Browsing by Author "Pliscoff, Patricio"

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    A framework for the classification Chilean terrestrial ecosystems as a tool for achieving global conservation targets
    (2017) Martínez, K.; Núñez, M.; León, C.; Pliscoff, Patricio; Squeo, F.; Armesto, Juan J.
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    Are We Putting the Money in the Right Pocket? Ascertaining the Eventual Relationship between Silvoagricultural Subsidies, Ecosystem Threats, and Ecosystem Services in Chile
    (2023) Perez, Cristian; Pliscoff, Patricio; Simonetti, Javier A.
    Due to the Aichi targets, the international community committed to the sustainable management of silvoagricultural activities and to the elimination or reform of detrimental subsidies relative to biodiversity conservation. In this context, countries should have implemented specific actions to address these commitments. In Chile, the Instruments of Productive Promotion to Finance Field Work (IPP-FFW) framework was used to fund activities related to silvoagricultural systems, including, irrigation, plantations with exotic species, and the recovery of soils. However, concerns have been raised that are associated with the need for evaluating their effectiveness, including whether impact assessments should be carried out systematically. Considering that these subsidized activities may negatively impact nature, whether IPP-FFWs had been allocated is analyzed regardless of the threat degree of terrestrial ecosystems at the commune level in Chile using the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) ecosystem risk assessment methodology; moreover, the eventual relationship between changes in land use and ecosystem service provisions in case study for the Biobio region in Chile is also examined, for which the monetary consequences of the loss of ecosystem services-via the analysis of benefit transfers-are calculated. Evidence reveals that higher amounts of IPP-FFWs are allocated in communes with higher levels of threats and that a decrease in ecosystem service provision is associated with IPP-FFW's allocation.
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    Area-Wide Prediction of Vertebrate and Invertebrate Hole Density and Depth across a Climate Gradient in Chile Based on UAV and Machine Learning
    (MDPI, 2021) Grigusova, Paulina; Larsen, Annegret; Achilles, Sebastian; Klug, Alexander; Fischer, Robin; Kraus, Diana; Uebernickel, Kirstin; Paulino, Leandro; Pliscoff, Patricio; Brandl, Roland; Farwig, Nina; Bendix, Joerg
    Burrowing animals are important ecosystem engineers affecting soil properties, as their burrowing activity leads to the redistribution of nutrients and soil carbon sequestration. The magnitude of these effects depends on the spatial density and depth of such burrows, but a method to derive this type of spatially explicit data is still lacking. In this study, we test the potential of using consumer-oriented UAV RGB imagery to determine the density and depth of holes created by burrowing animals at four study sites along a climate gradient in Chile, by combining UAV data with empirical field plot observations and machine learning techniques. To enhance the limited spectral information in RGB imagery, we derived spatial layers representing vegetation type and height and used landscape textures and diversity to predict hole parameters. Across-site models for hole density generally performed better than those for depth, where the best-performing model was for the invertebrate hole density (R-2 = 0.62). The best models at individual study sites were obtained for hole density in the arid climate zone (R-2 = 0.75 and 0.68 for invertebrates and vertebrates, respectively). Hole depth models only showed good to fair performance. Regarding predictor importance, the models heavily relied on vegetation height, texture metrics, and diversity indices.
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    Assessing floristic representativeness in the protected areas national system of Chile : are vegetation types a good surrogate for plant species?
    (2016) Urbina Casanova, Rafael; Luebert, Federico; Pliscoff, Patricio; Scherson, Rosa A.
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    Bad company expands in highland areas: Overlapping distribution, floral resources and habitat suggest competition between invasive and native bumblebees
    (2023) Barahona-Segovia, Rodrigo M.; Smith-Ramirez, Cecilia; Duran-Sanzana, Vanesa; Huaranca, Juan Carlos; Pliscoff, Patricio
    Bumblebees are key pollinators, but their global decline is being driven by factors such as invasive species. Bombus terrestris has invaded many countries, displacing and competing with native bumblebees for resources throughout many different habitats, which causes native populations to decline. In the Chilean highlands, Bombus funebris-a Chilean species under threat-shares its habitat with B. terrestris, suggesting that the two species could be competing for resources (e.g., flowers or habitats) within this ecosystem. However, an information gap in this regard prevents us from proposing conservation measures. Our goals were (1) to assess overlapping distribution between native and invasive Bombus species, (2) to determine any niche overlap in the use of flowers between the two bumblebee species, and (3) to document the predictors that influence their abundance. We conducted a survey in northern Chile between 2017 and 2019 with different latitudinal and altitudinal sampling points to count bumblebees and record their interaction with flowers, both in natural and perturbed habitats. We analyzed their overlapping distribution using the chi-square test and evaluated the use of floral resources and their overlap niche through an interaction network analysis. Predictors and bumblebee abundance were associated with a general linear mixed model. We found the distribution of both bumblebees overlapped by 94.3 %, whereas the overlap niche index (NO) for the common use of flowers was high between B. terrestris and B. funebris (NO = 0.78). The abundance of both bumblebee species was associated with the use of natural scrubland in the highlands. Our results suggest that both species are likely to have a competitive dynamic for floral resources in the high Andean scrubland. As such, we propose implementing an export ban on invasive bumblebee species, coordinating measures between bordering countries, removing any remaining B. terrestris populations, and restoring native flora to attract native pollinators and to provide and manage pollination services in the Chilean highlands.
