Patagonian grasslands Patagonian grasslands The Patagonian grasslands (NT0804) is an ecoregion in the south of Chile, Argentina and the Falkland Islands. The grasslands are home to diverse fauna, including several rare or endemic species of birds. There are few protected areas. The grasslands are threatened by overgrazing by sheep, which supply high-quality merino wool. Efforts are being made to develop sustainable grazing practices to avoid desertification. The Patagonian grasslands extend across eastern Tierra del Fuego in Chile and Argentina from near the southern cone, and cover part of Santa Cruz Province just north of the Strait of Magellan up to the Gallegos
Patagonian Ice Sheet of more than 500,000 km³, of which about 4% remains glaciated today in two separated portions known as the Northern and Southern Patagonian Ice Fields. The ice-volume reduction contributed to a global sea-level rise of about 1.2 meters. However, during the first glacial period at the beginning of the Pleistocene ice extended to the present-day Argentine coast. With each successive glaciation it is known that the ice has stopped further and further to the west, with aridity always serving as the decisive factor halting glacier spread: it is believed that the east-west precipitation gradients during glacial periods were even steeper