Lago Puelo National Park
Encyclopedia
The Lago Puelo National Park is a national park
of Argentina
, located in the northwest of the province
of Chubut
, in the Patagonia
. It has an area of 276.74 km². It was created in order to protect its wonderful landscape and the Valdivian flora
, as an annex to the Los Alerces National Park
, and declared National Park and independent reserve in 1971.
The protected area is named after the Puelo Lake
, and belongs to the Patagonic forest and steppe
s and High Andes eco-regions, with maximum heights of two hundred meters over sea level. The climate is cold and wet, with snowfall in winter. The valley has a trans-Andean connection and a particular microclimate.
The mountainous zone where the park lies was modified by the action of glacier
s, which created many rivers and lakes, including the one (Puelo Lake) that gives the park its name. The rivers of the region show high levels of glacier sediment (silt
), which gives Puelo Lake its blue color.
Some of the flora of the park belongs to the Valdivian rain forests (avellano, tique, lingue, ulmo). It also includes the ciprés de la cordillera, the coihue, the lenga, the radal, and the arrayán
. The rosa mosqueta is an exotic plant.
The fauna includes the pudú, the huemul, the red fox, the cougar, and the coipo. Among birds we find the huala, the pato vapor volador, the bandurria, the pitío and the zorzal patagónico. The lake features native fish such as the perca, the peladilla and the puyén grande, and foreign species of trout
.
The first settlers of the region were hunter-gatherer
s who lived in the steppe and employed stone tools to hunt guanacos. There are cave painting
s within the park, apparently showing representations of paths into the forest. Nowadays Mapuche
communities live in the eastern part of the park.
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
of Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, located in the northwest of the province
Provinces of Argentina
Argentina is subdivided into twenty-three provinces and one autonomous city...
of Chubut
Chubut Province
Chubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd parallel south and the 46th parallel south , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean...
, in the Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
. It has an area of 276.74 km². It was created in order to protect its wonderful landscape and the Valdivian flora
Valdivian temperate rain forests
The Valdivian temperate rain forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed-forest ecoregion located on the west coast of southern South America, lying mostly in Chile and extending into a small part of Argentina. It is part of the Neotropic ecozone. The forests are named after the city of Valdivia...
, as an annex to the Los Alerces National Park
Los Alerces National Park
The Los Alerces National Park is a national park in Chubut Province, Argentina, some 30 miles from Esquel. It is a park of 2,630 square kilometres along the border with Chile, best known for the alerce trees from which the park takes its name.The park was created in 1937 in order to protect the...
, and declared National Park and independent reserve in 1971.
The protected area is named after the Puelo Lake
Puelo Lake
Lake Puelo is a lake located in the north of the province of Chubut, in Argentine Patagonia. Of fluvial-glacial origin, its deepest point is some 180 meters below the water level....
, and belongs to the Patagonic forest and steppe
Steppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
s and High Andes eco-regions, with maximum heights of two hundred meters over sea level. The climate is cold and wet, with snowfall in winter. The valley has a trans-Andean connection and a particular microclimate.
The mountainous zone where the park lies was modified by the action of glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s, which created many rivers and lakes, including the one (Puelo Lake) that gives the park its name. The rivers of the region show high levels of glacier sediment (silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
), which gives Puelo Lake its blue color.
Some of the flora of the park belongs to the Valdivian rain forests (avellano, tique, lingue, ulmo). It also includes the ciprés de la cordillera, the coihue, the lenga, the radal, and the arrayán
Luma apiculata
Luma apiculata, is a species of tree in the genus Luma in the family Myrtaceae, native to the central Andes mountains between Chile and Argentina between 33 and 45° South Latitude. Synonyms include Myrtus luma Mol., Eugenia apiculata DC., Myrceugenia apiculata Niedenzu, and Myrceugenella...
. The rosa mosqueta is an exotic plant.
The fauna includes the pudú, the huemul, the red fox, the cougar, and the coipo. Among birds we find the huala, the pato vapor volador, the bandurria, the pitío and the zorzal patagónico. The lake features native fish such as the perca, the peladilla and the puyén grande, and foreign species of trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
.
The first settlers of the region were hunter-gatherer
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
s who lived in the steppe and employed stone tools to hunt guanacos. There are cave painting
Cave painting
Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest European cave paintings date to the Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...
s within the park, apparently showing representations of paths into the forest. Nowadays Mapuche
Mapuche
The Mapuche are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina. They constitute a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who shared a common social, religious and economic structure, as well as a common linguistic heritage. Their influence extended...
communities live in the eastern part of the park.
Sources
- Administración de Parques Nacionales — National Parks Administration of Argentina (in Spanish and English)