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    Bioturbation 1 enhances C and N contents on near-surface 2 soils in resource-deficient arid climate regions but shows 3 adverse effects in more temperate climates
    Pliscoff, Patricio; Kraus, Diana; Brandl, Roland; Bendix, Jörg; Grigusova, Paulina; Köhler, Sabrina; Larsen, Annegret; Übernickel, Kirstin; Farwig, Nina
    Bioturbating animals can affect physical and chemical soil properties on near-surface soil by either foraging for food or constructing suitable habitats. Thereby, bioturbation can influence the soil texture either sorting or mixing the different grain sizes clay, silt and sand during burrowing. Additionally, bioturbating animals can increase the macronutrients carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) through the transport of nutrients by vertically mixing the soil column and the addition of the bioturbators’ feces to the soil surface. To date, it is not clear how the effects of bioturbation on soil properties vary along an ecological gradient. Therefore, we compared the physical properties clay, silt and sand and the chemical contents of the macronutrients C, N and P for soil samples from mounds and the surrounding area as controls in three different climatic regions (arid, semi-arid and Mediterranean) of coastal Chile. To do so, we calculated the difference between the concentrations of paired mound and control samples. When comparing soil texture, we did not find significant differences between mound and control soil samples. For the macronutrient contents, the difference between mound and control C and N contents increased in the arid site and decreased in the two other research sites with increasing vegetation cover. Since we aimed to cover bioturbation patterns on a broader scale, we additionally compared our findings to other bioturbation studies performed in different biomes. Thereby, we found that other studies also show small differences in soil properties caused by bioturbation which are already sufficient to increase soil fertility.
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    Breaking the cliche: sex reversal in size dimorphism and mobility in South American Allocosinae (Lycosidae) spiders
    (2023) Aisenberg, Anita; Bollatti, Fedra; Oviedo-Diego, Mariela; Albin, Andrea; Alves Dias, Marcelo; Arnedo, Miquel A.; Brescovit, Antonio D.; Casacuberta, Marcelo; Cavassa, Diego; Gonnet, Veronica; Izquierdo, Matias; Laborda, Alvaro; Piacentini, Luis N.; Pliscoff, Patricio; Postiglioni, Rodrigo; Simo, Miguel; Texeira, Renato A.; Bidegaray-Batista, Leticia
    Typically, females and males are expected to have characteristic sexual strategies and patterns of size dimorphism, but these generalizations are subject to exceptions. The occurrence of atypical cases has been related to species or populations from environments under strong physical, ecological and/or social constraints. Allocosa marindia and Allocosa senex are two coastal spiders (Lycosidae: Allocosinae) with reversal in sex roles and sexual size dimorphism. Males are larger than females, and females are the mobile sex that initiates courtship. It is unclear whether the occurrence of non-typical sexual traits in Allocosinae spiders is correlated with coastal habitats. Our aim was to study sexual size dimorphism and surface mobility in Allocosinae spiders from different habitats throughout South America. We revised specimens from scientific collections and performed 3-day samplings to collect individuals and determine nocturnal surface mobility. We analysed a total of 1071 Allocosinae adult individuals from 18 species and/or morphotypes. Our results revealed new species inhabiting coastal habitats with reversal in sexual size dimorphism and higher nocturnal surface activity in females; however, not all coastal species shared those characteristics. Future studies will focus on studying other ecological, physiological and/or phylogenetic factors that could be shaping the origin and maintenance of sex role reversal in Allocosinae.
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    Chile mega-fire 2017: An analysis of social representation of forest plantation territory
    (2020) Pliscoff, Patricio; Folchi, M.; Aliste, E.; Cea, D.; Simonetti, J. A.
