Browsing by Author "Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora"
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- ItemA Water Balance Approach to Estimate Fog Water Contribution to a Relict Forest in the Coastal Semi-Arid Region in Central Chile(2024) Pacheco Canales, Valentina J.; Lobos Roco, Felipe Andrés; Vicuña Díaz, Sebastián; Suárez Poch, Francisco Ignacio; Río López, Camilo del; Gaxiola Alcantar, AuroraThe marine fog presence along Chile’s western coast, in the semi-arid and Mediterranean region, influences coastal vegetation patterns and constitutes a significant yet underestimated water source for basin water balance. While studies suggest that south-westerly winds transport marine fog inland, serving as a vital water source for coastal vegetation and relict forests, our understanding of fog dynamics in this context remains limited. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze coastal fog in the coast of the semi-arid and mediterranean region in central Chile addressing the temporal distribution of its frequency, liquid water content and water collection in relation to the presence of relict forests. This study is centered in a relict forest located in the semi-arid coastal Chile uphill 3.5 km far from the coast with an altitude of 650 meters (lat: -32.2°/long: -71.5°). This forest, dominated by Aextoxicon punctatum survives on less than 200 mm of annual precipitation which implies fog water is a critical water input. Our methodological approach is a water balance analysis tailored for fog-related water contributions, the balance considers precipitation, evapotranspiration (ET), soil accumulation, and fog input across various scales: from individual trees to the entire mountainous ecosystem. Specific methods for fog characterization, forest assessment, and fog capture efficiency are developed, incorporating factors such as forest characteristics and vertical variability. Our findings reveal that fog recurs 17% of the time and contributes up to 75% to the forest’s water evapotranspiration. Furthermore, it was estimated that forests can capture up to 10.5% of the available fog in the air. Considering soil moisture sensor data collected in the study area it appears that the captured fog does not penetrate deep into the soil and does not generate runoff from the forest area. Based on a sensitivity analysis we explored how forest’s fog capture efficiency varies with elevation, collection area (leaf area index), and evapotranspiration. These results underscore the importance of fog water as a vital water source for vegetation and emphasize the need for incorporating fog water inputs into broader assessments for improved water resource predictions and ecosystem conservation.
- ItemAzorella compacta: survival champions in extreme, high-elevation environments(2020) Pugnaire, F. I.; Morillo, J. A.; Armas, C.; Rodríguez Echeverría, S.; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora
- ItemBet-hedging strategies of native and exotic annuals promote coexistence in semiarid Chile(2016) Kelt, D.; Gutiérrez, J.; Jaksic Andrade, Fabián; Jiménez, M.; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora; Armesto, Juan J.; González Browne, C.; Meserve, P.
- ItemCarbon fluxes from a temperate rainforest site in southern South America reveal a very sensitive sink(2018) Pérez Quezada, Jorge F.; Celis Diez, Juan Luis; Brito, Carla E.; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora; Núñez Ávila, Mariela; Pugnaire, Francisco I.; Armesto, Juan J.
- ItemChilean long-term Socio-Ecological Research Network: progresses and challenges towards improving stewardship of unique ecosystems(2023) Frêne, Cristián; Armesto, Juan J.; Nespolo Rossi, Roberto; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora; Navarrete C., Sergio; Troncoso, Alejandra; Muñoz, Ariel; Corcuera, Luis J.Ecosystems provide a variety of benefits to human society and humanity’s utilization of ecosystems affects their composition, structure, and functions. Global change drivers demand us to study the interactions between ecological and social systems, and advise strategies to protect the large fraction of Chilean unique ecosystems. Long-term research and monitoring are vital for meaningful understanding of human impacts and socio-ecological feedback, which occur over multiple spatial and time-scales and can be invisible to traditional grant-sponsored short-term studies. Despite the large fraction of unique ecosystems, Chilean government agencies have not established long-term monitoring programs to inform and guide management decisions for use, conservation, and adaptation to climate change. Responding to this void, the Chilean Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research Network (LTSER-Chile) was created, comprising nine study sites funded by a variety of private and public institutions, that broadly seeks to understand how global change is altering biodiversity and ecosystem functions. The LTSER-Chile is currently in a phase of institutional consolidation to achieve its objectives of alignment with international efforts, fill the need for high-quality, long-term data on social, biological and physical components of Chilean ecosystems, and develop itself as an open research platform for the world. Despite the wide diversity of ecosystems ecncompased by LTSER-Chile sites, several common variables are monitored, especially climatic and hydrographic variables and many ecological indicator variables that consider temporal fluctuations, population and community dynamics. The main challenges currently facing the LTSER-Chile are to secure funding to maintain existing long-term monitoring programs, to persuade public and private decision-makers about its central role in informing and anticipating socio-ecological problems, and to achieve greater ecosystem representation by integrating new long-term study sites. This will require a more decisive political commitment of the State, to improve the stewardship of our unique terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and the realization that sound ecologically-sustainable policies will never be possible without a national monitoring network. We argue that the State should build on LTSER and several other private and university initiatives to provide the country with a monitoring network. In the absence of this commitment, the LTSER system is subject to discontinuity and frequent interruptions, which jeopardizes the long-term effort to understand the functioning of nature and its biodiversity.
