Proyectos

Anthropogenic climate change (global change) has caused widespread negative impacts on the vitality and natural dynamics of forest ecosystems across different biomes worldwide. Such impacts are forecast to continue throughout the 21st Century, with Mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTE) being one of the most vulnerable worldwide. MTE are a global conservation priority owing to their high biodiversity, endemism and, carbon and water cycling. In particular, there are significant concerns and uncertainties about the future of tree-dominated MTEs given their vulnerability to global change and, therefore, the consequent likelihood of rapid changes in species distribution. I will assess the response and adaptation of the only Mediterranean forest ecosystems in South America to current and forecasted climate change along biogeographic gradients from sclerophyllous forest to relict mountain in central Chile, using a multi-scale approach, from shrubs to tall trees, and from seeds to ecosystem. This information will allow us to understand the stability of the trailing edge and the potential threats due to the upward migration of other species under global warming in Chilean MTE forest. To achieve these goals, I will exploit multidisciplinary approaches based on hydrology, remote sensing, dendrochronology, ecology, genetic and plant physiology, combining field, laboratory and experimental studies, with the purpose of forecasting forest. Considering that climate change is expected to drive abrupt nonlinear changes throughout the 21st century. I will include analytical approaches that can accommodate these non-linear relationships such as process-based models, non-stationary time-series models and structural equation modeling, as they can support a physiological approach that can robustly assess the forest productivity responses to future climate variability. This proposal will involve three approaches to forecasting forest resilience at different ecological scales: (i) forest-scale research to assess and predict canopy decline and change in foliar phenology using remote sensing and model-based climatic projections using in situ and ex situ data (Obj 1); population-based study assessing the current and future resilience of tree populations using demographic rates, ecophysiological indicators and genetic traits (Obj 2); regeneration-based study to investigate mechanisms of local adaptation in early life stages and potential for persistence of populations, using plant-growth chambers to simulate current and future climate condition in Chile’s MTE (Obj 3). Finally, a multivariate analysis to determine the relative resilience of forests based on information of three previous approach will be assess (Objective 4). Each projected approach will be transformed to predict change percentage, and thus, forecasted resilience rate by short-intermediate (2030-2065) and long term (2065-2100), considering the same weight of each approach. This proposal is a pioneer in global change research in ecology and biogeography due to its focus on possible migration from sclerophyllous trees to mountain forest in South American MTE. Findings will enable us to identify and predict species- and population-level resilience in the face of global climate change to inform priorities for conservation, mitigation and adaptation.

El Centro de Modelamiento Matemático (CMM) es un centro científico líder en Chile para la investigación y aplicaciones de las matemáticas. Fue inaugurado en abril del 2000 y forma parte de la Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas (FCFM) de la Universidad de Chile, en la que se encuentra la principal y más antigua escuela de ingeniería del país. Su objetivo es crear nuevas matemáticas y utilizarlas para resolver problemas provenientes de otras ciencias, la industria y las políticas públicas.

Materia Específica: El proyecto busca comprender la conciencia jurídica de los legos que respaldan los linchamientos y, de ser pertinente, dar cuenta de la configuración de alienación legal que atraviesa dicha conciencia jurídica.

Actualmente no existe información de exposición a micotoxinas en Chile en niños por consumo de lácteos. El proyecto Puente, tiene como objetivo evaluar el riesgo asociado a la exposición a aflatoxina por el consumo de lácteos en infantes chilenos de 2 años o menos. Los objetivos específicos son: 1. Medir la ocurrencia y concentración de aflatoxina M1 en lácteos consumidos por menores de 2 años en Chile. 2. Evaluar el riesgo a aflatoxina B1 en lactantes debido al consumo de lácteos.

Sistema Articulado de Investigación en Cambio Climático y Sustentabilidad de Zonas Costeras de Chile CUECH/RISUE RED21992

El objetivo general del proyecto es el desarrollo del uso de un formulado en base a ácidos nucleicos de DNA (oligos) de genes asociados a control de procesos biológicos asociados a citoesqueleto. El uso de estos formulados tiene un gran potencial debido a su baja residualidad y alta especificidad. Proyecto se realiza en conjunto con la Universidad de O´higgins y la Universidad Católica liderado por la empresa APOL

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Sistema Articulado de Investigación en Cambio Climático y Sustentabilidad de Zonas Costeras de Chile CUECH/RISUE RED21992

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