Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert, is the driest desert in the world, with its location in the northern part of Chile, that goes all the way east from the Pacific Ocean to the zone of the Andes Mountains. All the way to the north, it goes until the border with Peru.
Key Characteristic: the Climate
The desert has an arid climate, very desertic since it is the driest coastal desert in the world, meaning that rainfalls are very rare since there can be at least 1 mm of precipitation in a year, but there are some areas in which there has been no rain in the last decades, and even centuries. For this reason, fog is the most important source of water for the living beings that live in these extreme conditions. Also, the northern part of the desert is considered more arid, while moving southward, the climate becomes less extreme.
Flora
In the southward part of the desert, there can be seen fog-zone vegetation with several species of vascular plants that can live in these conditions. The most relevant and viewed plants are the shrub “lechero” or “flor del lechero” (Euphorbia lactiflua), and the Eulychnia iquiquensis, from the family of the cactuses. In this zone, shrubby vegetation is the most common, some examples are the Echinopsis coquimbana or Oxalis gigantea. This type of vegetation is able to consume water for survival, from the fogs that are the main source in the place.
Also, in the aridest and northern parts of the desert, where the vegetation is very vague, the same species of Eulychnia iquiquensis and the Ciapiopa, that are types of cactuses that live in these extremely arid areas.
Flor del lechero
Located in the part of fog-zone vegetation, the Euphorbia lactiflua, is also called the "flor del lechero."
Fauna
The desert is an ecosystem that has one of the hardest environmental conditions for living beings, so the biodiversity of the region is mostly small. Still, there are animals that were able to adapt to the arid climate.
Gray Fox
The gray fox, which also predominates in the Patagonian regions, has a more grayish coat, as well as having a pompous tail with brown and black hairs. It is characterized by living in regions with more steppes, or desert. For this reason, in the north, it feeds mostly on lizards and rodents. It is smaller than the other Chilean fox, the Culpeo fox since it can reach a size of 40 to 60 cm.
Vizcacha
This rodent, which predominates in the southern regions of Atacama, is more related to the chinchilla family, because of the form of its ears and tail, although it can be mistaken for a hare due to its size. It is known for creating tunnels or holes, to be used as a refuge and home. Besides this, it is a herbivore that feeds on hard vegetables, or plants difficult to digest, which means that it has been known to adapt to the desertic vegetation and the aridest regions of the country.
Chinchilla
This rodent, besides being one of the food sources for predators such as the gray fox, lives in steep and rocky areas where bushy vegetation predominates and is very scarce. This chinchilla, which has a natural habitat in northwestern Chile, is called the Short-tailed Chinchilla since its ears and tail are smaller than those of the Long-tailed Chinchilla. In the same way, the two species are predominant in Chile and are at a high risk of extinction.
Unfortunately, humans were predators of the species, hunting it for coats of its soft fur. The chinchilla species in general has a very soft coat, as well as long and dense, something that was always very attractive to hunters. At the same time, another factor that puts it in danger is the mining and its processes that disturb the habitat of chinchillas in Atacama. For this reason, efforts are being made to restore chinchilla populations in various regions of Atacama, and other regions, so that the species remains in the fauna.
Flamenco
The Chilean flamenco is known for living in areas located at the extreme of the country, in shallow water areas. For this reason, it is located on the shores of salt flats, in the Atacama. Their diet is based on small invertebrates, along with aquatic vegetables. Its way of consuming food is by filling its large and bent beak with water, in this way it retains the food and expels the water with the tongue. Finally, its plumage is characterized by being white and pink (a lighter shade of pink).
However, their greatest threat is the degradation of their habitat, a problem that is also alarming for other species in this region, in addition to the fact that hunting and collecting their eggs could cause them to be in serious danger.
The secret life of Atacama
Microorganisms in the Atacama Desert
In most hyper-arid regions of the Atacama Desert, it was primarily thought that there was no type of life, but in recent studies, it has been found that microorganisms are able to survive the extreme conditions of these zones.
The microorganisms
The species found in the Atacama Desert are mostly actinobacteria, like the Streptomyces, Prauserella, or the Microlunatus. Also, there have been found archaea, which are another type of organisms, different from the bacterias. All of these organisms are extremophiles, meaning that they can resist and survive extreme temperatures.
Archaea: this microorganism is known for handling very extreme temperatures, such as the ones found in the Atacama desert, meaning that these are extremophile organisms. They can be autotrophs (organisms that produce their own food), or heterotrophs (organisms that consume food from other sources), so in this way, they are similar to the bacterias. However, the most important characteristic, is that they can survive really harsh conditions since it was proven that they can live in conditions where there is radiation.
Habitat and the life
The major factors that make the life of the microorganism available in the Atacama, are the extensive salt-pans or also called salt flats, located in the Salar Atacama. Moreover, other bacterias live in the driest desert zone of the place.
Other factors that determine the life of the microorganisms, are mainly the availability of liquid water and solar radiation, meaning that the organisms were able to evolve and create strategies in order to survive, by, for example, determining their location of growth. For this reason, desiccation and solar irradiation can control the microbial colonization in the region.
Finally, the soil structure of the Atacama Desert is very similar to the one found on Mars, showing that the investigations made in the desert could serve as a form of example and a working model for the research that is being made on Mars.