Peru has granted formal conservation status to Lomas y Tillandsiales de Amara y Ullujaya, a unique fog oasis ecosystem on the arid Peruvian coastline. The state-owned land, which spans 6,449 hectares (15,936 acres) in the Ica region of Southwest Peru and hosts hundreds of rare and threatened native species, will be protected for future research and exploration for at least three decades. Lomas are fog oasis ecosystems in Peru and Chile that have evolved over tens of millions of years and occur like hilltop “islands” in the desert. Located alongside the Pacific Ocean, the ecosystem depends entirely on sea-generated fog to sustain it. This kind of maritime climate is globally unique for a terrestrial habitat and occurs due to its proximity to converging warm tropical and cold Antarctic Ocean currents. Image courtesy of Hudson Yonjoy©Huarango Nature. “This is the first concession for conservation on the desert coast of Peru, and also the first concession for lomas fog ecosystems,” said Oliver Whaley, a scientist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, who has worked in Peru for more than 25 years. Lomas host endemic vascular plants, as well as wild tomato and papaya relatives, which act as important genetic resources for future proofing crops. The Amara y Ullujaya Lomas hosts around 95 from all 675 lomas species of vascular plants. Of these around 40% are endemic to the lomas, around 30% are threatened and at least 6 species are critically endangered (such as Nolana willeana on Peru red list). One lichen species, the Peruvian orange-bush lichen (Teloschistes peruensis) is known only within a few…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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