Report: Looking Inside the Mountain: How Life Persists at High Altitudes

In the mountains and volcanoes of southern Chile, animals, plants, and other organisms develop survival strategies in response to cold, elevation, and marked seasonality. These biodiversity refuges today face threats associated with climate change, while artists and scientists explore new ways to understand and conserve these ecosystems through different languages and bodies of knowledge.

Some birds have developed the ability to live with less oxygen, and certain plants cover their leaves with a layer of trichomes (which look like fine hairs) to resist low temperatures. These cases illustrate some of the adaptations that have emerged over time, allowing species to inhabit challenging environments. Exploring how life unfolds in the mountains, as well as investigating creative processes inspired by geological movements, has become a meeting point between art and science. Three perspectives—those of our conservation director and researcher Tomás Altamirano, biologist Lohengrin Cavieres, and choreographer Lina Gómez—intertwine to examine how life defies extreme territories and the sensitive bonds that arise from the mountains.

Over millions of years, the movement of tectonic plates has shaped landscapes and raised mountain ranges, which are also sculpted by wind and glacial motion. Mountains form a mosaic of unique ecosystems that safeguard nearly a third of Earth’s terrestrial biodiversity and concentrate around 50% of the planet’s hotspots.

The Andes range stands out for its high level of endemism and as a key source of ecosystem services. In Chile, 64% of the territory is covered by mountains, underscoring their ecological significance and their influence on the lives of numerous species. However, despite their fundamental role in maintaining planetary balance, these ecosystems are especially vulnerable to human-caused disturbances and global change. “In higher zones, the impact of climate change intensifies: winters are warmer, glaciers are retreating, and extreme, unpredictable weather events are increasing,” says Tomás Altamirano, our foundation’s conservation director and mountain ecosystem specialist. Since 2017, he has studied mountain ecosystems in temperate latitudes (5.5% of the planet’s surface), first in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada, and later in southern Chile’s temperate mountains.

Elevation Gradient and Mountain Bird Diversity

To sketch a general picture of the elevation gradient, the researcher describes four major ecological zones: “First, the mountain forest, characterized by dense tree cover; then, the tree line ecotone, transitional habitats where trees start to become stunted and their coverage gradually diminishes until they disappear entirely (the tree line); higher up, the high mountain ecosystem (alpine zone in the Andes), where there are no trees; and finally, at the summits, glaciers and permanent snow appear.” This way of reading the mountain allows us to visualize how the environment transforms as one ascends in elevation. With each step, the climate and microclimates change, along with light, soil, and a surprising diversity of life forms.

On the other hand, temperate mountains are not stable year‑round. In winter, they are hostile environments, prompting most animals to migrate. Plants, however, develop strategies to endure the season. During the warmer months—ranging from three to five months depending on latitude—these ecosystems become productive: flowers, fruits, and resources abound. Moreover, this burst of life occurs slightly later than in lower regions; flowers and fruits appear later in summer, allowing many species to take advantage of the time lag to feed and reproduce.

What bird species inhabit the elevation gradients in the volcanoes of southern Chile? What do they do during winter? In search of answers, our conservation director has led a biodiversity monitoring project on 10 volcanoes in the regions of La Araucanía and Los Ríos, from Tolhuaca to Mocho‑Choshuenco. Since 2017, the project has included bird counts at 30 points per volcano, along transects running from the forest to the glacier; acoustic monitoring at 12 points; and vegetation plots to study the flora at the same locations for long‑term tracking.

The collection and analysis of these data not only reveals the diversity of species living in the mountains, their ecological roles, and evolutionary relationships, but also allows researchers to model their vulnerability to climate change and thus promote conservation actions. Additionally, the study includes the search and monitoring of nests using camera traps and temperature sensors to compare thermal conditions inside and outside rock cavities. “Of the more than 80 high‑Andean bird nests we’ve found in these volcanoes, all are located in rock cavities. In the temperate Andes, the percentage of bird species that breed in this substrate is considerably higher compared to other high mountain ecosystems worldwide—likely as an anti‑predatory strategy and/or to protect the clutch from climatic conditions, considering that relative humidity is very low and temperatures can reach extreme values,” the researcher notes.

