The Arid Coastal Wetlands of Northern Chile: Towards an Integrated Management of Highly Threatened Systems

Navarro, Núria; Abad, Manuel; Bonnail, Estefanía; Izquierdo, Tatiana

doi:10.3390/jmse9090948

Cited by 16 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…At the same time, the diversity of wetland landscape pattern types also needs to be given attention. Protecting the ecological environment structure and establishing buffer zones can be used to preserve wetlands to enrich the diversity of wetland landscape pattern types [25,52].…”

Section: Protections Of the Wetland In The Riparian Zone Of Coastal R...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Human Disturbance on Riparian Wetland Landscape Pattern in a Coastal Region

Shen

et al. 2022

Remote Sensing

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The wetland ecosystem along a river in a coastal region has great significance in purifying water bodies, regulating climate, and providing habitat for animals and plants. Studying the effects of human disturbances on the landscape patterns of wetlands is of great significance to the protection and management of an ecosystem. This study used Guannan County and Guanyun County, two counties in China that are located on both banks of the Xinyi River as the study area. The spatiotemporal characteristics of the landscape pattern evolution of wetlands and their relationship with human interference from 2009 to 2020 were analyzed by the landscape dynamic rate, landscape conversion matrix, landscape indices, human disturbance index, and the quadratic regression equation. The results showed that: (1) Except for the increase in the area of beach and paddy fields, the area of other landscape types decreased; (2) the changes in wetlands were heterogeneous and showed different trends in different regions; (3) the boundary shape’s complexity and the landscape pattern’s fragmentation showed a decreasing–increasing trend and the connectivity and the diversity of the landscape decreased; and (4) the human disturbance index increased from 2009 to 2014 and then decreased from 2014 to 2020, declining outward from the places where towns and construction land aggregated. Moreover, there was an inverted U-type relationship with the landscape pattern indices. The findings provide direct, specific, and explicit information and theoretical guidance for the protection of wetlands along the river in the coastal region as well as for the restoration of wetland ecosystem function and the improvement of wetland biodiversity in relevant regions.

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Section: Protections Of the Wetland In The Riparian Zone Of Coastal R...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Human Disturbance on Riparian Wetland Landscape Pattern in a Coastal Region

Shen

et al. 2022

Remote Sensing

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“…Its main water source is the Lluta River, the only exoreic river in the province, which experiences its most important floods during the summer season (December to March) due to the “highland winter” rains. The average annual temperature fluctuates between 16° and 22 °C and rainfall is almost non-existent throughout the year, reaching an annual maximum of 1.5 mm [ 19 , 20 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote Sensing and Ecological Variables Related to Influenza A Prevalence and Subtype Diversity in Wild Birds in the Lluta Wetland of Northern Chile

Ruíz

Galdames

Baumberger

et al. 2023

Viruses

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The Lluta River is the northernmost coastal wetland in Chile, representing a unique ecosystem and an important source of water in the extremely arid Atacama Desert. During peak season, the wetland is home to more than 150 species of wild birds and is the first stopover point for many migratory species that arrive in the country along the Pacific migratory route, thereby representing a priority site for avian influenza virus (AIV) surveillance in Chile. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of influenza A virus (IAV) in the Lluta River wetland, identify subtype diversity, and evaluate ecological and environmental factors that drive the prevalence at the study site. The wetland was studied and sampled from September 2015 to October 2020. In each visit, fresh fecal samples of wild birds were collected for IAV detection by real-time RT-PCR. Furthermore, a count of wild birds present at the site was performed and environmental variables, such as temperature, rainfall, vegetation coverage (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index—NDVI), and water body size were determined. A generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) was built to assess the association between AIV prevalence and explanatory variables. Influenza positive samples were sequenced, and the host species was determined by barcoding. Of the 4349 samples screened during the study period, overall prevalence in the wetland was 2.07% (95% CI: 1.68 to 2.55) and monthly prevalence of AIV ranged widely from 0% to 8.6%. Several hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) subtypes were identified, and 10 viruses were isolated and sequenced, including low pathogenic H5, H7, and H9 strains. In addition, several reservoir species were recognized (both migratory and resident birds), including the newly identified host Chilean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis). Regarding environmental variables, prevalence of AIV was positively associated with NDVI (OR = 3.65, p < 0.05) and with the abundance of migratory birds (OR = 3.57, p < 0.05). These results emphasize the importance of the Lluta wetland as a gateway to Chile for viruses that come from the Northern Hemisphere and contribute to the understanding of AIV ecological drivers.

