Aconquija National Park ( es, Parque Nacional Aconquija), formerly known as Campo de los Alisos National Park, is a federal protected area in

Tucumán Province Tucumán () is the most densely populated, and the second-smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the province has the capital of San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neigh ...

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 ...

. Established on 9 August 1995, it houses a representative sample of the

Southern Andean Yungas The Southern Andean Yungas is a tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in the Yungas of southwestern Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. Geography The ecoregion occurs along the eastern slope of the Andes from southern Bolivia ...

montane forest

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

in good state of conservation.

Geography

Located in the Chicligasta Department on the eastern slope of the Aconquija Mountains (''Nevados del Aconquija''), the park has an area of . The Aconquija Mountains are the southern extension of the Calchaquí Valleys, the western first steps raising from the

Gran Chaco The Gran Chaco or Dry Chaco is a sparsely populated, hot and semiarid lowland natural region of the Río de la Plata basin, divided among eastern Bolivia, western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a portion of the Brazilian states of Mato ...

plain into the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

. The park protects the headwaters of the Jaya and las Pavas rivers.

Flora and fauna

Flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

vary considerably with elevation. The

montane forests extend from 1500 to 2000 meters elevation. Andean alder (''Alnus acuminata'' subsp. ''acuminata'') is the predominant tree, forming pure stands in places. The

Central Andean puna The Central Andean puna is a montane grasslands and shrublands ecoregion in the Andes of southern Peru, Bolivia, and northern Argentina. Setting The landscape in this ecoregion consists of high mountains with permanent snow and ice, meadows, lak ...

montane grasslands cover higher elevations, and there is snow-covered mountain terrain at ."Aconquija". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 3 April 2022

/ref> Wildlife in the park includes the Cougar, puma (''Puma concolor''), ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis''),

Andean mountain cat The Andean mountain cat (''Leopardus jacobita'') is a small wild cat native to the high Andes that has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List because fewer than 1,500 individuals are thought to exist in the wild. It is traditionally con ...

(''Leopardus jacobita''),

Pampas cat The Pampas cat (''Leopardus colocola'') is a small wild cat native to South America. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List as habitat conversion and destruction may cause the population to decline in the future. It is named after ...

(''Leopardus colocolo''),

Geoffroy's cat Geoffroy's cat (''Leopardus geoffroyi'') is a small wild cat native to the southern and central regions of South America. It is about the size of a domestic cat. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because it is widespread and abun ...

(''Leopardus geoffroyi''),

South American gray fox 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 ...

(''Lycalopex griseus''),

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 ...

(''Lycalopex gymnocercus''),

guanaco The guanaco (; ''Lama guanicoe'') is a camelid native to South America, closely related to the llama. Guanacos are one of two wild South American camelids, the other being the vicuña, which lives at higher elevations. Etymology The guanaco ...

(''Lama guanicoe''),

gray brocket The gray brocket (''Mazama gouazoubira''), also known as the brown brocket, is a species of brocket deer from northern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Peru, eastern and southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. It formerly included the Amazonian br ...

(''Mazama gouazoubira''),

Chaco owl The Chaco owl (''Strix chacoensis'') is an owl found in Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Taxonomy and systematics The Chaco owl was originally described as a species, then quickly reclassified as a subspecies of rufous-legged owl (''Strix r ...

(''Strix chacoensis''),

turquoise-fronted amazon The turquoise-fronted amazon (''Amazona aestiva''), also called the turquoise-fronted parrot, the blue-fronted amazon and the blue-fronted parrot, is a South American species of amazon parrot and one of the most common amazon parrots kept in cap ...

(''Amazona aestiva''), mountain parakeet (''Psilopsiagon aurifrons''), and

grey-hooded parakeet The grey-hooded parakeet (''Psilopsiagon aymara''), also known as the Aymara parakeet or Sierra parakeet, is a species of parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is found in northwestern Argentina and Bolivia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or ...

(''Psilopsiagon aymara''). Endangered animals that dwell in the park include the Andean mountain cat,

furtive tuco-tuco The furtive tuco-tuco (''Ctenomys occultus'') is a species of rodent in the family Ctenomyidae. It is endemic to Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the souther ...

(''Ctenomys occultus'')

Chaco eagle The Chaco eagle (''Buteogallus coronatus'') or crowned solitary eagle, is an endangered bird of prey from eastern and central South America. Typically it is known simply as the crowned eagle which leads to potential confusion with the African '' ...

(''Buteogallus coronatus''), and the frog '' Gastrotheca gracilis''. Vulnerable birds include the white-tailed shrike-tyrant (''Agriornis albicauda''),

rufous-throated dipper The rufous-throated dipper or Argentine dipper (''Cinclus schulzii'') is an aquatic songbird found in South America, and is part of the dipper family. It lives along rapid rocky streams of the Southern Andean Yungas, in far southern Bolivia an ...

(''Cinclus schulzii''), and

Tucumán mountain finch The Tucumán mountain finch (''Poospiza baeri'') is a species of bird in the family Thraupidae. It is endemic to shrubby woodland in the Andes of north-western Argentina, but it is possible its distribution extends marginally into adjacent Bolivia ...

(''Poospiza baeri'').

History

Campo de los Alisos National Park ("field of the alders") was established in 1995. In 2018 the park was renamed Aconquija National Park and enlarged to its current boundaries.Parque Nacional Aconquija, Administración de Parques Nacionales
- National Parks Administration of Argentina (in Spanish). Accessed 3 April 2022.

Climate

References

External links

Parque Nacional Aconquija, Administración de Parques Nacionales
- National Parks Administration of Argentina (in Spanish) {{authority control National parks of Argentina Protected areas of Tucumán Province Southern Andean Yungas Protected areas established in 1995