Patricia Silva-Flores

Nothofagus alessandrii (ruil) is an endangered relict species, endemic to the Mediterranean area of Chile, and one of the most threatened trees in the country. Its natural distribution area has been greatly reduced by the effect of human activities; the remaining fragments are mostly intervened and highly deteriorated as a habitat and refuge for the associated biodiversity. In order to produce healthy and resistant nursery plants for recovery and restoration of N. alessandrii forests, this study evaluates the early effects of mycorrhizal fungal inoculum (MFI) combined with fertilization on the cultivation of seedlings. The experiment was established under a completely randomized design with a factorial arrangement of the mycorrhizal factors (M0 = without mycorrhizal, M1 = Thelephora sp. and M2 = Hebeloma sp.) and fertilization (F1 = standard fertilization and F2 = intensive fertilization), with three replicates of each combination, for each type of plant (P1 = plants from one season...

Nothofagus alessandrii is an endangered species that is naturally distributed in a Mediterranean environment in central Chile. In recent years, this territory has been subject to the effects of climate change, especially an increase in summer temperatures and prolonged periods of drought. In the summer of 2017, there was a fire of great magnitude consuming 184,000 ha, which affected the forests of N. alessandrii. This study assessed the severity and recovery dynamics of postfire vegetation by using spectral indices from Sentinel-2 images. The differenced normalized burn ratio (dNBR), relative differenced normalized burn ratio (RdNBR), and relativized burn ratio (RBR) were calculated before and after the fire and, later, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) before the fire and during three consecutive years after the fire was utilized. The accuracy of the fire severity classifications was estimated using the kappa test (p<0.05). The three severity indices showed a sim...

The cropVitis vinifera(L.) is of great economic importance as Chile is one of the main wine-producing countries, reaching a vineyard area of 145,000 ha. This vine crop is usually very sensitive to local condition changes and agronomic practices; therefore, strategies to counteract the expected future decrease in water level for agricultural irrigation, temperature increase, extreme water stress (abiotic stress), as well as increase in pathogenic diseases (biotic stress) related to climate change will be of vital importance for this crop. Studies carried out in recent years have suggested that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can provide key ecosystem services to host plants, such as water uptake implementation and enhanced absorption of nutrients such as P and N, which are key factors for improving the nutritional status of the vine. AMF use in viticulture will contribute also to sustainable agronomic management and bioprotection against pathogens. Here we will present (1) the cur...

Societal Impact Statement Mycorrhizal associations are acknowledged as key components of global ecosystem functioning. This is especially relevant in the context of global change, since they contribute to the amelioration of adverse soil conditions and play crucial roles in agriculture. Generally speaking, the lay public is uninformed on the importance of mycorrhizal fungi and symbiosis to our planet. Therefore, mycorrhizal scientific outreach activities are of paramount importance in order to bridge the aforementioned gap. We think that informing people about the benefits of mycorrhizal fungi and symbiosis in the face of global change, will raise general awareness of relevant research and aid conservation efforts. Summary Science outreach has become a particularly important duty in shortening the knowledge gap between scientists and the public, in order to strengthen societal decision-making power in the global change crisis. Mycorrhizal fungi and mycorrhizal symbioses are key components of terrestrial ecosystems that contribute significantly to endure and reduce certain negative global change effects. Their importance has been gaining recognition in academic circles, but not among the general public. The aim of this article is to encourage as many mycorrhizal fungi researchers around the world as possible to build, through science outreach, a bridge between their scientific work and public interest. To this end, we conducted a review and discussed the relationship between global change and the mycorrhizal symbiosis. We highlight potential audiences, tools, resources, activities, outreach models, pros and cons, as well as the quantification potential for the outreach activities success. We extend an invitation to all mycorrhizologists around the world to contribute with mycorrhizal outreach material. Contributions will become available on the South American Mycorrhizal Research Network website for individuals or organizations interested in starting or innovating in mycorrhizal science outreach activities. Finally, the hashtag #mycorrhizalscienceoutreach is proposed to be used whenever a mycorrhizal fungi-related science outreach activity is shared in social media.

ABSTRACT The zooplankter Daphnia exilis was found recently in reservoirs of central Chile. This species has been described as being tolerant to osmotic stress and chemical pollution, although the available information about its ecological properties is limited. Motivated by likelihood of being witnesses to a biological invasion, in this study we contribute to expand the knowledge of this exotic species through evaluating its ability to respond phenotypically to two major ecological factors: predation risk and food availability. Specifically, we analysed shifts in life-history and morphological traits of D. exilis in response to fishreleased infochemicals, at different food densities. Our results revealed that the organisms were affected in their temporal trajectories of body size and shape, as well as in maturation time and fertility, in response to both predator cues and food availability. The presence of fish kairomones led to a decrease of age at maturity, and an increase of reproduction size and fecundity, especially at lower levels of resources. Our analyses indicated that asymptotic body size was affected only by food level, but the rate of increase in body size was sensitive to both fish kairomones and food level. The relative length of the tail spine decreased during early ontogenetic states, reaching a minimum around the age at maturity. This pattern was significantly enhanced in the presence of fish kairomones. However, our results did not match completely the typical responses of daphnids to fish kairomones.