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“…In addition, the wetlands along the Chilean coastline are subjected to variable sources of anthropogenic perturbations, such as, agriculture, mining, tourism, at arid northern area [ 24 ] and higher urbanization, litter, industrial and sewage disposal in the central north area [ 27 ]. In general, these anthropogenic activities have been shown to considerably affect water quality and quantity [ 24 ] and potentially also GHG dissolved concentration in the coastal wetlands semiarid region as reported globally. For instance, the extraction of water and changes of land-use as well as the discharges of agricultural fertilizers have been reported to induce freshwater wetlands salinization [ 30 ], triggering wetlands eutrophication, and significantly increasing CH 4 and N 2 O emissions [ 3 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on GHG and microbiological characterization, these ecosystems have been classified as sensitive areas for global warming due to the impact on CH 4 emissions mediated by H 2 /CO 2 -based methanogens stimulation [ 22 ], highlighting the role of temperature as a driving factor of CH 4 emissions globally [ 23 ]. Additional studies have provided insights for desert coastal wetlands in Atacama mainly associated with drainage catchment areas and river mouths [ 24 , 25 ] and hypersaline pools [ 26 ], where salinity and substrate availability control methanogenesis/sulfate reduction competition. To our knowledge, there are no studies exploring the relation between GHG distribution and microbial communities in coastal wetlands of the semiarid region of central-northern area, as a transition between the hyper arid and humid areas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This region has a desert-oceanic Mediterranean bioclimate, with precipitation concentrated in the winter season [ 28 ], however, experiencing a mega-drought for the last 30 years [ 29 ]. In addition, the wetlands along the Chilean coastline are subjected to variable sources of anthropogenic perturbations, such as, agriculture, mining, tourism, at arid northern area [ 24 ] and higher urbanization, litter, industrial and sewage disposal in the central north area [ 27 ]. In general, these anthropogenic activities have been shown to considerably affect water quality and quantity [ 24 ] and potentially also GHG dissolved concentration in the coastal wetlands semiarid region as reported globally.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dissolved greenhouse gases and benthic microbial communities in coastal wetlands of the Chilean coast semiarid region

et al. 2022

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Coastal wetlands are ecosystems associated with intense carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) recycling, modulated by salinity and other environmental factors that influence the microbial community involved in greenhouse gases production and consumption. In this study, we evaluated the influence of environmental factors on GHG concentration and benthic microbial community composition in coastal wetlands along the coast of the semiarid region. Wetlands were situated in landscapes along a south-north gradient of higher aridity and lower anthropogenic impact. Our results indicate that wetlands have a latitudinal variability associated with higher organic matter content at the north, especially in summer, and higher nutrient concentration at the south, predominantly in winter. During our sampling, wetlands were characterized by positive CO2 μM and CH4 nM excess, and a shift of N2O nM excess from negative to positive values from the north to the south. Benthic microbial communities were taxonomically diverse with > 60 phyla, especially in low frequency taxa. Highly abundant bacterial phyla were classified into Gammaproteobacteria (Betaproteobacteria order), Alphaproteobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria, including key functional groups such as nitrifying and methanotrophic bacteria. Generalized additive model (GAM) indicated that conductivity accounted for the larger variability of CH4 and CO2, but the predictions of CH4 and CO2 concentration were improved when latitude and pH concentration were included. Nitrate and latitude were the best predictors to account for the changes in the dissolved N2O distribution. Structural equation modeling (SEM), illustrated how the environment significantly influences functional microbial groups (nitrifiers and methane oxidizers) and their resulting effect on GHG distribution. Our results highlight the combined role of salinity and substrates of key functional microbial groups with metabolisms associated with both carbon and nitrogen, influencing dissolved GHG and their potential exchange in natural and anthropogenically impacted coastal wetlands.

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The Arid Coastal Wetlands of Northern Chile: Towards an Integrated Management of Highly Threatened Systems

Cited by 16 publications

References 64 publications

Effects of Human Disturbance on Riparian Wetland Landscape Pattern in a Coastal Region

Effects of Human Disturbance on Riparian Wetland Landscape Pattern in a Coastal Region

Remote Sensing and Ecological Variables Related to Influenza A Prevalence and Subtype Diversity in Wild Birds in the Lluta Wetland of Northern Chile

Dissolved greenhouse gases and benthic microbial communities in coastal wetlands of the Chilean coast semiarid region

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