Plant Geography of Chile
The first and so far only Plant Geography of Chile was written about 100 years ago, since when many things have changed: plants have been renamed and reclassified; taxonomy and systematics have experienced deep changes as have biology, geography, and biog
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PLANT AND VEGETATION Volume 5
Series Editor: M.J.A. Werger
For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/7549
Plant Geography of Chile
by
Andrés Moreira-Muñoz Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
123
Dr. Andrés Moreira-Muñoz Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Instituto de Geografia Av. Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Santiago Chile [email protected]
ISSN 1875-1318 e-ISSN 1875-1326 ISBN 978-90-481-8747-8 e-ISBN 978-90-481-8748-5 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-8748-5 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Cover illustration: High-Andean vegetation at Laguna Miscanti (23◦ 43 S, 67◦ 47 W, 4350 m asl) Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Carlos Reiche (1860–1929) In Memoriam
Foreword
It is not just the brilliant and dramatic scenery that makes Chile such an attractive part of the world. No, that country has so very much more! And certainly it has a rich and beautiful flora. Chile’s plant world is strongly diversified and shows interesting geographical and evolutionary patterns. This is due to several factors: The geographical position of the country on the edge of a continental plate and stretching along an extremely long latitudinal gradient from the tropics to the cold, barren rocks of Cape Horn, opposite Antarctica; the strong differences in altitude from sea level to the icy peaks of the Andes; the inclusion of distant islands in the country’s territory; the long geological and evolutionary history of the biota; and the mixture of tropical and temperate floras. The flora and vegetation of Chile already drew the attention of the early adventurers and explorers and as from the eighteenth century attracted naturalists and collectors from Europe. In the nineteenth century famous botanists explored and studied the Chilean plant world, and gradually the flora and plant geographical patterns became subjects of scientific analyses both by European and Chilean scholars. Recently, the development of new scientific techniques have allowed to reveal the remarkable evolutionary pathways in many Chilean plant groups, and have provided clues to the origins of intriguing plant geographical patterns in the southern hemisphere floras. This shall be of interest for botanists, plant geographers, ecologists and evolutionary biologists worldwide. I was very lucky to get into contact with Dr. Andrés Moreira-Muñoz. He is an enthusiastic and outstanding Chilean plant scientist with historical roots in this subject area. Dr. Moreira-Muñoz here presents a modern and stimulating account of the Plant Ge
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