- Instituto de Ciencias Naturales Alexander Von Humboldt,
Universidad de Antofagasta,
Avenida Angamos 601,
Antofagasta,
Chile - +56 55 2637400
- Research interests focus on the ecology, evolution and conservation of fish. I'm also keen to see the development of ... moreResearch interests focus on the ecology, evolution and conservation of fish. I'm also keen to see the development of stable isotope analysis as a standard method in aquatic ecology.
Other projects examine the ecological effects of climate change on aquatic ecosystems and species and I'm known to do some work on tropical ecology (Coral reef and river fishes).
Main study species: pollan (Coregonus autumnalis), whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus), brown trout (Salmo trutta), European eel (Anguilla anguilla), guppies (Poecilia reticulata), 3-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus).edit
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Background Small fishes play fundamental roles in pelagic ecosystems, channelling energy and nutrients from primary producers to higher trophic levels. They support globally important fisheries in eastern boundary current ecosystems like... more
Background Small fishes play fundamental roles in pelagic ecosystems, channelling energy and nutrients from primary producers to higher trophic levels. They support globally important fisheries in eastern boundary current ecosystems like the Humboldt Current System (HCS) of the SE Pacific (Chile and Peru), where fish catches are the highest in the world (per unit area). This production is associated with coastal upwelling where fisheries target small pelagic fishes including the Peruvian anchovy (Engraulis ringens). The elevated biomass attained by small pelagics is thought to reflect their low trophic position in short/simple food chains. Despite their global importance, large gaps exist in our understanding of the basic ecology of these resources. For instance, there is an ongoing debate regarding the relative importance of phytoplankton versus animal prey in anchovy diet, and ecosystem models typically assign them a trophic position (TP) of ∼2, assuming they largely consume phyto...
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Marine threespine sticklebacks colonized and adapted to brackish and freshwater environments since the last Pleistocene glacial. Throughout the Holarctic, three lateral plate morphs are observed; the low, partial and completely plated... more
Marine threespine sticklebacks colonized and adapted to brackish and freshwater environments since the last Pleistocene glacial. Throughout the Holarctic, three lateral plate morphs are observed; the low, partial and completely plated morph. We test if the three plate morphs in the brackish water Lake Engervann, Norway, differ in body size, trophic morphology (gill raker number and length), niche (stable isotopes; δN, δC, and parasites (Theristina gasterostei, Trematoda spp.)), genetic structure (microsatellites) and the lateral-plate encoding Stn382 (Ectodysplasin) gene. We examine differences temporally (autumn 2006/spring 2007) and spatially (upper/lower sections of the lake - reflecting low versus high salinity). All morphs belonged to one gene pool. The complete morph was larger than the low plated, with the partial morph intermediate. The number of lateral plates ranged 8-71, with means of 64.2 for complete, 40.3 for partial, and 14.9 for low plated morph. Stickleback δN was h...
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Research Interests: Bioaccumulation, Biology, Environmental Monitoring, Methylmercury, Environmental Pollution, and 15 moreMedicine, Multidisciplinary, Finland, Lakes, Adaptive Radiation, Liver, Food web, Mercury, Animals, Muscles, Fresh Water Fish, Atlantic Salmon, Coregonus lavaretus, Lipid Content, and Dietary Shift
Coastal marine upwelling famously supports elevated levels of pelagic biological production, but can also subsidize production in inshore habitats via pelagic-benthic coupling. Consumers inhabiting macroalgae-dominated rocky reef habitats... more
Coastal marine upwelling famously supports elevated levels of pelagic biological production, but can also subsidize production in inshore habitats via pelagic-benthic coupling. Consumers inhabiting macroalgae-dominated rocky reef habitats are often considered to be members of a food web fuelled by energy derived from benthic primary production; conversely, they may also be subsidized by materials transported from pelagic habitats. Here, we used stable isotopes (δ(13) C, δ(15) N) to examine the relative contribution of pelagic and benthic materials to an ecologically and economically important benthivorous fish assemblage inhabiting subtidal macroalgae-dominated reefs along ~1,000 km of the northern Chilean coast where coastal upwelling is active. Fish were isotopically most similar to the pelagic pathway and Bayesian mixing models indicated that production of benthivorous fish was dominated (median 98%, range 69-99%) by pelagic-derived C and N. Although the mechanism by which these ...
