217
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. J. Pastorino, P. Marchelli (eds.), Low Intensity Breeding of Native Forest
Trees in Argentina, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56462-9_8
Chapter 8
Subtropical Dry Forests: The Main Forest
Ecoregion of Argentina
Aníbal Verga and Diego López Lauenstein
8.1 Main Physiographic and Physiognomic Features
of the Argentine Chaco
According to the Royal Spanish Academy (https://dle.rae.es/chaco), the word
“chaco” is derived from the Quechua word “chacu.” “Chacu” refers to a type of
hunting historically done by indigenous communities in South America in which
hunters would circle around the targeted animal before closing in to kill it. This
etymology reflects the cultural rather than geographical meaning of the term, highlighting that the Chaco is not merely a territory, but the vital space of an ancestral
human group.
The Great American Chaco is a sparsely populated, lowland natural region of the
Río de la Plata basin, of approximately 850,000 km
2
divided among eastern Bolivia,
western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a small portion of southern Brazil. It
extends into both tropical and temperate zones and is one of the major wooded
grasslands in South America (Pacheco Balanza et al. 2012; Spensley et al. 2013).
The Argentine portion occupies approximately 60% of the total surface of the Great
American Chaco, and for the country, it represents the largest native forest area. The
rainfall regime is monsoonal, with concentrated rains during the summer (between
October and March). The entire region is between the mean annual precipitation
contour lines of 1200 and 300 mm (Fig. 8.1). In general, the gradient goes from the
A. Verga (*)
Agencia de Extensión Rural INTA, La Rioja, Argentina
Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales, Unidad de Estudios Agropecuarios
(IFRGV, UDEA) INTA-CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina
e-mail: verga.anibal@inta.gob.ar
D. López Lauenstein
Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales, Unidad de Estudios Agropecuarios
(IFRGV, UDEA) INTA-CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. J. Pastorino, P. Marchelli (eds.), Low Intensity Breeding of Native Forest
Trees in Argentina, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56462-9_8
Chapter 8
Subtropical Dry Forests: The Main Forest
Ecoregion of Argentina
Aníbal Verga and Diego López Lauenstein
8.1 Main Physiographic and Physiognomic Features
of the Argentine Chaco
According to the Royal Spanish Academy (https://dle.rae.es/chaco), the word
“chaco” is derived from the Quechua word “chacu.” “Chacu” refers to a type of
hunting historically done by indigenous communities in South America in which
hunters would circle around the targeted animal before closing in to kill it. This
etymology reflects the cultural rather than geographical meaning of the term, highlighting that the Chaco is not merely a territory, but the vital space of an ancestral
human group.
The Great American Chaco is a sparsely populated, lowland natural region of the
Río de la Plata basin, of approximately 850,000 km
2
divided among eastern Bolivia,
western Paraguay, northern Argentina, and a small portion of southern Brazil. It
extends into both tropical and temperate zones and is one of the major wooded
grasslands in South America (Pacheco Balanza et al. 2012; Spensley et al. 2013).
The Argentine portion occupies approximately 60% of the total surface of the Great
American Chaco, and for the country, it represents the largest native forest area. The
rainfall regime is monsoonal, with concentrated rains during the summer (between
October and March). The entire region is between the mean annual precipitation
contour lines of 1200 and 300 mm (Fig. 8.1). In general, the gradient goes from the
A. Verga (*)
Agencia de Extensión Rural INTA, La Rioja, Argentina
Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales, Unidad de Estudios Agropecuarios
(IFRGV, UDEA) INTA-CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina
e-mail: verga.anibal@inta.gob.ar
D. López Lauenstein
Instituto de Fisiología y Recursos Genéticos Vegetales, Unidad de Estudios Agropecuarios
(IFRGV, UDEA) INTA-CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina