The forests of southern Chile, which may be phytogeographically divided into the Valdivian, North Patagonian, and Magellanic rain forest regions, on the whole are perhaps the ecologically least known temperate forests of the world. The present work is a sumary of the current state of knowledge of the forests of southern Chile placing particular emphasis on classification and ecological characterization. Based on an extensive review of the phytosociological and phytogeographical literature as well as on the present authors' personal observations and research, a preliminary revised classification of these forests is proposed. Each forest type is briefly described physiognomically and floristically, its distribution is indicated, and its habitat described.
Under the heading of forest dynamics, changes in the distribution of the forest vegetation in relation to possible recent climate changes are discussed. The role of the common bamboos (Chusquea spp.) in the forest dynamics of the Valdivian rain forest is also summarized. Finally, the importance of periodic catastrophic disturbances in the dynamics of Nothofagus dominated forests is analyzed.