snow. The permanent snow line begins
at only 2,300 feet (700 m) above sea level.
While forests prevail on the northernmost
islands and the mainland, the southernmost islands possess a tundra climate with
few woody plants.
When the Argentine government
brought the North American beaver pairs
from Canada to Tierra del Fuego in 1946,
it envisioned a prolific fur industry. In
earlier centuries, beaver pelts from North
America were among the most valuable
in the world. While the beavers were initially placed in commercial fur farms in
Argentina, when the fur trade never materialized the government released the animals. They quickly spread throughout the
islands wherever trees existed.
The beavers, the world’s second-largest rodent (South America’s capybara is
the largest), have since wreaked havoc on
the region’s trees. With virtually no natural predators, the beavers roamed free and
gnawed whatever trees were available.
The trees in the Patagonian forests have
CHILE
ARGENTINA
NORTH AMERICAN
BEAVERS DETROY
SOUTH AMERICAN
HABITAT
Stra
Geography
In The
News™
it
lake is usually formed initially by just a
pair of beavers. They do this to protect
themselves from possible predators, even
if none exist, and to give them easier access to food, primarily tree bark and other
vegetation around the lake.
When beavers take over an area, they
begin by gnawing the bark around nearby
trees, girdling and killing them. In addiNeal Lineback
tion, they raise the water level with their
expanding lakes, causing the roots of adand Mandy Lineback Gritzner
jacent trees to rot in the saturated soil and
the trees die. Today, there are thousands
of petrified-looking trees surrounding
lakes throughout beaver-infested areas in
Argentina and Chile. The tree trunks left
standing are dried out, grey and devoid of
leaves and limbs. Whole watersheds are
becoming wastelands.
The worried Chilean and Argentine
The Argentine government had good
governments want to halt the spread of
intentions when it introduced 50 beavers
beavers however possible. The Chilean
to the Patagonia region of South America
government has been paying hunters by
in 1946. Now, the beaver population has
the pelt to kill beaver since 2003. Some of
grown to more than 50,000 with many of
the beaver hunters use the pelts to prothe mammals migrating
duce high quality
as far north as mainland
furs, but the price
Beavers Eating Through Patagonian Forests
Chile. The government’s
of furs is depressed
ARGENTINA
Beaver Migration
hope to start a fur trade
in major markets.
1980’s
went horribly wrong and
Officials for the
1946
CHILE
Magellan
the North American beagovernment
are
1990’s
1950’s
of
ver is decimating some of
even
encourag2000’s
1960’s
Punta
the world’s most pristine
ing restaurants to
1970’s
Arenas
forests.
add beaver meat to
Tierra del Fuego, where
their menus. They
AT L A N T I C
the beavers were initially
are also considerOCEAN
introduced, is an archiing
widespread
pelago separated from the
poisoning efforts.
southernmost tip of the
Wildlife experts
South American mainland
say the beaver
by the Straits of Magellan.
populations on the
Ushuaia
The entire archipelago is
islands will eventu28,476 square miles (73,753
ally be limited by
sq. km). The southernmost
available resourcpoint of the archipelago
es—meaning that
PA C I F I C
forms Cape Horn.
when the trees are
OCEAN
The archipelago congone, the beavers
0
100 mi
sists of a main island
will be too. But
©2008
0
100 km
(Isla Grande de Tierra del
the
environmenGeography in the News 1/4/07
Source: Winston-Salem Journal 11/26/07
R. Huerta
Fuego) and a group of
tal damage will be
smaller islands. Half of the
permanent.
main island and the islands
North American
Sources: http://edition.cnn.com/NATURE/9907/09/argentina.beaver/;
west and south of it are part
beavers
in southhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4490517.stm; andMarra, Andrew
of Chile, while the eastern
ern
South
America
“Fighting an Invasion,” Winston-Salem Journal, Nov. 26, 2007, p. A-1.
part of the archipelago beare just another
longs to Argentina.
example of an enThe climates of Tierra del Fuego are not
vironmental crisis created by transplanted
not evolved natural defenses against beavery hospitable for most human activities.
exotic animals with no natural enemies.
vers, such as bad-tasting wood or an abilIt is a subpolar oceanic climate with short,
And that is Geography in the News™.
ity to re-grow from the trunk like some of
cool summers and long, wet, moderately
January 4, 2008. #918.
their North American counterparts have
cold winters. The northeast is characterized
Co-authors are Neal Lineback, Appalachian
done. The beavers eat every type of tree
by strong winds and little precipitation.
State University Professor Emeritus of
that exists in the region.
The south and west are very windy, foggy
Geography, and Geographer Mandy Lineback
The beavers use the trees they cut with
and wet for most of the year and there are
Gritzner. University News Director Jane
their razor-sharp teeth to also dam streams,
very few days without rain, slush, hail or
Nicholson serves as technical editor.
turning them into ponds and lakes. Each
©2008 Maps.com