessner in 1555. The type species is the Eurasian coot. A group of coots are referred to as a ''covert'' or ''cover''. Species The genus contains 10 extant species and one which is now extinct. Extinct species Recently extinct species * ''Fulica newtonii'' Milne-Edwards, 1867 – Mascar ...
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Martin (bird)
The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The term "swallow" is used colloquially in Europe as a synonym for the barn swallow. Around 90 species of Hirundinidae are known, divided into 19 genus, genera, with the greatest diversity found in Africa, which is also thought to be where they evolved as hole-nesters. They also occur on a number of oceanic islands. A number of European and North American species are long-distance bird migration, migrants; by contrast, the West and South African swallows are nonmigratory. This family comprises two subfamilies: Pseudochelidoninae (the river martins of the genus ''Pseudochelidon'') and Hirundininae (all other swallows, martins, and saw-wings). In the Old World, the name "martin" tends to be used for the squarer-tailed species, and the name "swal ...
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Partridge
A partridge is a medium-sized Galliformes, galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide Indigenous (ecology), native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perdicinae subfamily of the Phasianidae (pheasants, quail, etc.). However, molecular research suggests that partridges are not a distinct taxon within the family Phasianidae, but that some species are closer to the pheasants, while others are closer to the junglefowl. Description Partridges are medium-sized Game (hunting), game birds, generally intermediate in size between the larger pheasants, smaller quail; they're ground-dwelling birds that feature variable plumage colouration across species, with most tending to grey and brown. Range and habitat Partridges are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Some species are found nesting on steppes or agricultural land, while other species prefer mo ...
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Gray Hawk
The gray hawk (''Buteo plagiatus'') or Mexican goshawk is a smallish raptor found in open country and forest edges. It is sometimes placed in the genus ''Asturina'' as ''Asturina plagiata''. The species was split by the American Ornithological Society (AOU) from the gray-lined hawk. The gray hawk is found from Costa Rica north into the southwestern United States. The gray hawk is in length and weighs on average. The adult has a pale gray body, the tail is black with three white bands and the legs are orange. It is a solid, unpatterned gray on the upper parts. Immature birds have dark brown upperparts, a pale-banded brown tail, brown-spotted white underparts and a brown streaked buff head and neck. This species is quite short-winged, and has a fast agile flight for a ''Buteo''. The call is a shrill whistled ''kleee-ooo''. Gray hawks feed mainly on lizards and snakes, but will also take small mammals, birds and frogs. It usually sits on an open high perch from which it swoops on ...
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Pampas Deer
The Pampas deer (''Ozotoceros bezoarticus'') is a species of deer that live in the grasslands of South America at low elevations.Geist, Valerius. Deer of the world their evolution, behaviour, and ecology'. Mechanicsburg, Pa: Stackpole Books, 1998 They are known as in Portuguese and as or in Spanish. It is the only species in the genus ''Ozotoceros''. Their habitat includes water and hills, often with winter drought, and grass that is high enough to cover a standing deer.P., Walker, Ernest. ''Walker's Mammals of the world''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1991 Many of them live on the Pantanal wetlands, where there are ongoing conservation efforts, and other areas of annual flooding cycles. Human activity has changed much of the original landscape. They are known to live up to 12 years in the wild, longer if captive, but are threatened due to over-hunting and habitat loss. Many people are concerned over this loss, because a healthy deer population means a healthy grassland, ...
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Conquest Of The Desert
The Conquest of the Desert ( es, Conquista del desierto) was an Argentine military campaign directed mainly by General Julio Argentino Roca in the 1870s with the intention of establishing dominance over the Patagonian Desert, inhabited primarily by indigenous peoples. The Conquest of the Desert extended Argentine territories into Patagonia and ended Chilean expansion in the region. Argentine troops killed more than 1,000 Mapuche, displaced over 15,000 more from their traditional lands and enslaved a portion of the remaining natives. Settlers of European descent moved in and developed the lands through irrigation for agriculture, turning the territory into a breadbasket that contributed to the emergence of Argentina as an agricultural superpower in the early 20th century.''The Argentine Military and the Boundary Dispute With Chile, 1870-1902,'' George V. Rauch, p. 47, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999 The conquest was paralleled by a similar campaign in Chile called the Occupati ...
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Puelche People
The Gününa küna, or sometimes, Puelche ( Mapudungun: ''pwelche'', "people of the east") are indigenous peoples living east of the Andes Mountains in Chile and Southwest Argentina. They spoke the Puelche language. The name "Puelche" was not native, but was given to them by the Mapuche. They were annihilated by plagues and epidemics in the late 18th century, with survivors merging into other groups such as the Mapuche, Het, and Tehuelche. The Puelche are commemorated in the scientific name of a species of lizard, ''Liolaemus puelche'', which is endemic to Mendoza Province, Argentina.. www.reptile-database.org. Currently, there are efforts of revitalizing the language. Sources *Thomas Falkner Thomas Falkner (6 October 1707 – 30 January 1784) was an English Jesuit missionary, explorer and physician, active in the Patagonia region for nearly forty years. His primary work, ''The Description of Patagonia'', was written towards the idea ..., Description of Patagonia and the a ...
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Darwin's Rhea
Darwin's rhea or the lesser rhea (''Rhea pennata'') is a large flightless bird, the smaller of the two extant species of rheas. It is found in the Altiplano and Patagonia in South America. Description The lesser rhea stands at tall. Length is and weight is . Like most ratites, it has a small head and a small bill, the latter measuring , but has long legs and a long neck. It has relatively larger wings than other ratites, enabling it to run particularly well. It can reach speeds of 60 km/h (37 mph), enabling it to outrun predators. The sharp claws on the toes are effective weapons. Their feathers are similar to those of ostriches, in that they have no aftershaft.Perrins, C. (1987) Their plumage is spotted brown and white, and the upper part of their tarsus is feathered. The tarsus is long and has 18 horizontal plates on the front. Etymology It is known as ''ñandú petiso'', or ''ñandú del norte'', in Argentina, where the majority live. Other names are ''suri ...
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