Ecology of bryophytes along altitudinal and latitudinal gradients in Chile

The bryophyte vegetation in twenty-eight hectare plots in forests of S-Chile between 38° and 42°S and sea level and the forest line has been studied. Since bryophytes are fully dependend on atmospheric water and nutrient supply, they are good indicators of ecological conditions, especially for humidity. Therefore cover of epiphytic bryophytes, percentage of hepatics, composition of life forms and phytomass of epiphytic bryophytes were used as parameters. Cover and phytomass of epiphytic bryophytes as well as percentage of hepatics show moderate values in the lowlands, peak values in the montane belt (400-800m) and low values in the high montane to subalpine forests. This zonation corresponds with the composition of life forms and is attributed to a higher humidity in the montane belt. Life forms characteristic for the lowlands and submontane belts are pendants, those for the montane belt are wefts and tails, and those for the high montane and and subalpine belts are mats and cushions. The same zonation is found in New Zealand at comparable latitudes. The altitudinal differences are much stronger than the latitudinal ones. Compared with similar transect studies in New Zealand, there is a comparable zonation based on bryphytes. The percentage of hepatics as a good indicator of humidity, is – both in Chile and New Zealand - higher in the transects along the coast with higher precipitation, lower in transects in the inland with less precipitation, and increasing with altitude. Compared with tropical rain forests, the “mossiness” of temperate rain forests expressed by phytomass of epiphytic bryophytes per hectare, cover and percentage of hepatics is comparable to tropical rain forests above 2000 m, which is the corresponding elevation with regard to the mean annual precipitation. In Chile, however, there is a distinct decrease of “mossiness” in the high montane and subalpine forests, which is attributed to special climatological conditions, whereas bryophytes reach maximum cover and phytomass in the tropical high montane and subalpine forests. A comparison with montane forests in Europe in 48°N reveal, that phytomass and percentage of hepatics is distinctly less than in the true rain forests of the southern hemisphere

Review of Noterapion Kissinger from Chile and Argentina (Coleoptera: Apionidae)

Descriptions and a key are provided for 7 South American species of Note rap ion Kissinger (2002) (type species Apion meorrhynchum Philippi and Philippi) including N. bruchi (Beguin-Billecocq), N. meorrhynchum (Philippi and Philippi), N. philippianum (Alonso-Zarazaga) and four new species described from Chile: N. chilense Kissinger, N. lwscheli Kissinger, N. nothofagi Kissinger, and N. saperion Kissinger. A lectotype designation is published for Apion meorrhynchum Philippi and Philippi and Apion uestitum Philippi and Philippi. Apion fuegianum Enderlein and A. pingue Beguin-Billecocq are synonymized with N. meorrhynchum (Philippi and Philippi), new synonymy. Noterapionini (new tribe) is erected for Noterapion Kissinger (type genus) within Apioninae. Extension of a phylogenetic analysis of Brentidae s. lato by Wanat (2001) places Noterapion near the base of Apioninae and shows the genus sharing various symplesiomorphies with primitive apionid subfamilies from Africa and not found otherwise in the New World apionids. The weevils are associated with the southern beech, Nothofagus Blume (in Nothofagaceae, see Manos, 1997), also known from the Australasian Region. Noterapion meorrhynchum develops in abandoned cynipid wasp leaf galls. The combination of a plant host with biogeographic significance and the possession of very primitive characters suggests that Noterapion may represent an ancient lineage dating back to the time of the Cretaceous and the breakup of Gondwana

Terremotos y mediaciones míticas entre mapuches y winkas

Tradiciones e ideas de los araucanos acerca de los terremotos. Por el doctor don Rodolfo Lenz

Geochemical variations in the Central Southern Volcanic Zone, Chile (38-43°S): The role of fluids in generating arc magmas

We present new Sr-Nd-Pb-Hf-O isotope data from the volcanic arc (VA, volcanic front and rear arc) in Chile and the backarc (BA) in Argentina of the Central Southern Volcanic Zone in Chile (CSVZ; 38-43°S). Compared to the Transitional (T) SVZ (34.5-38°S; Jacques et al., 2013), the CSVZ VA has erupted greater volumes over shorter time intervals (Völker et al., 2011) and produced more tholeiitic melts. Although the CSVZ VA monogenetic cones are similar to the TSVZ VA samples, the CSVZ VA stratovolcanoes have higher ratios of highly fluid-mobile to less fluid-mobile trace elements (e.g. U/Th, Pb/Ce, Ba/Nb) and lower more- to less-incompatible fluid-immobile element ratios (e.g. La/Yb, La/Sm, Th/Yb, Nb/Yb), consistent with an overall higher fluid flux and greater degree of flux melting beneath the CSVZ stratovolcanoes compared to the CSVZ monogenetic centers and the TSVZ VA. The CSVZ monogenetic centers overlap the TSVZ in Sr and Nd isotopes, but the stratovolcanoes are shifted to higher Sr and/or Nd isotope ratios. The Pb isotopic composition of the CSVZ overlaps the TSVZ, which is clearly dominated by the composition of the trench sediments, but the CSVZ monogenetic samples extend to less radiogenic Pb isotope ratios. δ18Omelt from the CSVZ stratovolcano samples are below the MORB range, whereas the CSVZ monogenetic and the TSVZ samples fall within and slightly above the MORB range. The Nd and Hf isotopic ratios of the CSVZ VA extend to more radiogenic compositions than found in the TSVZ VA, indicating a greater contribution from a more depleted source. These correlations are interpreted to reflect derivation of fluids from hydrothermally altered oceanic crust and/or serpentinized upper mantle of the subducting plate. CSVZ BA basalts largely overlap TSVZ BA basalts, displaying less or no subduction influence compared to the VA, but some CSVZ BA basalts tap more enriched mantle, possibly subcontinental lithosphere, with distinctively lower Nd and Hf and elevated 207Pb/204Pb and 208Pb/204Pb isotope ratios