Environmental issues in Chile Environmental issues in Chile This page covers environmental issues in Chile. The country of Chile is a virtual continental island bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Andes Mountains on the east, and the Atacama Desert in the north; it is home to several important ecoregions, such as the Chilean Winter Rainfall-Valdivian Forests, a biodiversity hotspot that harbors richly endemic flora and fauna, and the Tropical Andes, which stretches into northern Chile. There are endangered species in Chile, including the South Andean huemul, tundra peregrine falcon, puna rhea, Chilean woodstar, ruddy-headed goose, and green sea turtle. As of
Flora of the Sonoran Desert absent on the California side of the Colorado River. Desert Holly ("Atriplex hymenelytra") can tolerate even the hottest and driest sites. The area where two vegetation types border, overlap, and transition is called an ecotone. The ecotone between the hotter, drier Colorado Desert and that of the relatively cooler and wetter Arizona Upland occurs from Parker, Arizona southeast to near Phoenix, then south to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Density of vegetation gradually diminishes moving from the Arizona Upland into the Colorado Desert proper. can be found with stems climbing through shrubs and other vegetation, producing "spectacular" floral displays on