biology

Nothofagus alpina

Nothofagus alpina is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nothofagus alpina rather than just read about it. In short: Nothofagus alpina, also called raulí (in the Mapuche language) or raulí beech, is a species of plant in the Nothofagaceae family. A deciduous tree, it grows in Chile and Argentina, reaching 50 m (160 ft) in height and more than 2 m (6.6 ft) in diameter.

Key takeaways

Nothofagus alpina belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nothofagus alpina to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nothofagus alpina from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nothofagus alpina, also called raulí (in the Mapuche language) or raulí beech, is a species of plant in the Nothofagaceae family. A deciduous tree, it grows in Chile and Argentina, reaching 50 m (160 ft) in height and more than 2 m (6.6 ft) in diameter. It is distributed from 35–42° south latitude. It is found in the Andes. It tolerates low temperatures and heavy winds. It has a straight and cylindrical trunk with grey bark. N. alpina was proposed to be renamed Lophozonia alpina in 2013.

Description Monoecious and leafy. Alternate leaves, petioles 3–2 mm long, oblong ovate to lanceolate ovate, with glands and hairs regularly distributed, undulate margins and softly serrated. Lamina 4–12 x 2.5–5 cm, pinnate veins, pilose and very notorious, mostly below the leaf, new borne green shoots pubescent with brown felt-like hairs. Flowers small and unisexual: male in clusters of 3 flowers, briefly pedicellate, numerous stamens, male flowers disposed in 3 inflorescences supported by a peduncle about 1 cm long. Fruit made up by a cupule of 4 narrow valves, in its interior 2–3 little yellowish nuts 6 mm long, a little hairy, being the two lower triangular, tri-winged, and the flat internal, bi-winged. Raulí wood is pinkish with brown-reddish color and has a very fine grain. It is relatively easy to work and of medium weight. It is used in furniture, barrels for fine Chilean wines, doors, veneers, shingles and floors. It has been introduced as ornamental in Great Britain and it grows well in western Scotland, where it gets the necessary rainfall for good growth, a minimum of 750 mm (30 in) a year. It is promising as a forestry tree in western Great Britain and regenerates easily after coppicing.

Frost hardiness study in Britain Seedlots of N. alpina and Nothofagus obliqua of different provenance in their native range were tested in cultivation at the Bush estate in Scotland. The results of the testing in relation to the sources were reported as:

Ñuble in Chile. This was the most equatorial source and these seedlots proved to be the most susceptible to frost. Neuquen in Argentina. These seedlots, as well as those gathered from mature trees growing in Britain with origins from Malleco in Chile, were the most hardy. Overall, N. alpina performed better than N. obliqua. Past temperature records for Britain suggest that seedlots run a high risk of suffering severe frost damage in all but mild coastal regions, and that spring and autumn frosts may be more damaging than winter frosts. Experimental plantations established in Wales suffered severe damage during the 1981–1982 cold wave that swept through Britain.

Other locations At Nautesund in Norway, where the extreme minimum annual temperature is −14 °C (7 °F), a south-facing exposure, good rainfall, and shelter from polar winds allow specimens of rauli to grow.

Hybrids N. alpina hybridises with N. obliqua to form the hybrid species Nothofagus × dodecaphleps.

References and external links

Donoso, C. 2005. Árboles nativos de Chile. Guía de reconocimiento. Edición 4. Marisa Cuneo Ediciones, Valdivia, Chile. 136p. Hoffmann, Adriana. 1998. Flora Silvestre de Chile, Zona Central. Edición 4. Fundación Claudio Gay, Santiago. 254p. Rodríguez, R. & Quezada, M. 2003. Fagaceae. En C. Marticorena y R. Rodríguez [eds.], Flora de Chile Vol. 2(2), pp 64–76. Universidad de Concepción, Concepción. Bean. W. 1981 Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1–4 and Supplement. Murray.

External links Rauli in Encyclopedia of Chilean Flora Rauli in Chile bosque Rauli, Description and images from Chile Flora

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nothofagus alpina

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nothofagus alpina claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nothofagus alpina before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nothofagus alpina ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nothofagus alpina

In research: Nothofagus alpina appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nothofagus alpina in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nothofagus alpina is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Flora of Argentina, Flora of central Chile, Flora of the Valdivian temperate forests, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nothofagus alpina outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nothofagus alpina in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nothofagus alpina means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nothofagus alpina out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nothofagus alpina in simple terms?

Why does Nothofagus alpina matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nothofagus alpina?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nothofagus alpina.