This work also provides greater insight into fauna distribution in the area. “Forest birds are generalists and move among different habitats. However, above the tree line, 90% of the community changes: they are distinct species with different ecological functions that exist only in the high‑Andean zone,” Altamirano points out. Yet this space is shrinking due to the upward advance of forests caused by climate change, which could lead to local extinctions in the not‑too‑distant future.

Living in Cooperation

Phacelia secunda

Phacelia secunda is a high mountain plant found at various elevations. At around 2,500 meters above sea level, it grows as a relatively tall herb, but at higher elevations it shrinks and broadens. “What adaptations or modifications occur due to altitude?” wonders Lohengrin Cavieres, PhD in Biology, professor at the University of Concepción, and principal investigator at the Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (IEB), a pioneer in the study of functional adaptations in mountain plants.

At higher altitudes, the environment changes dramatically: temperatures drop, radiation intensifies, and the soil contains fewer nutrients. Plants respond with strategies that help them conserve energy and endure environmental stress. They grow close to the ground, harnessing the heat accumulated during the day; they develop small, thick leaves to retain water; and many are covered in fine trichomes, forming a protective layer against cold and dehydration.

“We’ve learned from plants that cooperation is more important than competition when conditions are harsh,” says Cavieres. “For example, llaretas act as true ecosystem engineers: they modify the environment and create more favorable conditions not only for other plants but also for a variety of organisms.”

These so‑called cushion plants generate a microclimate that encourages the presence of mycorrhizal fungi, lichens, arthropods, and consequently, lizards that feed on them. Additionally, by grouping species with different types of flowers, they form patches that attract pollinators. This sets in motion a complex web of interactions and mutual benefits across multiple trophic levels.

“Many times, we view biodiversity as something simply beautiful, without realizing that vital processes for life are upheld by it,” the scientist reflects. One such process is water regulation in mountain ecosystems. In a country like Chile, he warns, where much of the water supply depends on what happens in the highlands, the situation is critical.

Snow accumulation is closely linked to plant species diversity on the slopes. “A diverse slope, with many types of plants, is like having many nails of different sizes and shapes anchoring the snow to the terrain. But if we lose that diversity, we also lose those anchor points. What happens then? The little snow that does accumulate melts more quickly, and summers end with less water available,” he concludes.

Ensayo abierto Vagarosas (2023). Foto por Nicolás Amaro.

Embodying Geological Force Through Movement

Nature conservation also gives rise to transdisciplinarity as a way of interweaving knowledge and research processes. From an artistic perspective, new ways are modeled to perceive and understand nature’s invisible movements. For choreographer Lina Gómez, mountains and volcanoes are not just geographical features but bodies in constant change and repositories of memory and knowledge. That image—the living, moving territory—was the starting point for Vagarosas, a stage project exploring perseverance and resilience through movement. The term vagaroso in Portuguese refers to the quality of being slow, gentle, and intense—a languid, unhurried, and continuous motion.

The research began in 2019 with an artistic residency at Radialsystem in Berlin and continued in the Bosque Pehuén residency program of our foundation: first individually in 2021 as part of the Resonancias cycle, and later in 2023 with her team, composed of two musicians and seven dancers. The process culminated in a stage performance presented at Radialsystem Berlin, where the seven performers embodied, through rhythm, presence, and collective movement, the invisible forces residing in mountain ecosystems.

Through this project, the artist reflects on natural processes and nature’s resilience after transformative events that mark the beginning of new cycles. She emphasizes the imagery of the mountain and the volcano as entities in constant internal motion, where tectonic activity acts as a force that triggers physical and chemical changes, resetting the landscape and life itself.

