At the beginning of the 20th century, the tamarugo was almost extinct (Carvallo et al., 1983) when a forest inspector noticed its ecological interest and created tamarugo plantations in the Pampa del Tamarugal. Since then, the tamarugo has been used to afforest saline deserts and has increased the overall productivity of the Tamarugal (Orwa et al., 2009). The tree absorbs air moisture through its leaves and dispatches the collected water to its roots and to the surrounding soil (Habit et al., 1981), thus participating in the protection of soil water reserves. It is also a windbreaker and protects animals and people from the sun (FAO, 2009).
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