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Background:Theoretically, each species’ ecological niche is phylogenetically-determined and expressed spatially as the species’ range. However, environmental stress gradients may directly or indirectly decrease individual performance,... more
Background:Theoretically, each species’ ecological niche is phylogenetically-determined and expressed spatially as the species’ range. However, environmental stress gradients may directly or indirectly decrease individual performance, such that the precise process delimiting a species range may not be revealed simply by studying abundance patterns. In the intertidal habitat the vertical ranges of marine species may be constrained by their abilities to tolerate thermal and desiccation stress, which may act directly or indirectly, the latter by limiting the availability of preferred trophic resources. Therefore, we expected individuals at greater shore heights to show greater variation in diet alongside lower indices of physiological condition.Methods:We sampled the grazing gastropodEchinolittorina peruvianafrom the desert coastline of northern Chile at three shore heights, across eighteen regionally-representative shores. Stable isotope values (δ13C and δ15N) were extracted fromE. pe...
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Research Interests: Stable isotope ecology, Stable Isotope Analysis, Bayesian, Biology, Ecology, and 15 moreMedicine, Stable Isotopes in Foodwebs, Bayesian Analysis, Trophic Ecology, Bayesian Inference, Food web, Bayesian statistics, Trophic Cascade, Trophic interactions, Jellyfish, Marine Food Webs, Gelatinous Zooplankton, Aurelia Aurita, Trophic Food Web, and Niche Width
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Prey preference of top predators and energy flow across habitat boundaries are of fundamental importance for structure and function of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as they may have strong effects on production, species diversity,... more
Prey preference of top predators and energy flow across habitat boundaries are of fundamental importance for structure and function of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, as they may have strong effects on production, species diversity, and food-web stability. In lakes, littoral and pelagic food-web compartments are typically coupled and controlled by generalist fish top predators. However, the extent and determinants of such coupling remains a topical area of ecological research and is largely unknown in oligotrophic high-latitude lakes. We analyzed food-web structure and resource use by a generalist top predator, the Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus (L.), in 17 oligotrophic subarctic lakes covering a marked gradient in size (0.5-1084 km(2)) and fish species richness (2-13 species). We expected top predators to shift from littoral to pelagic energy sources with increasing lake size, as the availability of pelagic prey resources and the competition for littoral prey are both likely t...
Research Interests: Biology, Ecology, Morphometry, Medicine, Environmental Sciences, and 15 moreFood web, Maintenance, Predation, Stable Isotope, Species Richness, Niche segregation, Peer reviewed, Benthic, Food Chain Length, Salvelinus, Resource Competition, Apex Predator, Forage Fish, lake morphometry, and pelagic zone
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Research Interests: Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Adaptation to Climate Change, Biology, and 15 moreEcology, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Lakes, Adaptive Radiation, Animals, Habitat Use, Coregonus lavaretus, Ontogenetic Shifts, Fish Evolution, Niche segregation, Ecosystem, Age Factors, Ambient Temperatures, and pelagic zone
Research Interests: Biology, Stable Isotopes, Ecology, Population, Trophic Level, and 3 moreOikos, Trophic Niche, and Niche
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Research Interests: Climate Change, Adaptation, Biology, Ecology, Fish Biology, and 15 moreClimate change biology, Biodiversity, Environmental Change, Case Study, Animals, Fishes, Fisheries Sciences, British Isles, Climatic Change, Ecosystem, Fish Community, Adaptive Management, Aquatic science, Conservation of Natural Resources, and Estuarine
Research Interests: Evolutionary Biology, Zoology, Biology, Diet, Ecology, and 15 moreRivers, Medicine, Ireland, Genetic Algorithm, Ecological Speciation, Multivariate Analysis, Lakes, Carbon Isotopes, Animals, Parallel Evolution, Biological evolution, Nitrogen Isotopes, Reproductive Isolation, Genetic Divergence, and Stickleback
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Research Interests: Chemistry, Medicine, Ireland, Lipids, Carbon Isotopes, and 5 moreAnimals, Muscles, Nitrogen Isotopes, Salmo salar, and Trout