- ItemEarly stage litter decomposition across biomes(2018) Djukic, Ika; Kepfer Rojas, Sebastián; Kappel Schmidt, Inger; Steenberg Larsen, Klaus; BeierBjörn Berg, Claus; Verheyen, Kris; Caliman, Adriano; Paquette, Alain; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora
- ItemEnvironmental Controls of Cryptogam Composition and Diversity in Anthropogenic and Natural Peatland Ecosystems of Chilean Patagonia(2018) León, Carolina A.; Oliván Martínez, Gisela; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora
- ItemEstudios socio-ecológicos de largo plazo en los sitios fundadores de la red LTSER-Chile: desafíos y oportunidades para el futuro(Universidad Austral, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, 2014) Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora; Celis Diez, Juan Luis; Rozzi, Ricardo; Gutiérrez, Julio; CEDEUS (Chile)La investigación que se desarrolla en los tres sitios fundadores de la red Chilena de Sitios de Estudios Socio-Ecológicos de Largo Plazo (LTSER-Chile) intenta responder preguntas que reflejan el contexto regional de cada sitio. La conformación de la LTSER-Chile en 2008 ofrece una oportunidad para generar estudios comparativos y analizar los potenciales efectos del cambio socio-ambiental global en los diferentes ecosistemas de Chile. Este estudio presenta un análisis de las líneas de investigación desarrolladas en cada uno de los tres sitios y el contexto en el que se han establecido. Cada sitio fundador ha identificado aspectos claves de necesidades locales y del interés de los grupos de investigadores que han iniciado y dirigido los estudios ecológicos o socio-ecológicos a largo plazo. A nivel nacional estos diversos enfoques resultan complementarios. Primeramente, se presentan los análisis y evaluaciones que realizan cada uno de estos grupos de investigación, y luego, un breve diagnóstico del trabajo de las últimas dos décadas en los sitios que actualmente son parte de la LTSER-Chile, con el fin de identificar vacíos y oportunidades de investigación. Asimismo, esta caracterización contribuirá a abordar los retos y oportunidades en investigación socio-ecológica de largo plazo, básica y aplicada.
- ItemExclusion of small mammals and lagomorphs invasion interact with human-trampling to drive changes in topsoil microbial community structure and function in semiarid Chile(2018) Alfaro, Fernando D.; Manzano, Marlene; Abades T., Sebastián R.; Trefault Carrillo, Nicole Natalie; De la Iglesia Cabezas, Rodrigo Alonso; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora; Marquet, P. A. (Pablo A.); Gutiérrez, Julio R.; Meserve, Peter L.; Kelt, Douglas A.; Belnap, Jayne; Armesto, Juan J.
- ItemExtreme climatic events change the dynamics and invasibility of semi-arid annual plant communities(2011) Jiménez Rivera, Milagros Ariela.; Jaksic Andrade, Fabián; Armesto, Juan J.; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora
- ItemFire, percolation thresholds and the savanna forest transition: a neutral model approach(2014) Abades T., Sebastián R.; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora; Marquet, P. A. (Pablo A.)
- ItemLong term effects of fire on the soil greenhouse gas balance of an old-growth temperate rainforest(2021) Perez Quezada, J. F.; Urrutia, P.; Olivares Rojas, J.; Meijide, A.; Sanchez Canete, E. P.; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora
- ItemMicrobial communities in soil chronosequences with distinct parent material: the effect of soil pH and litter quality(2017) Alfaro, F.; Manzano, M.; Marquet, P. A. (Pablo A.); Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora
- ItemNatural selection acting on integrated phenotypes: covariance among functional leaf traits increases plant fitness(2020) Damian, X; Ochoa-Lopez, S; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora; Fornoni, J; Dominguez, C. A.; Boege, K
- ItemNon-congruent fossil and phylogenetic evidence on the evolution of climatic niche in the Gondwana genus Nothofagus(2016) Hinojosa, L.; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora; Perez, Fernanda; Carvajal, F.; Campano, M.; Quattrocchio, M.; Nishida, H.; Uemura, K.; Yabe, A.; Bustamante, R.; Arroyo, M.
- ItemNucleation-driven regeneration promotes post-fire recovery in a Chilean temperate forest(2013) Albornoz Ramírez, Felipe Eduardo.; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora; Seaman Espinosa, Bárbara Javiera.; Armesto, Juan J.
- ItemPhosphorus conservation during post-fire regeneration in a Chilean temperate rainforest(2015) Seaman Espinosa, Bárbara Javiera; Albornoz, F. E.; Armesto, Juan J.; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora
- ItemSoil microbial abundance and activity across forefield glacier chronosequence in the Northern Patagonian Ice Field, Chile(2020) Alfaro, F. D.; Salazar Burrows, Alejandro Francisco; Banales Seguel, C.; García B., Juan Luis; Manzano, M.; Marquet, P. A. (Pablo A.); Ruz, K.; Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora
- ItemUnderstanding litter decomposition in semiarid ecosystems: linking leaf traits, UV exposure and rainfall variability(2015) Gaxiola Alcantar, Aurora; Armesto, Juan J.