Natural Values

Landscapes of Iberá

At first glance, the landscape of Iberá is not particularly impressive due to its apparent flatness. Only after climbing a tree or carefully watching satellite images it may be noticed that it is not entirely uniform. With a trained eye, the yellow, ocher and green tones help to distinguish the boundaries between the “embalsados” (floating islands), wetlands, swamps, dry grasslands, “malezales” or flooded grasslands, caranday palm groves, yatay palm groves, gallery forests and dry and wet forests, can be perceived. This is how the main landscapes can be discovered:

Landscapes of Esteros del Iberá. Click on map to enlarge.

Lagoons and Floating Islands (Embalsados)

They are made of a compact mass of floating vegetation that grows on a soil formed by decomposing plants and interlacing roots. At times these islands open up creating bodies of water. These floating masses contain a very rich diversity of species, where carnivorous plants, ferns, totora and even large trees can be found. In times of drought the floating islands touch the bottom cutting off the flow of water; when the water levels rise again, the islands lift from the ground and split, giving rise to numerous streams.

Glens and Swamps

Piri grasses, reeds, huajos, totoras or cattails grow in flooded and shallow areas, forming large thick masses of vegetation, one to two meter high, called glens. In even more shallow waters, where the floor is only flooded every now and then, green and short grasses mixed with succulent plants grow. Cattle are very tempted by the swamps because of the very tender and palatable grass that grows on it.

Lagoons and floating islands (emblasados)

Glens and swamps

Grasslands and Round Lagoons

They are located along the sandy hills which were deposited by the Parana River in its old course through the center of the province. This "sea of ​​grasses" is sometimes interrupted by small isolated forests or by small round lagoons which can often hold floating islands. Reddish grasses around a meter and a half tall are known as paja colorada or broomsedge, while the lower and grey grasses growing on sand elevations that never flood are known as espartillos or wiregrass.

Forests and Savannas of Ñandubay

These are dry forests which grow continuously in some places. Where the tree tops do not come into contact with each other they grow rather like savannas. The predominant species is the ñandubay, a carob tree characteristic of the “espinal” of the Province of Entre Ríos. Closer to the shore of the wetlands the ñandubay grows intermingled with more typical species of the gallery forests and with carnauba palm trees (typical of flood-prone clay soils).

Grasslands

Forests and savannas of ñandubay

“Malezal” Grassland

At first glance they look like broomsedge pastures, however, a very irregular ground, like a keyboard, can be noticed after walking through them. Water accumulates in between the “keys” preventing trees from growing and enabling the development of grasses and small aquatic plants. In the Malezal the grass is continuous, not interrupted by lagoons or trees which cannot grow in these clay and always flooded soils.

Forests and Gallery Forests

The climate of northern Corrientes favors the formation of wet forests or rainforests, but only a few areas in the Iberá have soils that are drained well enough for these forests to survive. For this reason, forests and rainforests do not grow continuously here, but form either small patches of trees scattered along the horizon or gallery forests growing along temporary-water streams that cut across the higher lands from the east and south of Iberá. The areas with more extensive forests are located over sandy hills in the northwest corner of Iberá and the more diverse gallery forests are those of the Payubre stream, in the extreme southeast.

“Malezal” grassland

Patch of forest

Yatay Poñi and Caranday Palm Groves

Pygmy yatay poñi palm groves rise slightly through the wiregrass of the sandy hills. While they may grow up to three meters, they do not usually exceed one and a half. Over hundreds of years, they tend to be overrun by jungle trees which replace this palm grove landscape for that of a forest. Carnauba palm groves, instead, grow in poor, clay soils as they are adapted to survive in flooded land. However, they don’t live as long.

The Corriente River and its Sandbars

The entire marshland of Iberá drains through this flat-land river which, on its course, deposits sands that have been carried from upstream. The fluctuating water level does not allow for too much vegetation to grow or for a specific community to dominate. At times, the Corriente river looks like a lagoon, a swamp or a scrubland locked in between the sandbars, giving the landscape a versatile look.

Yatay poñi palm groves

The Corriente river and its sandbars

Agroforestry Landscapes

In recent decades with the advance of the agricultural frontier, a new pine and, to a lesser extent, eucalyptus forestation landscape has been incorporated. Just like every industrial landscape designed by man, it is very tidy, neat, simple and monotonous. The species grown are exotic and wildlife does not usually adapt well to these new conditions, resulting in the propagation of green deserts. This landscape is rapidly expanding on the western sandy hills, the sandbars entering from the north and on the northeastern higher lands, acting like a perimeter belt.

Caranday palm groves

Round lagoons