Additional information about 13 January 2007 Field excursions to:

Teide National Park

Route: Puerto de la Cruz - La Orotava – Aguamansa - El Portillo - Roques de García –Chinyero – Icod - Puerto de la Cruz.

This field excursion makes a transect from the lower forest limit upwards to the Teide caldera and then circles back to Puerto. It affords an opportunity to examine the variation in major ecosystem types afforded on Tenerife; a tour of some fantastic volcanic landscapes, and to consider how the dynamism of these volcanic islands can be incorporated into an understanding of evolution on these islands; the trip also will provide insights into the conservation problems and mitigation measures in use within Teide National Park.

We will depart early from Puerto de la Cruz taking the road that climbs through the Orotava valley, an intensively cutlivated and urbanized zone of Tenerife, leaving behind the lowland banana-cultivation zone near the coast. We will cross the city of La Orotava, which has a typical example of colonial style architecture used in the Canaries and later repeated in the Americas. Above La Orotava we will pass through a more mesic and varied agricultural zone with vineyards, potatoes, maize, wheat, and several types of fruit trees, all of which supply the local markets.

Our first stop will be at the village of Aguamansa (ca. 1,150 m elevation), where we will examine a stand of mixed Canarian pine (Pinus canariensis) with a laurel forest understory, principally made up of early successional species such as Myrica fava and Erica arborea (Tree Heather). This is a good site for spotting a few native forest bird species. Prior to the second stop we will cross a belt of Pinus radiata plantations, dating from the period after the Spanish Civil War, when the Franco regime was internationally isolated and timber was essential. Here we will notice the higher densities used in the plantations, as well as the lack of regeneration and understory.

The second stop will be in the Pine Forest zone, just above the cloud layer inversion, at a viewpoint known as Rosa de Piedra (ca. 1,500 m elevation), a curious basaltic defoliation form. This viewpoint affords excellent views across the giant collapse feature of the Orotava valley. The La Orotava valley slide is estimated to have been up to 1,000 m in thickness; it created an amphitheatre as much as 10 km wide, and 14 km long, with an offshore prolongation of several km in length. Large-scale collapse features are an important part of the geological evolution of the Canary Islands.

The third stop will be above treeline (ca. 2,000 m elevation), in an area degraded in the past by goat grazing (no longer practiced) and still of limited vegetative cover, where the legume Chamaecytisus proliferus dominates the landscape.

The fourth stop will be at the Teide National Park Visitor Centre. Here there is a small botanic garden featuring native and endemic species of the high altitude zone and a conservation programme involving propagation of some of the most endangered species of this zone. The bookshop sells a variety of natural history books, maps, and photos about the Teide National Park and Canarian nature. The tour will continue by road through the vast caldera, stopping at the far side, at the spectacular Natural Monument of Los Roques de García, where there will be an opportunity to explore some of the caldera by foot (providing there is not an unusual amount of snow cover). The Parador de Turismo (Hotel) provides a refreshment point.

The return trip will cross the historical lava flow of Narices del Teide (Teide Nose; AD 1798), where we will have the opportunity to appreciate the slow pace of primary succession as a result of the hydric and thermic stresses.

The next stop will be in the Volcán del Chinyero (ca.1,600 m elevation), the last volcanic eruption on Tenerife (AD 1909), where a very species-poor pine forest is developing. Finally, we will come back to Puerto de la Cruz through the Icod valley, where we will have our last stop in order to appreciate the famous Icod de Los Vinos giant dragon tree (Dracaena draco), the symbol of the island. We will aim to return to Puerto de la Cruz by about 7.00 p.m.

Note: This field excursion will not involve the cable car ascent to the summit of Teide (over a thousand metres higher than the floor of the caldera) for reasons of time and cost.

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Additional information:

Declared a national park in 1954, the Parque Nacional de las Cañadas del Teide includes an enormous volcanic crater 16 km wide, out of which rises Mount Teide (pronounced the same as Lady) at a staggering 3718 metres, making it the highest mountain in the whole of Spain.

The countryside on the slopes of the Teide mass is purely volcanic.  During the winter months the peak of El Teide is covered with snow, which sometimes reaches down to the slope of the mountainside.  During the summer months this arid landscape can reach temperatures above 40 C.

A cable car carries visitors to the summit, but many prefer to hike the route to experience the flora and fauna.  

Unique flora in the park include a number of rare species and there are a wealth of plants which have adapted perfectly to the elevation, the low temperatures, and dry conditions.  Among the endemic plants to be found in Teide National Park are the Teide Violet (Viola cheiranthifolia - pictured left below), Teide bugloss (Echium wildpretii - pictured left center below), Dwarf bugloss (Echium auberianium), Teide cat mint (Nepeta teydea var. albiflora), Teide Edelweiss (Gnaphalium teydeum - pictured right center below), Cardo de plata (Stemmacantha cynaroides - pictured right below).  On the cliffs grow the Canary cedars which are some of the only trees in the park.  The most common plant is the Teide broom, which has a huge number of pinkish white flowers in spring.

