The Semi-arid Pampas, also known as the Dry Pampas, is a temperate grassland

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 l ...

of central

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 ...

Setting

The Semi-arid Pampas cover an area of , including western

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

, southern Cordoba and

San Luis San Luis (Spanish for "Saint Louis") may refer to: Places Argentina * San Luis Province * San Luis, Argentina, capital of San Luis Province Belize * San Luis, Belize, in Orange Walk District Colombia * San Luis, Antioquia, a town and municipality ...

Provinces and most of

La Pampa Province La Pampa () is a sparsely populated province of Argentina, located in the Pampas in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise San Luis, Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Río Negro, Neuquén and Mendoza. History In ...

. 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 The Humid Pampas ( es, Pampa Húmeda) is an extensive ecoregion of flat, fertile grassland of loessic origin in Argentina. It has a precipitation average of 900 mm per year, in contrast with the Dry Pampas to the west, which average less than ...

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 area is characterized by its extensive grasslands. This groundcover, however, tends to be closer to long-grass varieties found in the world's

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

s. Its landscape punctuated by relatively few trees (mostly imported ombúes, alders and Italian cypresses planted to provide wind breaks or landscaping), the region is home to intermittent shrublands, therein particularly ''carquejilla'' and ''

caldén ''Prosopis caldenia'', commonly known as the caldén, is a species of flowering tree in the family Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,''algarrobo'', common to much of Argentina.

Fauna

In part owing to its sparse landscape and unreliable rains, the area's fauna rather resembles much of neighboring Patagonia's. Perhaps the most common natural inhabitant to the region is the ''ñandú'', or,

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 ...

. Nearly ubiquitous to the region in the early 19th century, vast herds were often observed at the time and, indeed, they and their eggs had for centuries provided the Puelches and the area's other indigenous peoples with much of their protein needs. Targeted during successive genocidal campaigns between 1830 and 1880, however, these inhabitants lost most ''ñandús'' to massacres by Argentine armies, who believed that in so doing, the indigenous tribes could be starved into surrender. Nearing extinction by the 1920s, the ñandú herds have recovered substantially and have since then, like the likewise then-nearly extinct

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 ...

, been protected by law. Other common fowl include

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 So ...

s, partridges, martins,

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 ...

s and

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 an ...

s. The region is also home to pumas,

pampas fox The Pampas fox (''Lycalopex gymnocercus''), also known as grey pampean fox, Pampas zorro, Azara's fox, or Azara's zorro (in Spanish also called , anglicized as aguarachay, in Portuguese also called ), is a medium-sized zorro, or "false" fox, na ...

es,

cavia ''Cavia'' is a genus in the subfamily Caviinae that contains the rodents commonly known as guinea pigs or cavies. The best-known species in this genus is the domestic guinea pig, ''Cavia porcellus'', a meat animal in South America and a common ...

s, maras and other drought-resistant mammals, as well as some also common to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, like

skunk Skunks are mammals in the family Mephitidae. They are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant scent from their anal glands. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginge ...

s and

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...

Human use

The arrival of British-financed railways to the region in the 1880s brought with it the area's first significant presence of white settlers, some of whom had served in the regiments involved in the Conquest of the Desert and were granted vast tracts of land. Much of the area was subsequently fenced into cattle and sheep ranches, which dominate the region's land use to the present day; area ranchers raise approximately four million cattle (a tenth of Argentina's). Since the 1940s, advances in agriculture and crop breeding have allowed for intensive

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

sunflower The common sunflower (''Helianthus annuus'') is a large annual forb of the genus ''Helianthus'' grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as ...

, oats and

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, and silage, as w ...

cultivation, as well.

Conservation and threats

Though many of the

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...

projects put into place since then have encouraged the development of a scattering of prosperous urban areas like

Santa Rosa, La Pampa Santa Rosa () is a city in the Argentine Pampas (lowlands), and the capital of La Pampa Province, Argentina. It lies on the east of the province, on the shore of the Don Tomás Lagoon, at the intersection of National Routes 5 and 35. The city ...

, some have had unintended consequences to the area's ecological balance. Dams along the

Atuel River The Atuel River is a river located mainly in the south of the Argentine province of Mendoza, with its last part in La Pampa. It is a tributary of the Desaguadero River. The Atuel is the longest river in Mendoza. It is born in the Andes range, a ...

, for instance, are often allowed to release the rainy season's excess water with little regard to the area around rural Algarrobo del Aguila, La Pampa, causing avoidable inconvenience and disruption of nearby wetlands. Until recently, the region was the only one in Argentina lacking a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

or natural preserve. In 1971, descendants of

landowners Arminda Roca and Pedro Luro deeded 7,600 hectares (29 mi²) to the provincial government, which opened the park to the public five years later. Though the area would not be designated as fully protected until 1996, this was the first significant move to protect the biome. Today the Luro Park Natural Preserve is the most visited such area in the dry pampas region. In 1977, a 9,900 hectare (38 mi²) parcel in La Pampa Province's southern dry grasslands were set aside as

Lihué Calel National Park Lihué Calel National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Lihué Calel) ( Mapudungun Lihue = "life" and Calel "mountainous area", "mountains of life") is a national park in Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no ...

. These accomplishments notwithstanding, the area's ecosystem has been under increasing pressure by grazing and irrigation activities, apart from population and economic growth themselves.

References

External links

*
Luro Park Natural Preserve

Lihué Calel National Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semi-Arid Pampas Pampas Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Ecoregions of Argentina Grasslands of Argentina . Neotropical ecoregions