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Research Interests: Engineering, Earth Sciences, Aquatic Ecology, Stable isotope ecology, Stable Isotope Analysis, and 15 moreLimnology, Community Ecology, Biology, Diet, Ecology, Fish Ecology, Biological Sciences, Food web, Stable Isotope, Nitrogen, Methane, Lake ecology, European freshwater fishes, Isotope analysis, and Fish Community
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Coastal marine upwelling famously supports elevated levels of pelagic biological production, but can also subsidize production in inshore habitats via pelagic-benthic coupling. Consumers inhabiting macroalgae-dominated rocky reef habitats... more
Coastal marine upwelling famously supports elevated levels of pelagic biological production, but can also subsidize production in inshore habitats via pelagic-benthic coupling. Consumers inhabiting macroalgae-dominated rocky reef habitats are often considered to be members of a food web fuelled by energy derived from benthic primary production; conversely, they may also be subsidized by materials transported from pelagic habitats. Here, we used stable isotopes (d 13 C, d 15 N) to examine the relative contribution of pelagic and benthic materials to an ecologically and economically important benthivorous fish assemblage inhabiting subtidal macroalgae-dominated reefs along ~1,000 km of the northern Chilean coast where coastal upwelling is active. Fish were isotopically most similar to the pelagic pathway and Bayesian mixing models indicated that production of benthivorous fish was dominated (median 98%, range 69–99%) by pelagic-derived C and N. Although the mechanism by which these materials enter the benthic food web remains unknown, our results clearly highlight the importance of pelagic-benthic coupling in the region. The scale of this subsidy has substantial implications for our basic understanding of ecosystem functioning and the management of nearshore habitats in northern Chile and other upwelling zones worldwide.
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Background: Theoretically, each species' ecological niche is phylogenetically-determined and expressed spatially as the species' range. However, environmental stress gradients may directly or indirectly decrease individual performance,... more
Background: Theoretically, each species' ecological niche is phylogenetically-determined and expressed spatially as the species' range. However, environmental stress gradients may directly or indirectly decrease individual performance, such that the precise process delimiting a species range may not be revealed simply by studying abundance patterns. In the intertidal habitat the vertical ranges of marine species may be constrained by their abilities to tolerate thermal and desiccation stress, which may act directly or indirectly, the latter by limiting the availability of preferred trophic resources. Therefore, we expected individuals at greater shore heights to show greater variation in diet alongside lower indices of physiological condition.
Methods: We sampled the grazing gastropod Echinolittorina peruviana from the desert coastline of northern Chile at three shore heights, across eighteen regionally-representative shores. Stable isotope values (d13C and d15N) were extracted from E. peruviana and its putative food resources to estimate Bayesian ellipse area, carbon and nitrogen ranges and diet. Individual physiological condition was tracked by muscle % C and % N.
Results: There was an increase in isotopic variation at high shore levels, where E. peruviana's preferred resource, tide-deposited particulate organic matter (POM), appeared to decrease in dietary contribution, and was expected to be less abundant. Both muscle % C and % N of individuals decreased with height on the shore.
Discussion: Individuals at higher stress levels appear to be less discriminating in diet, likely because of abiotic forcing, which decreases both consumer mobility and the availability of a preferred resource. Abiotic stress might be expected to increase trophic variation in other selective dietary generalist species. Where this coincides with a lower physiological condition, this may be a direct factor in setting their range limit.
Methods: We sampled the grazing gastropod Echinolittorina peruviana from the desert coastline of northern Chile at three shore heights, across eighteen regionally-representative shores. Stable isotope values (d13C and d15N) were extracted from E. peruviana and its putative food resources to estimate Bayesian ellipse area, carbon and nitrogen ranges and diet. Individual physiological condition was tracked by muscle % C and % N.
Results: There was an increase in isotopic variation at high shore levels, where E. peruviana's preferred resource, tide-deposited particulate organic matter (POM), appeared to decrease in dietary contribution, and was expected to be less abundant. Both muscle % C and % N of individuals decreased with height on the shore.