The are three endemic lizards in the park: Canary Island Lizard (Gallotia galloti galloti - pictured left below), Canary Island wall gecko (Tarentola delalandii), Canary Island skink (Chalcides viridanus viridanus).  The wild canary (Serinus canaria - pictured left center below), blue chaffinch (Fringilla teydea teydea - pictured right center below), are endemic birds found in the Canary Islands.

The five species of bats are the only native mammals of the Park.  The Canary Island long eared bat (Plecotus teneriffae - pictured above right) is endemic to the Canary Island, while the Madeira Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus maderensis) is endemic to Madeira and Canaries.  Leisler´s bat (Nyctalus leisleri) is the most frequent species.  All other species of mammals have been introduced to the Canary Islands.

In contrast to the poor vertebrate biodiversity, there is an enormous wealth of invertebrate species, in particular insect species, with over 700 species; most of which are endemic and of great scientific interest.  The groups with the most species are spiders, beetles, dipterans, hemipterans and himenopterae. In all these groups, there is a large percentage of endemic species, giving an overall rate of endemic species of over 40%, including 70 species that are found only in the National Park.

From the peak, on a clear day, you have breathtaking views of Gran Canaria, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro.  This is the Canary Islands most visited tourist attraction and must not be missed.

   

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Teno peninsula

Route: Puerto de la Cruz – Garachico – Teno Bajo – Valle del Palmar – Teno Alto - Icod - Puerto de la Cruz.

The Teno massif is one of the three oldest parts of the island of Tenerife, dating back to the late Tertiary period (c. 9 My). It forms an impressive series of dissected landscapes, featuring two principal natural vegetation types, first, an open semi-arid succulent scrub vegetation dominated by several endemic Euphorbia species together with a rich set of native and endemic species, and second, laurel forest, which is dominated by a small number of palaeo-endemic evergreen tree species. Teno is characterized by its fertile valleys, like El Palmar, and its deep ravines, which, like the Masca Ravine, usually run down to the coast, ending in small coves or beaches. The Rural Park has an area of 8,000 ha, with a population of about 1,400. It was designated a Natural Park in 1987 and a Rural park in 1994. The rural park designation is designed to encourage sustainable development, maintenance of cultural landscapes, management of the tourist burden, and conservation goals. The area has a high biodiversity value and is one of the most scenically attractive parts of the island.

We will leave Puerto de la Cruz early in the morning.  We will head in the direction of Garachico, a little village at the coast, where we will make our first stop; here we will be able to see the lava flow that destroyed this sites famous harbour in AD 1704 and see its famous Roque. From here we will continue to the Teno massif through the so called Isla Baja, a coastal platform formed by recent volcanoes.  Along the way we will see the villages of Los Silos and Buenavista. Once in Buenavista, we will have entered the area designated Rural Park, allowing us to visit the Teno Bajo peninsula.  Here we will make our second stop at the Acantilados de El Fraile, a huge sea cliff, c. 400 m height, which has an exceptional view of the Isla Baja and Punta de Teno.  Not far away from this point we will visit a mature community of the sub-desert coastal-scrub, dominated by succulent endemic Euphorbia bushes.  Our third stop will be in Punta de Teno, the NW corner of Tenerife, just 85 km away from La Palma and 30 km from La Gomera.  Here we will have the opportunity to contemplate the huge Los Gigantes cliffs, the western border of the Teno massif, with cliffs that tower 700 m above the sea.  It was in this area that the recently discovered giant Teno lizard was first found.

Our next stop will be in the Teno Rural Park headquarters, where we will be introduced by the Rural Park staff to their day to day work in the Park, and where we will receive maps and information about the Park.  Later we will go to the Bolicos hostage, where we will have lunch and take a short walk through the laurel forest of Monte del Agua, the best remnant of this forest in Tenerife. During the walk, details of the laurel forest dynamics will be explained, and we will learn to recognize the different tree and shrub species that compose this forest. During the afternoon, we will try to gain an understanding of the objectives, methods and issues involved in managing an impressive ‘natural’ area that has people living and working within its boundaries.  We also will discuss the role of different protected area models in the Canarian context, and of issues focused around conservation of the cultivated zone in Tenerife. We will return to Puerto de la Cruz, by approximately 6 pm.

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Additional information:

An area of cliffs and black sand seashore but also very rich in endemic plant species.  Plants such as the 'Cardon' (Euphorbia canariensis) grow on the peninsula.  The precarious coast road goes past plantations and greenhouses then up through cliffs containing huge (1.5 m) Sonchus acaulis and on past steep gullies with banks of mixed Euphorbias (Euphorbia atropurpurea) and eventually reaches the black sands where several halophyte (salt tolerant) species such as Mesembryanthemum grow.