250px, Magellanic moorland at Herschel Island, Cabo de Hornos National Park. The Magellanic moorland or Magellanic tundra ( es, Tundra magallánica) is an

ecoregion 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 ...

on the

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and ...

n archipelagos south of latitude 48° S. It is characterized by high rainfall with a vegetation of scrubs, bogs and patches of forest in more protected areas.

Cushion plant A cushion plant is a compact, low-growing, mat-forming plant that is found in alpine, subalpine, arctic, or subarctic environments around the world. The term "cushion" is usually applied to woody plants that grow as spreading mats, are limited i ...

s, grass-like plants and

bryophyte The Bryophyta s.l. are a proposed taxonomic division containing three groups of non-vascular land plants (embryophytes): the liverworts, hornworts and mosses. Bryophyta s.s. consists of the mosses only. They are characteristically limited in s ...

s are common. At present there are outliers of Magellanic moorland as far north as in the highlands of Cordillera del Piuchén (latitude 42° 22' S) in

Chiloé Island Chiloé Island ( es, Isla de Chiloé, , ) also known as Greater Island of Chiloé (''Isla Grande de Chiloé''), is the largest island of the Chiloé Archipelago off the west coast of Chile, in the Pacific Ocean. The island is located in southern ...

. During the

Llanquihue glaciation The last glacial period and its associated glaciation is known in southern Chile as the Llanquihue glaciation ( es, Glaciación de Llanquihue). Its type area lies west of Llanquihue Lake where various drifts or end moraine systems belonging to ...

Magellanic moorland extended to the non-glaciated lowlands of Chiloé Island and further north to the lowlands of Chilean lake district (latitude 41° S). The classification of Magellanic moorland has proven problematic as substrate, low temperatures and exposure to the ocean influences the development of the Magallanic moorland. It thus may qualify either as polar tundra or

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

Flora and plant communities

Edmundo Pisano identifies the following plant communities for the Magellanic moorland: #Bogs Pisano (1977), p. 219 ##Sphagnum bogs ###Magellanic sphagnum tundra ###Juncus bogs Pisano (1977), p. 223 ##Non-sphagniferous bryophytic tundra Pisano (1977), p. 225 ###Non-sphagnum moss bog Pisano (1977), p. 226 ###Hepatica bogs #Pluvinar mires Pisano (1977), p. 229 ##Hygrophytic mire tundra ##Montane pulvinar tundra Pisano (1977), p. 230 ##Bryophyte and dwarf shrub tundra Pisano (1977), p. 231 #Gramineous mires Pisano (1977), p. 232 ##Tufty sedge tundra Pisano (1977), p. 233 ##Subantarctic gramineous mire #Woody synusia tundras Pisano (1977), p. 236 ##Tundras with ''Pilgerodendron uvifera'' Pisano (1977), p. 237 ###Association ''Pilgerodendretum uviferae'' ####''Sub-association Pilgerodendro-Nothofagetum betuloidis'' Pisano (1977), p. 239 ####''Sub-association Nano-Pilgerodendretum uviferae'' Pisano (1977), p. 240 ##Interior nanophanerophytic tundras Pisano (1977), p. 242 ###Interior heath of low to medium elevation ###Montane nanophaneritic tundra Pisano (1977), p. 244 Where forests occur they are made up of the following trees ''

Nothofagus betuloides ''Nothofagus betuloides'', Magellan's beech or ''guindo'', is a tree native to southern Patagonia. In 1769, Sir Joseph Banks collected a specimen of the tree in Tierra del Fuego during Captain Cook's first voyage. Its occurrence on Hornos ...

'' (coigüe de Magallanes), '' Drimys winteri'' (canelo), '' Pseudopanax laetevirens'' (sauco del diablo), '' Embothrium coccineum'' (notro), ''

Maytenus magellanica ''Maytenus magellanica'' (Magellan's mayten or hard log mayten; ''leña dura'' in Spanish) is a small evergreen tree from the genus '' Maytenus'', up to 5 meters (16 ft), in the Celastraceae. It grows in southern Argentina and Chile from 36 ...

'' (maitén), '' Pilgerodendron uviferum'' (ciprés de las Guaitecas) and '' Tepualia stipularis'' (tepú).

Soils and climate

Soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former ...

s are usually rich in turf and organic matter and poor in bases. Often they are also water-saturated. Pisano (1977), p. 128 Granitoids,

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

s and ancient

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcan ...

s make up the basement on which soils develop. Pisano (1977), p. 129 Any previously existing

regolith Regolith () is a blanket of unconsolidated, loose, heterogeneous superficial deposits covering solid rock. It includes dust, broken rocks, and other related materials and is present on Earth, the Moon, Mars, some asteroids, and other terrestri ...

has been eroded by the

Quaternary glaciation The Quaternary glaciation, also known as the Pleistocene glaciation, is an alternating series of glacial and interglacial periods during the Quaternary period that began 2.58 Ma (million years ago) and is ongoing. Although geologists describe ...

s. It is not rare for bare rock surfaces to be exposed in the interior of islands. Pisano (1977), p. 145 The climate where Magellanic moorland grows can be defined as

oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

y and

isothermal In thermodynamics, an isothermal process is a type of thermodynamic process in which the temperature ''T'' of a system remains constant: Δ''T'' = 0. This typically occurs when a system is in contact with an outside thermal reservoir, and ...

with cool and windy summers. In the Köppen climate classification it has a tundra climate ''ET''. Pisano (1977), p. 144

References

;Bibliography *{{cite book , last=Pisano Valdés , first=E., author-link=Edmundo Pisano , date=1977, chapter=Fitogeografía de Fuego-Patagonia chilena. I.-Comunidades vegetales entre las latitudes 52 y 56º S, location=

Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Aren ...

, title=Anales del Instituto de la Patagonia, volume=VIII , ref=Pisano1977, language=es Shrublands Ecology of Patagonia Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Temperate rainforests Ecoregions of Chile Andean forests * * * Ecoregions of South America Neotropical ecoregions Magellanic subpolar forests