Discussion: Individuals at higher stress levels appear to be less discriminating in diet, likely because of abiotic forcing, which decreases both consumer mobility and the availability of a preferred resource. Abiotic stress might be expected to increase trophic variation in other selective dietary generalist species. Where this coincides with a lower physiological condition, this may be a direct factor in setting their range limit.
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Understanding the drivers and implications of anthropogenic disturbance of ecological connectivity is a key concern for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Here, we review human activities that affect the movements... more
Understanding the drivers and implications of anthropogenic disturbance of ecological connectivity is a key concern for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem processes. Here, we review human activities that affect the movements and dispersal of aquatic organisms, including damming of rivers, river regulation, habitat loss and alteration, human-assisted dispersal of organisms and climate change. Using a series of case studies, we show that the insight needed to understand the nature and implications of connectivity, and to underpin conservation and management, is best achieved via data synthesis from multiple analytical approaches. We identify four key knowledge requirements for progressing our understanding of the effects of anthropogenic impacts on ecological connectivity: autecology; population structure; movement characteristics; and environmental tolerance/phenotypic plasticity. Structuring empirical research around these four broad data requirements, and using this inf...
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Contact zones between divergent forms of the same species are often characterised by high levels of phenotypic diversity over small geographic distances. What processes are involved in generating such high phenotypic diversity? One... more
Contact zones between divergent forms of the same species are often characterised by high levels of phenotypic diversity over small geographic distances. What processes are involved in generating such high phenotypic diversity? One possibility is that introgression and recombination between divergent forms in contact zones results in greater phenotypic and genetic polymorphism. Alternatively, strong reproductive isolation between forms may maintain distinct phenotypes, preventing homogenisation by gene flow. Contact zones between divergent freshwater-resident and anadromous stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) forms are numerous and common throughout the species distribution, offering an opportunity to examine these contrasting hypotheses in greater detail. This study reports on an interesting new contact zone located in a tidally influenced lake catchment in western Ireland, characterised by high polymorphism for lateral plate phenotypes. Using neutral and QTL-linked microsatell...
Research Interests: Phylogeography, Gene Flow, Rivers, Multidisciplinary, Ireland, and 14 moreLakes, Atlantic Ocean, Animals, Animal migration, Genetic Association Studies, Cluster Analysis, Body Size, PLoS one, Reproductive Isolation, Ecosystem, Quantitative Trait Loci, Genetic variation, Species Specificity, and Bayes Theorem
Research Interests: Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Stable isotope ecology, Stable Isotope Analysis, and 18 moreAdaptation to Climate Change, Biology, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Lakes, Animals, Temperature, Habitat Use, Respiration, PLoS one, Fish Evolution, Whitefish, Ecosystem, Age Factors, Sympatry, Thermal Tolerance, Salmonidae, and Respiratory Rate
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Worldwide, exploited marine fish stocks are under threat of collapse [1]. Although the drivers behind such collapses are diverse, it is becoming evident that failure to consider evolutionary processes in fisheries management can have... more
Worldwide, exploited marine fish stocks are under threat of collapse [1]. Although the drivers behind such collapses are diverse, it is becoming evident that failure to consider evolutionary processes in fisheries management can have drastic consequences on a species' long-term viability [2]. The European eel (Anguilla anguilla; Linnaeus, 1758) is no exception: not only does the steep decline in recruitment observed in the 1980s [3, 4] remain largely unexplained, the punctual detection of genetic structure also raises questions regarding the existence of a single panmictic population [5-7]. With its extended Transatlantic dispersal, pinpointing the role of ocean dynamics is crucial to understand both the population structure and the widespread decline of this species. Hence, we combined dispersal simulations using a half century of high-resolution ocean model data with population genetics tools. We show that regional atmospherically driven ocean current variations in the Sargasso Sea were the major driver of the onset of the sharp decline in eel recruitment in the beginning of the 1980s. The simulations combined with genotyping of natural coastal eel populations furthermore suggest that unexpected evidence of coastal genetic differentiation is consistent with cryptic female philopatric behavior within the Sargasso Sea. Such results demonstrate the key constraint of the variable oceanic environment on the European eel population.
