Cities are not socially homogenous, but divided into socially and structurally differentiated sub-units. Likewise, the individuals of a community, city or neighbourhood present specific behavioural patterns and uses with respect to their public green areas. This premise has led us to explore the question of how the perceptions, uses, and behaviours of people from different countries, cultures, and socioeconomic levels in Chile, Germany and Spain differ or coincide as far as urban nature and landscapes are concerned. Due to the comparative nature of the project, research areas with similar characteristics were chosen, thus allowing a comparative analysis of upper and lower middle-class neighbourhoods. People from all six study areas were surveyed using the same questionnaires. The results revealed that people of different social and cultural backgrounds use and perceive urban landscape in different ways. We found that nature of different kind plays an important role in all the urban societies and particularly in the neighbourhoods studied, regardless of social status or nationality. However, the higher the social status, the greater the urban green area dedicated to private uses. The preference for specific types of nature depends not only on social status, but cultural elements, accessibility and tradition as well. Moreover, nature-related outdoor activities are defined by this status, in turn reflecting the individual's cultural status within society.

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INTRODUCCIÓNSe ha reconocido internacionalmente que el cambio climático introduce una mayor variabilidad climática (PARRY et al., 2007), la cual aumenta la incertidumbre sobre el régimen hidrológico de los cursos de agua e impacta negativamente la disponibilidad del recurso hídrico (BATES et al., 2008), por ejemplo introduce cambios en el patrón de caudales y cantidad de agua en los ríos (WHITFIELD et al., 2002) e intensifica los eventos extremos (STOTT et al., 2004). Con el objeto de disminuir, evitar, o sacar ventaja de estos posibles impactos se promueve desde la esfera política y científica la definición de estrategias de mitigación y adaptación (SMIT & PILIFISOVA, 2003;PIELKE et al., 2007).Ambas estrategias actúan complementariamente para hacer frente a este fenómeno, y buscan cambios conductuales y culturales por parte de todos los miembros de la sociedad. El primero, precisa cambios que conduzcan hacia la disminución de los gases de efecto invernadero (GEI) y de esta manera disminuir o frenar los impactos del cambio climático (SEMENZA et al., 2008) y, el segundo, tomar consciencia y realizar acciones tendientes a cambiar cualitativamente el curso del accionar antrópico, orientando el desarrollo de la economía y la sociedad hacia la sustentabilidad y de esta forma hacer frente a los impactos inevitables del cambio climático.De este modo, la investigación del cambio climático requiere de una línea de estudio que aborde la percepción de los ciudadanos, ya que la aplicación exitosa de cualquier estrategia, tanto de mitigación como adaptación, exige comprender el nivel

Minor differences between the values obtained for wild Spectacled Caimans and those previously published for this species may be related to differences in methodology and environmental conditions. Availability of hematologic and serum biochemical reference values will be useful for accurate diagnosis and management of disease in this species.

Although traditional soil use in Chillán and Chillán Viejo is agricultural, both cities have seen their surrounding areas expand and change drastically. Economic activities have increased, including phytosanitary companies and petroleum derivatives used in agriculture and transport. This has had a large impact on the soil.The present work studies total hydrocarbon contamination (lineal and polycyclic aromatics) and chlorine pesticides (Aldrin, Dieldrin, DDT, and DDE) in surface soils near potential sources of pollution.The concentration of total hydrocarbons in the majority of the samples analyzed is between 0.1 and 70 mg/kg. Only 8.8 % exceed 70 mg/kg., indicating the need for recovery before use, according international regulations.The pesticide Aldrin was found in 41.2 % of the soil samples, DDT in 32.4 %, Dieldrin in 29.4%, and DDE in 2.9%. These levels exceed the maximum limits established for ecological improvement in Chile. Amongst themselves, total hydrocarbons correlated with total pesticides and with DDT, but not with Aldrin or Dieldrin. Correlations were also found for total pesticides with DDT and Aldrin, and strong correlations were observed for DDT with Aldrin, and Aldrin with Dieldrin.