Although Chile has been establishing marine protected areas since the 1960s, studies to identify representative areas for marine biodiversity conservation at the ecoregional scale are lacking. Using the Marxan decision support tool we conducted a systematic planning process to identify High Conservation Value Areas in the channels and fjords of the southern Chile ecoregion. We involved 74 experts and other stakeholders in identifying conservation features, setting targets and compiling distribution data. Current distributions of 39 features were used in Marxan analyses. In one scenario we locked planning units that contained the Francisco Coloane Marine Protected Area. In a second scenario we also excluded planning units that overlapped with Appropriate Areas for Aquaculture, defined by the Chilean government's coastal zoning process. One-hundred percent of the proposed conservation targets were met in both scenarios. Although the distribution of 12 conservation features overlapped to a certain extent (>10%) with Appropriate Areas for Aquaculture, Marxan identified conservation solutions avoiding these areas. Our suggested portfolio of High Conservation Value Areas comprises a network of 33 sites, covering 99,432 km2 (12% of the ecoregion). These results provide the first science-based roadmap for decision makers and conservationists, and were used by the Chilean government in its coastal zoning process to define priority areas for conservation. Consequently, salmon farming has been excluded from Tierra del Fuego island.
Las colonias reproductivas de albatros de ceja negra (Thalassarche melanophris) se reconocen por su gran tamaño y presencia en islas oceánicas. Sin embargo, en el año 2003 se describe por primera vez la existencia de la única, y numéricamente pequeña, colonia reproductiva en aguas interiores de la Patagonia chilena ubicada en el islote Albatros (54°27’20’’S; 69°01’12’’W). A partir del año 2009, se inicia un estudio sistemático de esta colonia, visitando el área durante la temporada reproductiva para monitorear y evaluar su población. Se realizaron once expediciones entre los meses de octubre y febrero, durante los años 2009 y 2016, contabilizando la presencia de huevos y polluelos para determinar el éxito reproductivo de la colonia. Adicionalmente se anilló un total de 188 individuos a lo largo de 7 temporadas para determinar la tasa de recaptura durante estos años. A partir de estos monitoreos, se espera aportar nuevos antecedentes al conocimiento general sobre la pequeña colonia de albatros de ceja negra, única en el mundo ubicada en aguas interiores de la Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena
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