Chilean Matorral
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The Chilean Matorral is a terrestrial ecoregion of central Chile, located on the west coast of South America. It is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrub ecoregion, part of the Neotropic ecozone.
The Matorral is characterized by a temperate Mediterranean climate, with rainy winters and dry summers. It is one of the world's five Mediterranean climate regions, which are all located in the middle latitudes on the west coast of continents. The Mediterranean region, the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California and Baja California, the Cape Province of South Africa, and southwestern corner of Australia are the other Mediterranean climate regions.
The Matorral occupies the coastal areas of central Chile between the Pacific Ocean and the high Andes Mountains. The Chilean Coastal Range lies along the coast, and the Chilean Central Valley lies between the Coastal range and the Andes Mountains. To the north is the extremely dry Atacama desert, which separates the Matorral from the tropical forests of northern South America. To the south lies the cooler and wetter Valdivian temperate rain forests ecoregion, which includes most of South America's temperate rain forests.
The Matorral region has many endemic plant species, with affinities to the South American tropics, the Antarctic flora, and the Andes. About 95% of the plant species are endemic to Chile, including Gomortega keule, Pitavia punctata, Nothofagus alessandrii, and the Chilean Wine Palm, Jubaea chilensis.
The Matorral contains the majority of Chile's population and largest cities. The Central valley is Chile's main agricultural region, and the region is also subject to extensive grazing, logging, and urbanization. Of Chile's ecoregions, the Matorral is the least protected by national parks and preserves.