That power also resonates in human processes. “When a volcano erupts, it’s disastrous. But from that devastation, something new is born—and the same happens in our lives. We move at that same rhythm. Sometimes I feel like we live in the mountain’s womb, that our personal tragedies and rebirths echo those geological processes. It’s a way of being and feeling that can’t always be explained, but is deeply recognized in the body.”

Dance, like geological processes, is not only fluidity and beauty. It is imbued with tension, resistance, and internal processes. This is where Gómez positions her work, recognizing in movement a different dimension: “Sometimes we look at a natural phenomenon as something beautiful or spectacular. But there’s a lot of internal tension. The same happens with dance: there’s pain, effort, imbalance. I’m interested in that friction, that unromanticized part of movement. The mountain as a metaphor for resistance is not something gentle. It’s persistent, yes, but also devastating. It has a brutal force—it transforms, but it also ravages,” the choreographer states.

She approaches her work with curiosity and reflection, focusing on intergenerational themes, frictions, and roots—concepts that shaped her early steps in dance. This exploration deepened after her experience in Bosque Pehuén, where she had the chance to “look at the mountain from within,” an experience that broadened her perception and enriched her creative process, connecting bodily expression with memory and the cultural layers embedded in the landscape. “That experience awakened in me a deep desire to explore other possible ecologies, to imagine ecosystems not only out there but also within myself,” she concludes.

Caminata volcán Quetrupillán, parte de la Residencia Vagarosas. Foto por Felipe Lara

Merging with the Mountain

From the systematic bird monitoring in southern Chilean volcanoes led by Tomás Altamirano—which aims to strengthen conservation practices and policies in mountain ecosystems—to the pioneering work of Lohengrin Cavieres, who has set a precedent in the study of functional adaptations of high Andean plants and continues to pave the way for research to protect them, a vision takes shape that values cooperation and resilience.

Meanwhile, Lina Gómez projects a poetic form of movement that began in the mountains and now expands into new realms, in dialogue with memories and emotions drawn from human experience. Life at high altitudes, viewed through these three lenses, intertwining art and science, not only reveals a deeper understanding of the interactions that occur in these environments but also invites us to transform how we perceive the nature that inhabits extreme landscapes.

Reference:

1. Chape et al. 2008, The World’s Protected Areas; Körner and Paulsen 2005, Journal of Biogeography; Blyth et al. 2002, Mountain Watch
   → These studies provide key references on the global distribution of biodiversity hotspots and the role of protected areas and mountains in biodiversity conservation.
2. Fuentes-Lillo, E., Lembrechts, J.J., Barros, A. et al. (2023). “Going up the Andes: patterns and drivers of non-native plant invasions across latitudinal and elevational gradients.” Biodiversity and Conservation 32, 4199–4219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-023-02697-6→ This paper analyzes how invasive plant species behave along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients in the Andes, emphasizing ecological impacts.
3. Diagnóstico Nacional de Montaña, FAO, 2012→ National Mountain Diagnosis, a report published by the FAO, assessing mountain ecosystems in Chile and their ecological importance.
4. Nagy, L. & Grabherr, G. The Biology of Alpine Habitats → Reference work providing ecological context and classification for temperate mountain ecosystems worldwide.
5. Nagy, L. & Grabherr, G. The Biology of Alpine Habitats→  Used here to define elevation gradients: environmental changes in temperature, humidity, sunlight, and soil type that occur with increasing altitude.
6. Cavieres, L., Peñaloza, A., & Kalin Arroyo, M. (2000). “Altitudinal vegetation belts in the high Andes of central Chile (33°S).” Revista chilena de historia natural, 73(2), 331–344.→ Study on vegetation zonation in the central Chilean Andes, highlighting how plant communities shift with altitude.
7. Sanfuentes, C., Sierra-Almeida, A., & Cavieres, L. (2012). “Effect of temperature increase on the photosynthesis of a high-Andean species at two altitudes.” Gayana Botánica, 69(1), 1–10.→ Research showing how Phacelia secunda and similar species adapt their physiological processes, such as photosynthesis, to temperature changes at different elevations.