Unraveling the Differences in Landcover Patterns in High Mountains and Low Mountain Environments within the Valdivian Temperate Rainforest Biome in Chile

Benedikt Hora (), Fabian Almonacid and Alvaro González-Reyes
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Benedikt Hora: Instituto de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5090000, Chile
Fabian Almonacid: Instituto de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia 5090000, Chile
Alvaro González-Reyes: Centro de Observación de la Tierra Hémera, Universidad Mayor, Santiago de Chile 8580745, Chile

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: The Valdivian temperate rainforest (VTR) is a biome on the South American continent with high endemism that has experienced an intensive land-cover change in recent decades due to the expansion of agriculture, plantations of introduced forests, and urban growth. Today, the biome hosts key parts of the country’s agricultural and forestry industries. Previous studies focused on quantifying native forest and plantation cover area and exotic forest plantation area, among others. However, the importance of mountain areas as refuge of native forest in Chile remains unexplored. The aim of this research is to highlight the role of latitude and slope on land cover in the VTR. A new methodological approach was used combining global classified datasets. Our results indicate that high mountain areas are the core location of the remaining primary forests and endemism whereas low mountain areas are dominated by exotic forest plantations. Between 40–48° S (The Los Ríos, Los Lagos, and Aysén Regions and high-mountain areas), in general, serve as a natural reservoir where human-induced land-cover change has not occurred on a large scale. Most public and private conservation areas are in high mountain areas, whereas low mountain areas and plain areas lack conservation schemes and are more prone to land cover change towards forestry. Considering geomorphological features in land cover change analysis can reveal interesting new perspectives in this research area.

Keywords: land cover change; biodiversity hotspots; forest plantations; Chile; Valdivian temperate rainforest; mountains; Andes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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