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Summary 1. Stable isotope analyses coupled with mixing models are being used increasingly to evaluate ecological management issues and questions. Such applications of stable isotope analyses often require simultaneous carbon and nitrogen... more
Summary 1. Stable isotope analyses coupled with mixing models are being used increasingly to evaluate ecological management issues and questions. Such applications of stable isotope analyses often require simultaneous carbon and nitrogen analyses from the same sample.
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Summary 1. The adaptive radiation of fishes into benthic (littoral) and pelagic (lentic) morphs in post-glacial lakes has become an important model system for speciation. Although these systems are well studied, there is little evidence... more
Summary 1. The adaptive radiation of fishes into benthic (littoral) and pelagic (lentic) morphs in post-glacial lakes has become an important model system for speciation. Although these systems are well studied, there is little evidence of the existence of morphs that have diverged to utilize resources in the remaining principal lake habitat, the profundal zone.
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Abstract Accurate field data on trophic interactions for suspension feeders are lacking, and new approaches to dietary analysis are necessary. Polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) was integrated... more
Abstract Accurate field data on trophic interactions for suspension feeders are lacking, and new approaches to dietary analysis are necessary. Polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) was integrated with stable isotope analysis to examine dietary patterns in suspension-feeding Mytilus spp. from seven spatially discrete locations within a semi-enclosed marine bay (Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland) during June 2009.
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Abstract Forecasting the ecological impacts of invasive species is a major challenge that has seen little progress, yet the development of robust predictive approaches is essential as new invasion threats continue to emerge. A common... more
Abstract Forecasting the ecological impacts of invasive species is a major challenge that has seen little progress, yet the development of robust predictive approaches is essential as new invasion threats continue to emerge. A common feature of ecologically damaging invaders is their ability to rapidly exploit and deplete resources.
Summary 1. Managing populations of predators and their prey to achieve conservation or resource management goals is usually technically challenging and frequently socially controversial. This is true even in the simplest ecosystems but... more
Summary 1. Managing populations of predators and their prey to achieve conservation or resource management goals is usually technically challenging and frequently socially controversial. This is true even in the simplest ecosystems but can be made much worse when predator���prey relationships are influenced by complex interactions, such as biological invasions, population trends or animal movements.
Abstract Proper application of stable isotopes (eg, ��15N and ��13C) to food web analysis requires an understanding of all nondietary factors that contribute to isotopic variability. Lipid extraction is often used during stable isotope... more
Abstract Proper application of stable isotopes (eg, ��15N and ��13C) to food web analysis requires an understanding of all nondietary factors that contribute to isotopic variability. Lipid extraction is often used during stable isotope analysis (SIA), because synthesized lipids have a low ��13C and can mask the ��13C of a consumer's diet. Recent studies indicate that lipid extraction intended to adjust ��13C may also cause shifts in ��15N, but the magnitude of and reasons for the shift are highly uncertain.
ABSTRACT: This study assessed nearshore, marine ecosystem function around Trinidad and Tobago (TT). The coastline of TT is highly complex, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Paria and the Columbus Channel, and... more
ABSTRACT: This study assessed nearshore, marine ecosystem function around Trinidad and Tobago (TT). The coastline of TT is highly complex, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Paria and the Columbus Channel, and subject to local terrestrial runoff and regional riverine inputs (eg the Orinoco and Amazon rivers). Coastal organisms can assimilate energy from allochthonous and autochthonous sources.
This FAO Technical Paper synthesizes current knowledge on the impact of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events on fisheries and aquaculture in the context of a changing climate. It describes the diversity of ENSO events (Chapter 2),... more
This FAO Technical Paper synthesizes current knowledge on the impact of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events on fisheries and aquaculture in the context of a changing climate. It describes the diversity of ENSO events (Chapter 2), ENSO forecasting (Chapter 3) and ENSO in the context of climate change (Chapter 4). It includes a global overview and regional assessment of ENSO impact (Chapters 5 and 6) and a focus on coral bleaching and damage to reefs and related fisheries (Chapter 7). Finally, it synthesizes the lessons learned and the perspectives for ENSO and preparedness in a warmer ocean (Chapter 10).