Abstract
Southern Chile encompasses one of the most extensive fjord regions of the world, the Patagonia, currently exposed to natural and anthropogenic perturbations. These fjord ecosystems provide important services to humans, which have not been adequately measured and valued. As a consequence, ecosystem services are commonly ignored in public policy design and in the evaluation of development projects. Here we tackle questions that are highly relevant for the nation’s development, namely (1) understanding fjord functioning, and (2) developing management strategies based on ecosystem services, in order to secure simultaneous and adequate use of these ecosystems which area influenced by ecological (e.g., biogeochemical) and productive (e.g., aquaculture, fisheries) processes. We also seek to strengthen the analysis of fjord ecosystem value from the economical (including coastal zoning), socio-cultural, institutional, and governmental points of view. In addition, the investigation of current and future effects of climate change on this large region offers a unique opportunity to understand the social and economic consequences of a global phenomenon at local to regional scales. Biogeochemical and socio-economic models will be used to simulate future scenarios under a gamut of management options.
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Acknowledgements
The holistic view (“ecosystem services” perspective) to consider the fjord systems was inspired by the Fondecyt grant 1080187, COPAS Fondap 1501007 and the COPAS Sur-Austral PFB 31-2007 programs. The Fondecyt and Fondap gave us the chance to explore the role of the different nutrients in the assemble of phytoplankton populations in a changing world and the COPAS Sur-Austral the chance to contribute with basic research to the productive (aquaculture and fisheries) sectors.
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Iriarte, J.L., González, H.E. & Nahuelhual, L. Patagonian Fjord Ecosystems in Southern Chile as a Highly Vulnerable Region: Problems and Needs. AMBIO 39, 463–466 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0049-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-010-0049-9