Summary
Included here are the coastal deserts and semi-deserts of Chile and Peru including the Atacama Desert and the lowlands and semi-uplands of northern Chile. The zone extends from southern Peru to northern Chile with its southern boundary roughly coinciding with the town of Coquimbo. Deserts and semi-deserts form a continuous belt along this western escarpment of the Andean Cordillera for some 3500 km.
Of the endemic and near endemic vascular plants so far recorded there are about 122 species in 72 genera and 36 families but no endemic genera.
References
Arakaki, M. & Cano, A. 2003. Floristic composition of river llo-Moquegua basin and Lomas of ll0, Moquehua, Peru. Revista Peruana de Biologia, 10: 5-19. (in Spanish).
Dillon, M. O., Nakazawa, M. & Gonzáles, S. L. 2003. The lomas formations of coastal Peru: composition and biogeographic history. In: El Nino in Peru: Biology and Culture Over 10,000 Years. Eds. J. Haas and M. O. Dillon. Fieldiana, Botany. New Series No. 43.
Rundel, P. W. & Mahu, M. 1976. Community structure and diversity in a coastal fog desert in northern Chile. Flora, 165: 493-505.
Rundel, P. W., Dillon, M. O. & Palma, B. 1996. Flora and vegetation of Pan de Azucar National Park in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Gayana Botanica, 53: 295-315.