Browsing by Author "Pozo, Rocio A."

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    Assessing the socio-economic and land-cover drivers of wildfire activity and its spatiotemporal distribution in south-central Chile
    (2022) Pozo, Rocio A.; Galleguillos, Mauricio; Gonzalez, Mauro E.; Vasquez, Felipe; Arriagada, Rodrigo
    Sustained human pressures on the environment have significantly increased the frequency, extent, and severity of wildfires, globally. This is particularly the case in Mediterranean regions, in which human-caused wildfires represent up to 90% of all recorded wildfire ignitions. In Chile, it has been estimated that nearly 90% of wildfires are related to human activities, and that their frequency and distribution have steadily increased over the last decade. Despite this, the role of socio-economic factors in driving wildfire activity and its spatiotemporal distribution remains unclear. In this study, we assess the association between socio-economic drivers and spatiotemporal patterns of wildfires in the Mediterranean region of south-central Chile over the period 2010-2018. Our results show that 98.5% of wildfires are related to human activities, either accidentally (58.2%) or intentionally (36.6%). Wildfires occurred primarily during the summer months and their density at the commune-level was associated with increased road access, as well as with the percentage of land covered by agriculture, exotic tree plantations, and native forest. Wildfire activity at the commune-level was also related to socio-economic variables such as population density, proportion of indigenous population, and unemployment rate, although such associations varied considerably depending on the region and on whether the wildfire was started accidentally or intentionally. Our study provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary assessment of the complex ways in which land-cover and socio-economic factors drive the distribution of wildfire activity in south-central Chile. It represents an important guide for policy-making, as well a baseline for research into strategies aimed at predicting and mitigating wildfire activity at both local and national levels.
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    Residents' valuation of ecosystem services in a Mediterranean coastal dune ecosystem: The case of the Ritoque dunes in central Chile
    (2023) Diaz-Siefer, Pablo; Weishaupt, Paulina; Pozo, Rocio A.; Huenchuleo, Carlos; Guerrero-Rojas, Rodrigo; Gelcich, Stefan; Celis-Diez, Juan L.
    Coastal dunes provide a variety of cultural and ecological ecosystem services to local communities. However, most of these ecosystems are globally threatened by anthropic factors. Chile is home to important dune eco-systems such as the emblematic Ritoque coastal dunes located in the hotspot for biodiversity conservation in central Chile where there is a delicate relationship between conservation and human development interests, among local communities and authorities. Here, we performed a choice experiment study to determined will-ingness to implement conservation measures in the Ritoque dunes. In particular, we assessed residents' prefer-ences for improvements of the current state of local ecosystem services such as scenic beauty, biodiversity and archaeological sites. Residents showed preferences for improvements in Ritoque coastal dunes' ecosystem ser-vices, and a high willingness to pay for protecting biodiversity and archeological sites, rather than for recrea-tional infrastructure. Our study highlights the importance of place-based research that specifically addresses residents and stakeholders' conservation priorities, which could be used to design and implement effective conservation management strategies for coastal ecosystems and coastal cities near them.