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Joining in the River Dance: Saludos del Paraguay!!
by Nancy L
ó
pez de Kochalka
The Republic of Paraguay is a country of 174,500 squaremiles, located in the center of South America, where existnumerous aquatic ecosystems and large rivers, but it isnot well known to the rest of the world. Its principalwatersheds include those of the Paraguay River, theParaná River, the Tebicuary River, the Apa River, andfinally the Pilcomayo, which follows the western border ofthe country.
The Tebicuary River watershed is the third largest inParaguay, with a length of approximately 750 miles. Thisriver starts in the Caaguazú Highlands and passesthrough the Highlands of San Rafael. Numerous springs and secondary streams that originatein the San Rafael Reserve feed it. The west border of this 178,000 acre protected area isdelimited by the course of the Tebicuary River.The waters of the springs feeding into this river are cold and crystal clear. The main channel ofthe Tebicuary River itself varies from 20 to 100 meters in width, and its depth varies from 0.5meters to 4 meters. A group of volunteers (of whom I am one), the
Promoters of the Environment of the San Rafael Reserve and its Natural Treasures (Promotores Ambientales de la Reserva San Rafael y Fiscales Ambientales)
are conducting interesting research in the upperand middle regions of the river’s watershed. At the same time, we are doing what we can toprocure the protection of the region, promoting good conservation measures among the localpeople. We are convinced that we must do our best to care for this valuable natural resource.Along the length of the river can be found many types of habitats, including stands of bamboo(including two tall species of the genus
Guadua
), and subtropical marshes similar to theEverglades wetlands, with floating vegetation. A rapid analysis of the profile of the areaindicates that over the centuries the river has meandered back and forth over the land.Periodically the river has flooded, leaving fragments of aquatic vegetation and wood fromriverine trees high up in the soil profile of the bordering mountains – and sometimes one caneven find ceramic fragments of Pre Colombian indigenous cultures embedded high up in thesediment profile. This is not surprising, for all of the watershed of the Tebicuary River and theadjoining watershed of the Paraná River were once inhabited by the Mbya Guarani natives, whostill live in the remnants of Interior Atlantic Forest once covering much of this area, and in theAltoparanaenses Forest.Our studies of the biodiversity of wildlife of this watershed, initiated in 1999 through theassistance of the
Project of the Natural Resource Administration
(through an agreementbetween the Paraguayan government and the World Bank), and the scientists of the Museum ofNatural History of Kansas, revealed that the watershed is characterized by a great variety ofintermixed habitats, resulting in a rich abundance of species. These habitats include riparianand gallery forest, high forest and swamp forest, bamboo stands and wetland savannas.As an ornithologist, one of my interests is the birds of the area. This region provides the nestinghabitat of the Cock-tailed Tyrant (
Alectrurus tricolor
), the Strange-tailed Tyrant (
Alectrurus risora
), and habitat for 85% of the bird species unique to the Interior Atlantic Forest, such as theSao Paulo Tyrannulet (
Phylloscartes paulistus
), the Bay-ringed Tyrannulet (
Phylloscartes ventralis
) and the Southern Bristle-Tyrant (
Phylloscartes eximius.
) Other birds, both rare and indanger of extinction include the Harpy Eagle (
Harpyjo harpyja
) and the King Vulture(
Sacorhamphus papa
.)
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