Desert Plants of Northern Chile Deliver Hidden Ecosystem Services, First Systematic Inventory Reveals

In one of the most extreme arid environments on Earth, where rainfall can be measured in decades rather than seasons, a team of Chilean researchers has completed the first systematic inventory of the ecosystem services supplied by native xerophytic vegetation across the desert macrozone of northern Chile. The study, published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, covers the regions of Arica and Parinacota, Tarapacá and Antofagasta, a vast territory dominated by the Atacama Desert and the high Andean plateaus. By weaving together a structured review of 71 scientific documents and the accumulated knowledge of 10 regional specialists, the researchers built a baseline that links more than 100 native plant species to the services they provide, many of which had never been catalogued in a systematic way before.

Xerophytic vegetation refers to plants adapted to survive prolonged water scarcity through a suite of remarkable physiological and morphological strategies. Deep taproots that reach fossil groundwater, reduced and waxy leaves that minimize transpiration, succulent tissues that store scarce moisture, and extensive shallow root systems that capture brief fog and dew events all allow these species to persist where most life cannot. Far from being biological wastelands, the deserts of northern Chile host communities of shrubs, cacti, and hardy trees such as Prosopis species that underpin ecological processes across the landscape. The new inventory demonstrates that these formations are not botanical curiosities but active providers of benefits to human societies, from rural Andean communities to mining towns scattered across the arid interior.

The methodology combined two complementary sources of evidence. The literature review screened decades of published research on the flora, ecology, and ethnobotany of the three northernmost regions, extracting documented associations between native species and human uses or ecological functions. This was then enriched through consultation with ten specialists, including botanists, ecologists, and experts in indigenous knowledge, who helped validate, correct, and extend the documented service records. The resulting framework classifies services following established international typologies, distinguishing provisioning services such as food, fodder, fuelwood, and medicinal plants; regulating services such as soil stabilization, microclimate regulation, and water cycling; and cultural services tied to identity, spirituality, and traditional practices.

Among the most striking findings is the prominence of medicinal plants within the provisioning category. Native species of the northern desert have long been harvested for therapeutic purposes, and the inventory shows that this use remains one of the most widespread and culturally significant links between people and xerophytic flora. Many of these plants are collected from wild populations, often without management controls, which raises immediate concerns about overharvesting. The authors note that unsustainable extraction is one of the principal drivers of degradation affecting these formations, alongside the expansion of mining operations and the intensifying pressures of climate change across the Atacama and adjacent Andean environments.

Cultural services emerge as a second pillar of the inventory. The xerophytic vegetation of northern Chile is deeply entwined with the identity and traditional practices of indigenous Aymara, Quechua, and Atacameño communities, whose knowledge systems encode centuries of interaction with these plants. Species are used in rituals, crafts, construction, and ceremonial practices, and the persistence of these traditions depends directly on the persistence of the plant populations themselves. The study emphasizes that this biocultural dimension is not merely an interesting footnote but a core component of ecosystem service assessment in the region, consistent with growing global evidence that indigenous lands harbor a disproportionate share of the world’s remaining biodiversity and that cultural continuity and ecological integrity are mutually reinforcing.

Regulating services, though less visible, may be the most ecologically critical. Desert shrubs stabilize soils against wind and water erosion, a function of enormous importance in landscapes where soil formation operates on geological timescales and where loss of vegetation cover can trigger irreversible desertification. Vegetation patches also modulate the local microclimate, buffering temperature extremes and maintaining humidity conditions that allow associated fauna, fungi, and microbial communities to survive. In the high Andean sector, the study situates xerophytic formations within a broader mosaic that includes bofedales, the high-altitude peatlands that act as water reservoirs for entire watersheds. The condition of the surrounding xerophytic vegetation influences runoff, sediment delivery, and ultimately the hydrological health of these critical wetland systems.

The practical motivation behind the inventory is environmental monitoring. Chile’s national and regional monitoring programs have historically focused on forests, wetlands, and other more conspicuous ecosystems, leaving arid-land vegetation largely outside systematic surveillance. The new baseline provides a practical framework for incorporating xerophytic formations into these programs, enabling managers to track ecosystem functionality over time, detect early signs of degradation, and prioritize conservation actions where they are most needed. Because the inventory links specific services to specific species and vegetation formations, it offers measurable indicators: the abundance of medicinal species, the extent of soil-stabilizing shrub cover, or the continuity of culturally significant plant populations can all serve as monitoring variables with clear thresholds and trends.

The threats confronting these systems give the monitoring framework real urgency. Mining, the economic engine of northern Chile, fragments habitat, consumes scarce water, and generates dust and contamination that stress vegetation already living at the edge of physiological tolerance. Unsustainable extraction of fuelwood, charcoal, and medicinal plants removes individuals faster than slow-growing desert populations can replace them. Climate change compounds both pressures, with rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns threatening to push parts of the Atacama beyond the thresholds that currently sustain life. Many of the more than 100 species documented in the inventory are already classified as threatened, meaning that the loss of ecosystem services and the loss of biodiversity are two faces of the same accelerating process.

What makes the study significant beyond Chile is its demonstration that ecosystem service assessment can be launched even in data-poor, extreme environments by systematically combining existing literature with expert knowledge. Drylands cover roughly 40 percent of the global land surface and support billions of people, yet their vegetation remains chronically underrepresented in service inventories compared with forests and wetlands. The Chilean baseline offers a replicable template for other arid regions, from the Sahara to the Australian outback, where the first step toward conservation is often simply making the invisible value of sparse vegetation visible to decision-makers. By translating hardy desert shrubs into providers of medicine, cultural identity, soil stability, and climate buffering, the inventory gives these plants a seat at the policy table.

The researchers frame their work as a starting point rather than an endpoint. The baseline is designed to be updated, expanded with field validation, and integrated into regional land-use planning and conservation prioritization. As pressures on the Atacama intensify, the ability to detect degradation early, before thresholds are crossed, may determine whether the unique xerophytic flora of northern Chile survives the coming decades. In a landscape where a single shrub can anchor an entire micro-ecosystem, the study makes the case that monitoring the humblest desert plants is, in practical terms, monitoring the habitability of one of the planet’s driest places.

Subject of Research: Ecosystem services provided by native xerophytic desert vegetation in northern Chile and their use as a baseline for environmental monitoring in arid lands.

Article Title: Ecosystem services provided by native xerophytic vegetation in the desert macrozone of northern Chile: a baseline for environmental monitoring in arid lands

Article References: Ecosystem services provided by native xerophytic vegetation in the desert macrozone of northern Chile: a baseline for environmental monitoring in arid lands. (n.d.). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-026-15921-x

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s10661-026-15921-x

Keywords: ecosystem services, xerophytic vegetation, Atacama Desert, northern Chile, environmental monitoring, arid lands, biodiversity conservation, medicinal plants, indigenous knowledge, soil stabilization, climate change, drylands