Plant Ecology 158: 5–19, 2002. 5 © 2002 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Vegetation composition, structure, and biomass of two unpolluted watersheds in the Cordillera de Piuchue,´ Chiloe´ Island, Chile John J. Battles1,JuanJ.Armesto2,DavidR.Vann3,DanielJ.Zarin4, Juan Carlos Aravena2, Cecilia Perez´ 2 & Arthur H. Johnson3 1University of California, Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, 151 Hilgard Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-3110, USA (e-mail:
[email protected]); 2Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Ciencias, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile; 3University of Pennsylvania, Department of Earth and Environmental Sci- ence, 240 S. 33rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6316, USA; 4University of New Hampshire, Durham, Department of Natural Resources, Durham, NH 03824, USA Accepted in revised form 1 May 2000 Key words: Fitzroya cupressoides, Old-growth temperate rainforests, Pilgerodendron uviferum, Vegetation gradient Abstract Research in pristine forests provides a necessary reference of energy and nutrient cycling in absence of anthro- pogenic influence. Therefore two unpolluted watersheds in the Cordillera de Piuchué of southern Chile (42 ◦30 S) were chosen for detailed ecosystem analysis. The goals of this study were to quantify the distribution of the living biomass in the research watershed and to document topographic gradients in the vegetation. Across a small spatial gradient from ravine bottom to ridgetop (approximately 60 m in elevation and < 300 m in length) in the Cordillera de Piuchué watersheds, there were significant shifts in vegetation composition, structure, and biomass. Based on sampling in 18, 100 m2 plots, we identified three distinct community associations: a Fitzroya forest at the bottom of the watershed, a mid-slope Pilgerodendron-Tepualia transition zone, and a ridgetop moorland community.