San Guillermo National Park
San Guillermo National Park is a national park in Argentina, in the Iglesia Department of San Juan Province. It was established in 1998 and is part of the San Guillermo Biosphere Reserve. Elevations in the biosphere range from to. Vegetation in the National Park and biosphere consists of barren desert, grasslands, and a few wetlands, all located in the high, arid Andes. The animals include vicuña, guanaco, culpeo fox, Andean mountain cat, cougar, and Andean condor.
The park
The San Guillermo National Park is located in the northern part of San Juan Province, Argentina near the town of Rodeo. The park was established on January 13, 1999. It has an area of 166,000 hectares in the high Andes, and includes puna grassland and mountain summits. It was originally set up as a provincial reserve in 1972 and became the San Guillermo Biosphere Reserve in 1980. Its main objective is to preserve the natural habitat of vicuñas, and at the same time protect the other plants and animals of this mountain area.Ecology
The biosphere has an area of. The core area is the National Park and consists of arid mountain ranges with no permanent water courses. The soils are mostly rocky and coarse, but some areas with favorable conditions, mostly above, support steppe grassland. The flora consists of scattered dwarf shrubs, interspersed with coarse grasses and herbaceous plants, and much bare ground. The shrubs include Adesmia, Parastrephia, Fabiana, Azorella and Ephedra (plant). Grasses present include Stipa, Calamagrostis and Festuca and flowering plants include Astragalus, Tropaeolum, Phacelia and Glandularia.The main reason for setting up the biosphere reserve was to protect vicuñas. Also present in the reserve are the guanaco, the culpeo fox, the Andean mountain cat, the cougar, the southern viscacha, the short-tailed chinchilla, the Darwin's rhea, various ducks and geese, and the Andean condor.