Lomas
Lomas (Spanish for "hills"), also called fog oases and mist oases, are areas of fog-watered vegetation in the coastal desert of Peru and northern Chile. About 100 lomas near the Pacific Ocean are identified between 5°S and 30°S latitude, a north–south distance of about 2,800 kilometres (1,700 mi). Lomas range in size from a small vegetated area to more than 40,000 hectares (99,000 acres) and their flora includes many endemic species. Apart from river valleys and the lomas the coastal desert is almost without vegetation. Scholars have described individual lomas as "an island of vegetation in a virtual ocean of desert."[1]
In a nearly rainless desert, the lomas owe their existence to the moist dense fog and mist which rolls in from the Pacific. The fog is called garúa in Peru and Camanchaca in Chile.
Environment
According to the
Occasional rainfall is caused by
The moisture for the vegetation in the lomas comes from fog which rolls in from the nearby Pacific Ocean and embraces mountains which come down near the sea. The cold waters of the
Lomas comprise less than two percent of the coastal desert areas of Chile and Peru. Peru has more than 40 lomas totaling in area less than 2,000 square kilometres (770 sq mi) out of a total desert area of 144,000 square kilometres (56,000 sq mi). Chile has almost 50 lomas with an area of less than 5,000 square kilometres (1,900 sq mi) out of a total desert area of 291,000 square kilometres (112,000 sq mi).[10]
Climate change
Teetering on a narrow edge of survival, the lomas are sensitive to climate change. Radio-carbon dating has indicated that, prior to 3800 BCE, the Peruvian desert north of Lima (12° S latitude) received more seasonal precipitation and was mostly vegetated. Lomas—isolated fog oases—existed only south of Lima. This is evidenced by the uniformity of plant species in present-day lomas north of Lima while lomas south of Lima have more endemic plant species, indicating geographic isolation. The cause of the climatic change was probably the duration and strength of El Niño events.[11]
Destruction
Lomas have been impacted, and in some cases destroyed, by centuries of unregulated grazing, wood-cutting, and mining.[12] In Chile, the Huasco (28°26′ S) and Copiapó (27°22′ S) river valleys once supported dense stands of trees. In the 18th century, the city of Copiapó was known as San Francisco de la Selva (Saint Francis of the Forest) for its extensive forests.[13] As the branches of trees and bushes trap the fog and create more moisture for other plants, their absence reduces the viability for all the plant life in the lomas.[14]
In many locations the lomas were over-exploited for agriculture and grazing. One example is that, in prehistoric times, 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of
Preservation
In Peru, the
The Lomas de
In Chile the Pan de Azúcar (26°09′S) and Llanos de Challe (28°10′) National Parks and the La Chimba National Reserve (23°32′S, 70°21′W) preserve lomas. The richest diversity of species of lomas flora in Chile, however, is near the village of Paposo (25°00′S). The fog oasis near Paposo occur at elevations of 200 metres (660 ft) to 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) with altitudes from 400 metres (1,300 ft) to 700 metres (2,300 ft) having the most abundant growth of vegetation. The Paposo area has been declared a Zone of Ecological Protection by the Government of Chile.[22]
References
- ^ Dillon, Michael O., "The Solanaceae of the Lomas Formations of Coastal Peru and Chile," www.sacha.org/solanaceae/lomas_solanaceae.pdf, accessed 17 Jul 2017
- ^ "Clasificación Climática de Köppen" (in Spanish). Universidad de Chile. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
- ^ Inzunza, Juan. "Capitulo 15. Climas de Chile" (PDF). Meteorología Descriptiva y Aplicaciones en Chile (in Spanish). p. 427. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- ^ "The desert biome", http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/exhibits/biomes/deserts.php, accessed 16 Jul 2016
- ^ "Yungay – the driest place in the world". Wondermondo. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
- ISBN 978-0-07-860977-0.
- ^ "The 'driest place on Earth' is covered with pink flowers after a crazy year of rain," The Washington Post, October 29, 2015
- ^ Rundel, P. W., Dillion, M.O., Palma, B., Mooney, H.A., Gulmon, S. L., and Ehleringer, J. R., "The Phytogeography and Ecology of the Coastal Atacama and Peruvian Deserts," In Aliso. (1 ed., Vol. 13, pp. 1-49)
- ^ "Lima, Peru. Weatherbase, http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=82648&cityname=Lima-Lima-Peru&units=metric, accessed 17 Jul 2016
- ^ "South America, Site SA42, Lomas Formations, Peru" http://botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/sa/sa43.htm and "South America, Site SA43, Lomas Formations of the Atacama Desert, Chile", http://botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/sa/sa42.htm, accessed 16 July 2016
- ^ Quilter, Jeffrey (2014), The Ancient Central Andes, New York: Routledge, pp. 56-57
- ^ "South America, Site SA42, Lomas Formations, Peru" http://botany.si.edu/projects/cpd/sa/sa43.htm, accessed 17 July 2016
- ^ Rundel, et al, p. 14
- ^ Quilter, p. 71
- ^ Zaro, Gregory (2007), "Diversity Specialists: Coastal Resource Management and Historical Contingency in the Osmore Desert of Southern Peru," Latin American Antiquity, Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 165-174
- ^ "De Lachay-- Servicio Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado", http://www.sernanp.gob.pe/de-lachay, accessed 17 July 2016
- ^ Peru: The Blessing of Water in Peru's Coastal Desert," The Nature Conservancy, http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/southamerica/peru/explore/lomas-de-atiquipa.xml Archived 2017-08-21 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 17 Jul 2016
- ISSN 0155-977X.
- S2CID 249356224.
- ISSN 1359-0987.
- ISSN 0268-540X.
- ^ "La Flora de Quebrada de Paposo", http://www.chileflora.com/Florachilena/FloraSpanish/SHFloralPaposo.htm, accessed 18 July 2016