Ecology of the Fuegian Archipelago

CHRISTOPHER B. ANDERSON; ALEJANDRO E. J. VALENZUELA; MATHIAS HUME; ERNESTO DAVIS; SILVIA MURCIA

Thematic Outreach Atlas for Navarino Island and Surroundings

Universidad de Magallanes

Lugar: Punta Arenas; Año: 2013; p. 20 - 45

Ecology is the science that studies interactions between living creatures and their environment and how these processes influence patterns of species distribution and abundance. In the Fuegian Archipelago, many ecological patterns and processes respond to the influence of climate (temperature, wind, precipitation). The weather of the southern tip of South America is temperate/cold and oceanic, presenting short, cool summers (mean temperature: 9ºC) and long, but not extremely cold winters (mean temperature: 0ºC). The most frequent winds are from southwest to northeast, coming from the Antarctic waters of the southern Pacific Ocean. These climatic patterns combine with the topography of the Andes Mountain Range, which in