The Reserva Provincial La Payunia ( es, La Payunia Provincial Reserve) also known as Payún or Payén is a

natural reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

located in the

Malargüe Department Malargüe is a Departments of Argentina, department located in the south west of Mendoza Province in Argentina. Its borders are San Rafael Department, San Rafael in the north, La Pampa Province in the east, Neuquén Province in the south and Chil ...

in the southern part of

Mendoza Province Mendoza, officially Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the republic o ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, about 160 km away from Malargüe city. It was declared as nature preserve in 1988 and has an area of 4,500 km². La Payunia is home to the many

volcanic cones Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and ...

, being noteworthy the Payún Matrú volcano.

Biodiversity

*Flora: The flora is represented by

matorral 300px, Springtime in Chilean matorral a few kilometers north of Santiago along the Pan-American Highway Matorral is a Spanish language, Spanish word, along with ''tomillares'', for shrubland, thicket or bushes. It is used in naming and describin ...

es,

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

s, native mountain species and other typical

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 gl ...

plants Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...

such as ''

Adesmia pinifolia ''Adesmia'' may refer to: * ''Adesmia'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants in the legume family * ''Adesmia'' (beetle), a genus of darkling beetle Darkling beetle is the common name for members of the beetle family Tenebrionidae. The number ...

'', '' Festuca pallescens'', '' Grindelia chiloensis'', ''

Ephedra ochreata miers Ephedra may refer to: * Ephedra (medicine), a medicinal preparation from the plant ''Ephedra sinica'' * ''Ephedra'' (plant), genus of gymnosperm shrubs See also * Ephedrine Ephedrine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is of ...

'', '' Neosparton ephedroides grisebach'', ''

Psila spartioides ''Psila'' is a European genus of flies which is a member of the family Psilidae or rust flies. Genera * '' Psila acmocephala'' * '' Psila aethiopica'' * '' Psila albiseta'' * '' Psila amurensis'' * '' Psila andreji'' * '' Psila angustata'' * ' ...

'', ''

Prosopis denudans ''Prosopis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in ari ...

'' (between 500 and 1,300 m

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

) and '' Schinus poligamun'' and '' Larrea nítida cavanilles'' (between 1,800 and 2,850 m AMSL). La Payunia - Camo (2038956869)

*Fauna: Over 70 animal

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

have been documented on the reserve. Common bird species include the Andean condor ''

Vultur gryphus The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a giant South American Cathartid vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the larg ...

'', Darwin's rhea ''

Rhea pennata 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 ...

'', and flamingo. Reptiles include venomous snakes such as the Patagonian pit viper ''

Bothrops ammodytoides :''Common names: Patagonian lancehead,Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. . yarará ñata,Bothrops alternatus :''Common names'': yarará grande, urutu,Campbell JA, Lamar WW. 2004. ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca and London. 870 pp. 1500 plates. . wutu,Brown JH. 1973. ''Toxicology and Pharmacolog ...

''. Predators include the mountain lion ''

Puma concolor The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its 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. ...

'', South American gray fox ''

Pseudalopex griseus The South American gray fox (''Lycalopex griseus''), also known as the Patagonian fox, the chilla or the gray zorro, is a species of ''Lycalopex'', the "false" foxes. It is endemic to the southern part of South America. Description The South A ...

'', culpeo fox ''

Lycalopex culpaeus The culpeo (''Lycalopex culpaeus''), also known as culpeo zorro, Andean zorro, Andean fox, Paramo wolf, Andean wolf,Comparative ecology of two South American foxes, 'Dusicvon ariseus' and 'culpaeus' by Warren E. Johnson. Doctoral dissertation. Io ...

'' and pampas cat Leopardus pajeros. Other mammals include a large rodent, the plains viscacha Lagostomus maximus, and the largest native animal on the reserve, the guanaco ''

Lama guanicoe Lama (; "chief") is a title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term ''guru'', meaning "heavy one", endowed with qualities the student will eventually embody. The Tibetan word "lama" means "hig ...

''. A cooperative of around 20 families, Cooperativa Payun Matru, live on the reserve. They round up the wild guanaco every year and shear the animals for their fur.Cooperativa Payun Matru, http://www.payunmatru.com/project.html The annual round up is monitored by the

Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is a non-governmental organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, that aims to conserve the world's largest wild places in 14 priority regions. Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological ...

, and wool and yarn are exported abroad.

Geography

The area is covered by many small

volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

, and the biggest are Payún Matrú, Payún Liso and Santa María.

Volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcano, volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used t ...

forms a black terrain known as ''Pampas Negras'' (Spanish: ''Black

Pampas The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazil ...

''). The Grande River flows in the zone across

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

cracks.

References

External links

Volcanes de Reserva
at Página/12
La Payunia description and video

Accesses

{{DEFAULTSORT:Payunia Protected areas of Mendoza Province Nature reserves in Argentina