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14
Flora and vegetation
The main types of existing natural
vegetation are: different types of natu-
ral grassland, sand dune vegetation,
alkaline soils, general riparian forests,
Chaco park forest, flat-topped hill
forests; palm groves of Butia yatay and
Trithrinax campestris, scrubland, wet-
lands and stubble.
All of these vegetation types are
considered special either because they
represent types of vegetation that are
in decline or endangered or because
they are home to rare species or species
with restricted distribution in Uruguay.
These include some forests in
Chaco park, Yatay palm trees, ravine
forests and flat-topped hills and certain
types of natural grassland.
The aim is for the majority of the
types of threatened vegetation, as well
as the types of environment, to be
represented in the company’s reserve
areas.
The most significant findings
include the first recorded sighting
in Uruguay of the species Chloraea
bella (Orchidaceae), Conyza lorentzii
(Asteraceae), Leptochloa chloridi-
formis (Poaceae), Ipheion tweedianum
(Alliaceae), or species new to science,
as in the case of Cereus sp. (Cactace-
ae). Other findings confirmed the pres-
ence of rare, endangered and endemic
species, as well as a large number of
more common species.
The presence of these rare species
is verified and monitored periodically
in the main areas of conservation. The
most relevant results are presented in
the chapter on Environmental Moni-
toring.
Fauna
Field surveys have been carried out
to determine the composition of the
wildlife present on different company
plots. Tetrapods basically comprise
four zoological classes: Amphibians,
reptiles, birds and mammals. The
table shows the number of species
according to their class found at a
national level and how these are dis-
tributed in the regions where UPM
Forestal Oriental carries out its activi-
ties.
As you can see, more than half of
all species recorded for the country,
excluding marine species, have been
registered on UPM Forestal Oriental
plots and, in some cases, the distribu-
tion of previously known species has
expanded.
DID YOU KNOW?
With regard to flora, around 1200
species have been detected. This is
equivalent to saying that about half
of the species that make up all of
the country’ flora are present in the
company’s fields, representing the
most diverse biological types (trees,
shrubs, grasses, epiphytes, etc.).