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This study explored the diversity of the quinoa crop in Chile from a nutritional perspective. Nutritional properties, minerals, vitamins, and saponin content were assessed in seeds of six Chilean quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) ecotypes grown in three main production areas with distinctive climatic and edaphic conditions: Ancovinto and Cancosa in the NorthAltiplano or High Plateau, Cáhuil and Faro in the central coastal area, and Regalona and Villarrica in the south of the country. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in all the nutritional properties of the quinoa seeds in all three areas. Quinoa of the Villarrica ecotype showed the highest protein content (16.10 g 100 g -1 DM) and the highest content of vitamins E and C (4.644 ± 0.240 and 23.065 ± 1.119 mg 100 g -1 DM, respectively). The highest content of vitamins B1 (0.648 ± 0.006 mg 100 g -1 DM) and B3 (1.569 ± 0.026 mg 100 g -1 DM) was found in the Regalona ecotype, while the highest value of vitamin B2 (0.081 ± 0.002 mg 100 g -1 DM) occurred in the Ancovinto ecotype. Potassium was the most abundant mineral with a maximum value of 2325.56 mg 100 g -1 DM in the Cancosa ecotype. Saponin content varied from 0.84 g 100 g -1 DM in the Villarrica ecotype to 3.91 g 100 g -1 DM in the Cáhuil ecotype. Significant differences were found among the Chilean quinoa ecotypes grown under different climatic conditions; however, all the quinoa seeds exhibited a high nutritional value. These results are compatible with the genetic differences previously observed in the three geographical areas under study. Thus, if more studies are conducted to show the particular properties of quinoa from specific areas, it would be possible in the future to coin the term "controlled designation of origin" (appellation d'origine contrôlée) and add commercial value to Chilean quinoa seeds in the domestic and international markets.

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In this present era of the Anthropocene, human activities affect hydrology and droughts. Quantifying this human influence improves our understanding and builds fundamental knowledge for water resource management. Analysis of observation data is useful in progressing this knowledge as these human activities and feedbacks are intrinsically included. Therefore, here we present an observationbased approach, the upstream-downstream comparison, to quantify changes in hydrological drought downstream of a human activity. We demonstrate this approach in a basin in northern Chile, where a reservoir was introduced. A sensitivity analysis is performed to assess how different choices of drought analysis threshold can affect the results and interpretation. We find that many commonly used choices do not exclude human activities from the threshold and therefore could be underestimating the change detected due to the human influence. The upstream-downstream comparison avoids this through the application of the upstream station threshold rather than the human-influenced downstream station.

Abstract. Increasing pressures on water resources in arid regions have led to their increased management and construction of dams; however, the impacts of these anthropogenic activities on hydrological droughts have yet to be incorporated and assessed. Here, the impact of the Santa Juana dam on hydrological drought characteristics downstream has been analysed in the Huasco basin in northern Chile. Two different methods of drought analysis, threshold level method and standardised indices, were applied to observed and modelled data. An upstream-downstream approach was taken for the observation data, analysing the "disturbed" (post-dam) period and the "undisturbed" (pre-dam) period to allow for an assessment of the onset of the significant anthropogenic activity on the hydrological regime. Modelled data from the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model generated a naturalised scenario and human-influenced scenario for similar analysis. Our findings show the characteristics of recent drought events in the basin (1965–2013). The reservoir is shown to help alleviate hydrological droughts by reducing frequency, duration and intensity of drought events, though it did not alleviate major multi-year drought events. A delay in timing of drought events has been observed also with the presence of the dam. The reliability of these different methods and approaches to quantify the impact of the dam are evaluated, with concluding recommendations that the threshold level method using an undisturbed threshold may be the most suitable. These findings show an applicable way forward with quantifying the human influence on hydrological droughts, a method that can be applied elsewhere, and on other human activities.