Introduction

The ecological reserve of Vicente Lopez has a surface area of approximately 3.5 has. It is located over the Rio del Plata in the limit that separates the municipality of Vicente Lopez from San Isidro. This natural area along with other urban reserves is one of the last properties left where the original Rio del Plata atmosphere is conserved, regarding the real hosts of the reserve: the plants and animals characteristic of the zone.

Source:
All text taken with permission from the Vicente Lopez Ecological Reserve brochures.
Text translated from Spanish by Lincoln students.

Marsh

In the marsh habitat a great variety of plants, such as the pajas bravas and sagitarianas, have adapted to living in flooded places. It is very common to see the eggs of a lagoon snail, named ampularia, in the stems of these plants. These small eggs are very bright pink, often mistaken for that of a frog or a toad. Another inhabitant of the swamp is the river rose, a relative to the Chinese rose and the malvas. Its pink flowers last for only the duration of a day. Also living in this environment are trees like the ceibo, the national flower of Argentina and Uruguay. It is a tree that grows up to 10 meters, with soft wood, adapted to live in damp places. Its scientific name is ërythrina crista galli , meaning red crest of rooster, alluding to its color and shape. The ceibos don't live alone, as a great amount of insects and birds visit it daily. It is very common to see the ceibo releasing foam, caused by the action of a cigarrita that lives in its interior eliminating sugars and proteins that the tree extracts in order to eat. The tree, as a characteristic rioplatensen (of the Rio del Plata) tree, is full of lianas and plants like orchids, helechos, and cactus, among others.

Trees

This forest is made up of trees, almost all of which contain spines. These live in elevated floors with a small provision of water. Here the one in charge is the tala, a tree who is related to the olmo, with its tree branches in the shape of a zigzag and its orange fruits appreciated by the birds. With this, they form the following spinal: the molle, the chanar, the espinillo, and the white algarrobo a tree which isn't very common in Buenos Aires due to its usefulness for the manufacture of furniture. The ombu is a tree to some and to others a giant herb, as it does not contain actual wood. This giant tree lives almost a thousand years and is typical in this zone, and not from the pampas as is usually thought. The criollo man transferred it there to give him shade. In Buenos Aires, it is very difficult to see trees in perfect condition, and for this reason this environment is very important for Argentines to preserve due to its natural and cultural history.

The birds that habit this zone are: red zorzal, tordos , boyeros, and another great variety of birds.

Marginal Jungle

The name "marginal jungle" stems from the vegetation that grows in the water's shore--the trees grow very close to each other, competing for light. Some large trees found here are the timbo, the laurel criollo, the palmera pindo, the higueron a tree that can grow over others wrapping them with its roots, the turuma, relative to the verbena, and the chalchal tree, from which the folkloric group The Chalchaleros take their name. As we pass through this environment, the yeruti dove offers us its melancholy song, along with other birds like the pirincho, the cuclillo, the crespin and the burritos.

Pasture

"A sea of pasture," in the words of the great writer and Argentine naturalist W.E. Hudson, describes perfectly an environment without trees, but with a great variety of grasses, like the cortadera or the plumerillo. This zone is faithful to the image of the pampean pasture, the most depredated environment of the country. The pasture can be monotonous but it gives a great variety of wild life; it offers caves and shelters for small rodents like the cuises, ofidios, and the over lizard, along with insects.

Spears of wheat provide food for the birds. Found here are verdones, tijeretas, chingolos, jilgueros, mistos, ratonas, picos de plata, tacuarita azul, churrinches, benteveos, picabueyes, and calandrias.

As Atahualpa Yupanqui said: "For the one who looks without seeing, the land is only land, the Pampas say nothing to him, not even the creek or the sauzal, and to think that to many, land is only land."

Lagoon

With no doubt it is the most attractive item of the reserve, in this mirror of water, naturally carpeted with aquatic plants like the camalotes, helechitos, repollitos de agua and peaches of the water. One can discover a great variety of fauna: turtles, river turtles, snake necked turtles, herons, white herons, blue herons, and a number of singing of birds.

Riberian Scrub

The Riberian scrub is formed by bushes, the next vegetation closest to the Rio del Plata after the rushes. The acacia ceibillo, a bush with very flashy red flowers similar to the ceibos (though smaller), is found here. Along with the ceibillo are other species like mimosas, algodonillos, white and red sarandies , yellow sticks higuerones and pindo palms. Also in this environment there is a large variety of fauna like wasps, butterflies, red chinches, and more.

The Juncal