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    Cryptic speciation in gentoo penguins is driven by geographic isolation and regional marine conditions: Unforeseen vulnerabilities to global change
    (2020) Pertierra, Luis R.; Segovia, Nicolás I.; Noll, Daly; Martínez, Pablo A.; Pliscoff, Patricio; Barbosa, Andrés; Vianna, Juliana; Aragón, Pedro; Raya Rey, Andrea; Pistorius, Pierre; Trathan, Phil; Polanowski, Andrea; Bonadonna, Francesco; Le Bohec, Célin; Bi, Ke; Wang-Claypool, Cynthia Y.; González Acuña, Daniel; Dantas, Gisele P. M.; Bowie, Rauri C. K.; Poulin, Elie
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    Defining corridors for movement of multiple species in a forest-plantation landscape
    (2020) Pliscoff, Patricio; Simonetti, Javier A.; Grez, Audrey A.; Vergara, Pablo M.; Barahona-Segovia, Rodrigo M.
    Forestry plantations of Pinus radiata, managed through clearcutting method, would offer resistance to the movement of native fauna among remnants of native forest. In this study, we evaluate the possibilities of establishing connectivity corridors for native fauna in a forest landscape dominated by P. radiata, focusing on seven species with some level of specialisation in the use of different land covers and that exhibit different movement strategies. We sampled presences and abundances using several types of sampling to determine the abundance and crossing edge probabilities for the ground-dwelling beetle Ceroglossus chilensis; the mesocarnivores Conepatus chinga, Lycalopex culpaeus and Leopardus guigna; the terrestrial frogs Eupsophus septentrionalis and Pleuroderma thaul, and the understory bird Pteroptochos castaneus. We use species distribution modelling and circuit theory to calculate connectivity for each species. Finally, a spatial priorization approach was applied to obtain two scenarios of least-cost corridors. The results show that species with more specific requirements such as L. guigna, P. castaneus, P. thaul and E. septentrionalis, are unlikely to move through clear cuttings and young plantations, but their movement is possible through adult pine plantations with understory. For species that are habitat generalists such as C. chinga and L. culpaeus plantations were suitable for movement. The management of forest plantations should use multi-taxa assessments in the design of biological corridors that allow the connection of forest fragments. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
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    Dinámicas espaciales y temporales de la vegetación zonal en la Región Altiplano andino, hotspot de biodiversidad Andes Tropicales (2000 – 2020)
    (2022) Paicho Hidalgo, Maritza Alejandra; Pliscoff, Patricio; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Instituto de Geografía
    Las dinámicas de la vegetación zonal son una respuesta, entre otros factores, al comportamiento del clima, existiendo un fuerte acoplamiento clima-biosfera. En el marco de esta premisa, se planteó el objetivo de analizar las dinámicas de la vegetación zonal y su relación con las variables ambientales, en la región Altiplano andino, parte del hotspot de biodiversidad Andes Tropicales, entre los años 2000 y 2020; con el propósito de identificar perturbaciones y/o tendencias en las dinámicas de la vegetación. Considerando los cambios registrados en la variabilidad climática propia del Altiplano en las últimas décadas, particularmente en la precipitación y la temperatura, variables que tienen una gran injerencia en el comportamiento de la vegetación en los diferentes territorios. Investigación que se abordó a través del cálculo de métricas fenológicas de vegetación; aplicación de pruebas de tendencias no paramétricas y estimación de pendientes de las series temporales de valores NDVI; y por último se determinó la correlación entre la vegetación (NDVI) y las variables precipitación (CHIRPS), temperatura diurna de la superficie terrestre (LST) y evapotranspiración (ET). Los resultados indicaron i) una gran variabilidad en los días del año (DOY) de las métricas inicio, punto máximo y fin de la temporada de crecimiento (SOS, POP y EOS), y a su vez no se identificaron tendencias o cambios estadísticamente significativos en estas métricas; ii) tendencias principalmente positivas y leves en la vegetación del Altiplano, entre 2000 y 2020, con una magnitud de cambio menor o igual a 0.023 NDVI por década, en la mayor parte del área de estudio, tasa de cambio que se incrementa en la primavera austral; y iii) una correlación positiva estadísticamente significativa entre la vegetación y evapotranspiración, una correlación negativa con la variable temperatura diurna de la superficie terrestre, y una correlación positiva relativamente alta entre la vegetación y precipitación, principalmente en la zona centro-norte del Altiplano. Por lo tanto, los leves incrementos en la vigorosidad de la vegetación podrían estar explicados, en parte, por el comportamiento de las precipitaciones en esta zona en las últimas décadas.
