Most southerly wetland

At the southern tip of South America lie wetlands that are part of a vast complex of peatlands known as the Magellanic moorland or tundra. The complex extends along the southwestern part of South America on the Patagonian islands of Chile and Argentina from 43°S to about 55°S at the extreme southern part of the continent. The dominant plants in many of these wetlands are Sphagnum peat mosses.

It is cool year-round in this region, with temperatures averaging 9°C (48°F) in the austral (southern) summer and 2°C (35.6°F) in July, the coldest month. Nonetheless, the wetlands are home to several animals, including the guanaco – a relative of the llama and the most southerly ungulate – and the huemul, or south Andean deer, which is Chile’s national symbol.