Los Queules National Reserve

Los Queules National Reserve is a national reserve of Chile. It covers an area of 1.47 km² in the Chilean Coastal Range.^[1] The reserve ranges from 400 to 500 meters in elevation.^[2]

Los Queules National Reserve
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)[1]
Copihue (Lapageria rosea) in Los Queules National Reserve
Location	Maule Region,  Chile
Nearest city	Cauquenes
Coordinates	35.9492°S 72.6159°W / -35.9492; -72.6159
Area	1.47 km2 (0.57 sq mi)
Designation	National Reserve
Established	1995
Governing body	CONAF

The reserve contains one of the larger remaining patches of Maulino forest, a distinctive forest community at the transition between Mediterranean climate central Chile and the cool and humid Valdivian temperate forests further south.^[3]

The reserve is named after the queule tree (Gomortega keule), a species native to the Maulino forest. Other characteristic Maulino forest species present in the reserve include Pitavia punctata, Nothofagus alessandrii, and Nothofagus glauca. Outside the reserve the Maulino forests have been mostly extirpated and replaced with plantations of non-native radiata pine (Pinus radiata) or converted to agriculture or livestock pasture.^[2]

References

1. UNEP-WCMC (2023). Protected Area Profile for Los Queules from the World Database on Protected Areas. Accessed 20 April 2023.
2. Hinojosa, L. F., Armesto, J. J., & Villagrán, C. (2006). Are Chilean Coastal Forests Pre-Pleistocene Relicts? Evidence from Foliar Physiognomy, Palaeoclimate, and Phytogeography. Journal of Biogeography, 33(2), 331–341. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3554890>}
3. Bustamante, Ramiro O.; Simonetti, Javier A.; Grez, Audrey A.; San Martín, José (2005). "Fragmentación y dinámica de regeneración del bosque Maulino: diagnóstico actual y perspectivas futuras" [Fragmentation and regeneration dynamics of the Maulino forest: present status and future prospects] (PDF). In Smith, C.; Armesto, J.; Valdovinos, C. (eds.). Historia, biodiversidad y ecología de los bosques costeros de Chile (in Spanish). pp. 529–539.