Mburucuyá National Park is a National park in 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...

. It is located in the north west of the Corrientes Province

Corrientes Province

Corrientes is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by : Paraguay, the province of Misiones, Brazil, Uruguay, and the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Chaco.-History:...

 around 150 km from the city of Corrientes

Corrientes

Corrientes is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12...

 and covers an area of 176 square kilometres of the Iberá Wetlands

Iberá Wetlands

The Iberá Wetlands are a mix of swamps, bogs, stagnant lakes, lagoons, natural slough and courses of water in the center and center-north of the . The Esteros are the second-largest wetlands in world after Pantanal in Brazil...

.

The area is important for the provision of water, the regulation of floods and draughts

Draughts

Draughts is a group of abstract strategy board games between two players which involve diagonal moves of uniform pieces and mandatory captures by jumping over the enemy's pieces. Draughts developed from alquerque...

 in the local region through its effects on the regional microclimate

Microclimate

A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...

.

History

Around 5,000 years ago the area was populated by indigenous peoples

Indigenous peoples

Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....

, in more recent times the area was occupied by the Guaraní who introduced the cultivation of maize

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

, squash, beans

Common bean

Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean, is an herbaceous annual plant domesticated independently in ancient Mesoamerica and the Andes, and now grown worldwide for its edible bean, popular both dry and as a green bean. The leaf is occasionally used as a leaf vegetable, and the straw is used for fodder...

, Cassava

Cassava

Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...

, cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

 and yerba mate

Yerba mate

Maté, yerba maté or erva maté , Ilex paraguariensis, is a species of holly native to subtropical South America in northeastern Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay...

.

When the territory was colonized by the Spanish

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

 many of the original settlements were occupied and substantially modified. The introduction of large scale agriculture saw the indescriminate deforestation

Deforestation

Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....

 of native trees.

The creation of the national park occurred in the 20th century. After the 2nd World War Dr. Troels Pederson donated the territory for the creation of the national park. The objectives of the park are to maintain the environment and show the region in its historical context.

Natural resources

The zone is divided between three distinct natural regions chaqueña, espinal and selva paranaense.

Chaco Oriental

Composed of woodland, palms, grass plains and wetlands. Some characteristic native species are quebracho

Schinopsis

Schinopsis is a genus of South American trees in the family Anacardiaceae. The species within this genus inhabit different regions of the Gran Chaco ecoregion including parts of northern Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay....

 (quebracho colorado

Schinopsis lorentzii

Schinopsis lorentzii is a hardwood tree, native of the Paraguayan subtropical area, which forms forests in Gran Chaco region of Argentina, in Paraguay, and Bolivia. Some of its common names are coronillo, quebracho Cornillo , quebracho chaqueño, quebracho colorado santiagueño, quebracho macho, and...

 and quebraco blanco

Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco

Quebracho blanco is a South American tree species, which is found in the northern regions of Argentina. It must not be confused with other species also known as quebracho, but belonging to the genus Schinopsis.-Growth:Quebracho blanco wood is uniformly yellow-ochre, without differences between...

) urunday

Astronium graveolens

Astronium graveolens is a species of flowering tree in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae, that is native to Yucatán in Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Bolivia. Common names include Glassywood, Ronrón , and Aroeira...

 and viraró, prosopis

Prosopis

Prosopis is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in arid soil and are resistant to drought, on occasion...

, palms and caranday

Copernicia alba

Copernicia alba is a South American species of palm tree, which is found in the humid part of the Gran Chaco ecoregion in Bolivia, Paraguay, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina . They often, but not always, form dense single-species woodlands...

.

Selva Paranaense

The area is characterised by small hills, local species include the syagrus romanzoffiana

Syagrus romanzoffiana

Syagrus romanzoffiana is a palm native to South America, from northern Argentina north to eastern Brazil and west to eastern Bolivia. It is very similar to the coconut palm. It had been classified within the Cocos genus as Cocos plumosa, was assigned to Arecastrum, then moved to Syagrus...

 palm timbó

Enterolobium contortisiliquum

Enterolobium contortisiliquum, commonly known as the Pacara Earpod Tree, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae....

 and laurel.

El Espinal

The region is populated with yatay palms, poaceae

Poaceae

The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...

 and diverse xerophile

Xerophile

Xerophiles are extremophilic organisms that can grow and reproduce in conditions with a low availability of water, also known as water activity. Water activity is a measure of the amount of water within a substrate that an organism can use to support sexual growth. Xerophiles are often said to...

 woodland.

Fauna

The park has around 150 species of birds, and many species of animal including capybara

Capybara

The capybara , also known as capivara in Portuguese, and capibara, chigüire in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador ronsoco in Peru, chigüiro, and carpincho in Spanish, is the largest living rodent in the world. Its closest relatives are agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs...

, caymen, fox

Fox

Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...

es armadillo

Armadillo

Armadillos are New World placental mammals, known for having a leathery armor shell. Dasypodidae is the only surviving family in the order Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra along with the anteaters and sloths. The word armadillo is Spanish for "little armored one"...

s jaguar

Jaguar

The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...

s and brown howler monkeys. Endangered species include maned wolf

Maned Wolf

The maned wolf is the largest canid of South America, resembling a large fox with reddish fur.This mammal is found in open and semi-open habitats, especially grasslands with scattered bushes and trees, in south, central-west and south-eastern Brazil The maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is the...

 neotropical river otter

Neotropical River Otter

The Neotropical Otter , Lontra longicaudis, is an otter species found in Central America, South America and the island of Trinidad....

 and marsh deer

Marsh Deer

The Marsh Deer, Blastocerus dichotomus , is the largest deer species from South America reaching a length of and a height of at the rump. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay...

.

Native fish species include golden dorado

Golden dorado

The Golden Dorado is a large river fish that lives in central and east-central South America. Despite having Salminus in its name, the dorado is not related to any species of salmon, nor to the saltwater fish also called dorado...

 and pseudoplatystoma

Pseudoplatystoma

Pseudoplatystoma is a genus of several South American catfish species of family Pimelodidae. The three species are known by a number of different common names. They inhabit the major rivers of north-eastern Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil. They prefer the main channels and...