Atacama Desert, Chile Photograph by Miranda Loh   Western South America: Northwestern Chile Deserts and Xeric Shrublands   40,600 square miles (105,200 square kilometers) -- babout the size of Ohio Vulnerable

· A Desert Moonscape
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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A Desert Moonscape

The Atacama Desert looks so much like the surface of the moon that it has been chosen as a test site for a future lunar rover. This desert landscape includes craters, rocks, and loose sand, with vegetation completely absent in the interior due to lack of precipitation and high mineral content of the soil. Most of the plants and animals that do live in the ecoregion cling to water sources along the shoreline and coastal river valleys.

Special Features

Although the presence of an ancient Incan fortress--Pukara de Quitor--proves that this desert was once livable, today it is an inhospitable environment. As one of the world's driest regions, the desert is bounded on the west by the Pacific coast and on the east by the Andes Mountains. The Atacama has relatively low temperatures, despite its proximity to the equator. The plants that do grow here include tufted grass (often with snow clinging to them in higher elevations), cactuses, mesquite, and "tola" shrubs. The interior of Atacama is devoid of vegetation. Even bacteria, insects, and fungi are scarce.

	Llamas have a coat of long, dense wool with a soft underwool. The animals, which are sometimes called "New World camels," do not shed their outer coat, but they do shed about five pounds (2.25 kg) of the underwool.

Wild Side

The birds and mammals of this ecoregion are hardy creatures indeed. They tend to congregate along streams and oases, but they are also able to forage for food and water in a largely barren area. Mammals include llamas, vicuñas, alpacas, huemel deer, pericote panza gris (a small mouse), zorro gris (a fox), and viscacha--the largest member of the chinchilla family. Birds include three species of flamingo (Andean, Puna, and Chilean), lesser rhea, Puna miner, tamarugo conebill, black-throated flower-piercer, giant hummingbird, and Andean swallow. Rare and endemic birds include the Chilean woodstar, coastal miner, thick-billed miner, white-throated earthcreeper, slender-billed finch, and drab seedeater. Penguins, terns, gulls, cormorants, boobies, pelicans, and oystercatchers can all be found along the coast as well.

Cause for Concern

Vegetation in this ecoregion is often overgrazed by domestic livestock. The alteration of water-flow patterns in river valleys and the collection of firewood are also threats. Because of all the minerals found here, including copper, sodium nitrate, iodine, and salt, mining could be a potential problem as well.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.