Reserva natural Divisadero Largo, Nature reserve in Capital Department, Argentina.
Reserva natural Divisadero Largo covers 492 hectares of Andean piedmont about 8 km west of Mendoza city, in the Papagayos stream basin. A fault has exposed Triassic and Paleogene strata in rocky outcrops, and the land marks the transition between monte and high-Andean plant and animal species.
The area received initial protection through provincial law in 1983 and was formally designated as a reserve through additional legislation a decade later. These actions reflected growing recognition of the need to safeguard the region's natural landscape.
The reserve lies in the ecotone between the monte and high Andean ecoregions, so visitors see xerophilous plants such as jarilla (Larrea divaricata, L. cuneifolia, L. nitida), retama (Bulnesia retama) and garabato negro (Acacia furcatispina). Grazing by people has long affected the wild species here. The reserve was created in 1983 to protect this environment and its fossil deposits.
The reserve lies about 8 km west of Mendoza city, at the foot of the first Andean ridges, in the Papagayos stream basin. Access is by road from the city; the ground is uneven piedmont with exposed rock, so wear sturdy footwear and carry water. The land is provincial and managed under Law 6045 of 1993.
The reserve protects a fault scarp where Triassic and Paleogene strata lie exposed, holding fossils estimated at around 200 million years old. The site forms part of the alluvial basin of the Papagayos stream, and its protection under Provincial Law No. 4902 of 1983 was aimed specifically at these fossil-bearing deposits.
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