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    Disentangling morphologically similar species of the Andean forest: integrating results from multivariate morphometric analyses, niche modelling and climatic space comparison in Kaunia (Eupatorieae: Asteraceae)
    (2018) Viera Barreto, Jessica N.; Pliscoff, Patricio; Donato, Mariano; Sancho, Gisela
    Six subtropical montane forest Kaunia spp. are remarkable for their superficial morphological similarity. We aim to explore different sources of data to clarify species delimitation in this complex of Kaunia. Morphological variation and environmental data of the species of the complex were assessed by using multivariate morphometric analyses. We performed a species distribution modelling approach applying BIOMOD2. Morphological quantitative traits allowed discrimination of some species in the complex. These Kaunia spp. have statistically different potential distributions, although some similarities between species in terms of climatic space were found. The species with the most similar climatic space were K. saltensis and K. lasiophthalma. The biogeographical context that could have affected the distribution of these two species is discussed. The results of our integrative study confirm the discrimination of three species, K. lasiophthalma, K. rufescens and K. saltensis, but the other three, K. arbuscularis, K. longipetiolata and K. uber, are here regarded as a single entity.
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    Dispersal and extrapolation on the accuracy of temporal predictions from distribution models for the Darwin's frog
    (2017) Uribe, D; Soto, C; Valenzuela, A; Bizama, G; Simonetti Zambello, Javier; Pliscoff, Patricio
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    Distribution and new sightings of Promops davisoni Thomas, 1921 (Chiroptera: Molossidae) in the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth
    (ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD, 2022) Pedro, Annia Rodriguez San; Allendes, Juan Luis; Beltran, Clemente A.; Mayorga, Marcelo; Pliscoff, Patricio
    Davison's Mastiff Bat Promops davisoni is a poorly studied species, only present in Ecuador, Peru, and more recently in Chile, where its known geographic distribution is supported by very few records from the extreme north of the country. Using ultrasonic recordings, we reported new records of P. davisoni in northern Chile, extending its distribution range ca. 60 km southward to the Chaca and Camarones valleys in the province of Arica. Additionally, using Species Distribution Models, we predicted its potential distribution in the north of the country based on similar suitable habitats. The high number of recordings obtained in our study suggest a wide distribution and relative abundance of P. davisoni in the coastal valleys of the Arica province and surrounding urban areas, with a remarkable habitat diversity for populations of this species. In addition, our potential distribution models suggest its presence in other arid environments within the Atacama Desert. These data provide additional information on the current and potential distribution of P. davisoni and can be useful for further studies to better understand the biology and population dynamics of the species, as well as the design of conservation and management strategies.
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    Early-career experts essential for planetary sustainability
    (2017) Lim, Michelle; Linch, Abygail; Fernández-Llamazares, Alvaro; Balint, Lenke; Basher, Zeenatul; Chan, Ivis; Jaureguiberry, Pedro; Mohamed, A.A.A.; Mwampamba, Tuyeni; Pliscoff, Patricio; Palomo, Ignacio; Salimov, Rashad; Samakov, Aibek; Selomane, Odirilwe; Shrestha, Uttam; Sidorovich, A.
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    Efectos sobre la flora y vegetación del evento de precipitación extremo de agosto 2015 en Alto Patache, Desierto de Atacama, Chile
    (2017) Pliscoff, Patricio; Zanetta Colombo, Nicolás Camilo; Hepp Castillo, Josefina; Machuca, Javiera
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    Effects on the flora and vegetation of the extreme precipitation event of August 2015 in Alto Patache, Atacama Desert, Chile
    (PONTIFICA UNIV CATOLICA CHILE, INST GEOGRAFIA, 2017) Pliscoff, Patricio; Zanetta, Nicolas; Hepp, Josefina; Machuca, Javiera
    During the extreme precipitation event related with "El Nino", which occurred in August 2015 on the coast of the Tarapaca region, Atacama Desert, rainfall of 50 mm was recorded at the Alto Patache Fog Oasis (annual average of 1 mm), activating germination of many species present on the site. After the event, transects were demarcated and the presence and dominance of vegetation was recorded. The floristic data identified was compared with historical records and related with the distribution of fog, measured between the years 2001 and 2002. Results show 42 species identified, 78% of all known plants in the area, with one new record (Tiquilia sp.). The floristic analysis allowed the identification of three vegetation units, and a greater diversity of species was observed in lower areas of the coastal mountain chain.