Relationship between Exotic Plant Species Richness, Native Vegetation and Climate in Forest Ecosystems of Chile

In this chapter, we evaluated how native species cover, native species richness, and foliage periodicity of forests are related to exotic species richness in different forest ecosystems distributed through the Mediterranean-type and temperate climate regions of Chile. We compiled published and unpublished data on Chilean vegetation (mainly phytosociological studies) located between 30º and 41º S in which plant species composition and abundance (percentage of cover) per plot was evaluated and published. When all forests were analysed together, we found that exotic species richness was not significantly related to native species richness; it was negatively related to native species cover in both Mediterranean and temperate climatic regions and was greater in deciduous than evergreen forests, although only in the temperate region. In an analysis considering separately every forest type, we observed that only in 50% of these communities, exotic species richness was negatively related to native species cover. Furthermore, in 25% of forest types, exotic species richness was negatively related to native species richness, and in only one forest type, this relationship was positive. Our results suggest that native species produce some resistance against invasion of exotic plants, but this effect may depend on climate and forest type

INVASION DE ARBOLES ALOCTONOS EN UNA CUENCA PRE-ANDINA DE CHILE CENTRAL

In this paper the assemblage of alien tree species inhabiting in the Río San Ramón watershed is described. This watershed is located at East border of Santiago, central Chile. Particularly, we documented the flora of alien tree species, the invasion state (not naturalized, naturalized, invader), abundance and population structure of each species. In addition, we related richness and abundance of each species with the way of access into the watershed (planted or natural immigration) and characterized species distribution through the abiotic habitats and resident vegetation patches. During 2003, a cense of all the individuals of alien tree species observed in the watershed was carried out. Fifteen alien tree species were observed. From these, eight species may be considered as invaders, two species as naturalized, and five species were planted but no natural regeneration was observed. Invader species had different abundance, being Ulmus minor the most abundant. Most of the invader species had natural regeneration and small-size individuals. The species that have become invaders, especially those that are the most abundant, were not planted in the watershed. On the other hand, the alien species had a similar environmental distribution, principally on the wettest habitats and on open sites without woody vegetation. These results suggest that the invasion process would be continuous, and that biotic and abiotic environment might be playing a role on the invasion of alien trees in central Chile, and that this role would be similar among species.En este trabajo se describe el ensamble de especies arbóreas alóctonas presentes en la cuenca del Río San Ramón, ubicada en el borde este de la ciudad de Santiago, Chile central. En particular se documenta la flora de especies arbóreas alóctonas, el estado de invasión de cada especie (no naturalizada, naturalizada, invasora), abundancia, estructura de tamaños, se relaciona la riqueza y abundancia de especies alóctonas arbóreas con la forma de acceso a la cuenca (plantada o inmigración natural), y se caracteriza la distribución de las especies en los hábitats abióticos y tipos de parche de vegetación residente. Para ello, se llevó a cabo un censo de todos los individuos de especies arbóreas alóctonas presentes en la cuenca. Se observaron 15 especies arbóreas alóctonas, de las cuales 8 pueden ser catalogadas como invasoras en la cuenca, 2 sólo naturalizadas y 5 están plantadas pero no presentan regeneración natural. Las especies invasoras presentaron diferente abundancia, siendo Ulmus minor la especie más abundante. La mayoría de las especies invasoras presentan regeneración natural e individuos de tamaño pequeño. Las especies que han llegado a ser invasoras y de éstas las más abundantes no fueron mayoritariamente plantadas en la cuenca. Además, las especies alóctonas observadas presentaron una muy similar distribución ambiental, preferentemente en los hábitats más húmedos y parches abiertos sin vegetación leñosa. Estos patrones permiten sugerir que el proceso de invasión estaría continuamente ocurriendo, que el ambiente biótico y abiótico puede estar jugando un rol en la invasión de árboles alóctonos, y que este rol sería similar entre las especies invasoras presentes

Conocimientos y actitudes frente a la vacuna contra el COVID-19: Knowledge and attitudes towards the covid-19 vaccine

Objective:The objective of this research was to determine the relationship between the level of knowledge and attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine in the inhabitants of the province of Trujillo in the year 2021. Materials and methods:The type of study was applied, non experimental desing, with a quantitative approach, cross-sectional, and correlational level; a questionnaire for knowledge and attitudes was administered to a total of 500 adults in the province of Trujillo.   Results: The results show that 88% of the population has a good level of knowledge about the vaccine, and 91% of them have an adequate attitude to be vaccinated.   Conclusions: In this way, it is concluded that there is a significant relationship between the level of knowledge and attitudes towards the vaccine against COVID-19 (p value<0.05).  The level of knowledge is a protective factor (OR: 0.43; CI: 0.2318-0.8053) for an adequate attitude to be vaccinated.Objetivo: Determinar la relación entre el nivel de conocimientos y las actitudes frente a la vacuna contra el COVID 19 en los pobladores de la provincia de Trujillo en el año 2021. Métodos: El tipo de estudio fue aplicado, diseño no experimental, de enfoque cuantitativo, de corte transversal y nivel correlacional, se aplicó un cuestionario para conocimientos y actitudes a un total de 500 personas mayores de edad distribuidos en la provincia de Trujillo. Resultados: Los resultados demuestran que el 88% de la población tiene un buen nivel de conocimientos sobre la vacuna, así mismo el 91% de los mismos tiene una actitud adecuada para ser vacunados. Conclusiones: De esa manera se concluye que existe relación signicativa entre el nivel de conocimientos y las actitudes frente a la vacuna contra la COVID-19 (valor de p <0,05). El nivel de conocimientos constituye un factor de protección (OR: 0,43; IC: 0,23-0,81) para una adecuada actitud para ser vacunado

Effect of large and small herbivores on seed and seedling survival of Beilschmiedia miersii in central Chile

SUMMARY In the Mediterranean region of Chile, populations of the threatened tree Beilschmiedia miersii have been strongly affected by anthropic disturbances, causing a critical state of conservation. Herbivory has been proposed as the main factor that currently limits the regeneration of this species. We studied the effect of large vs. small herbivores on seed and seedling survival of B. miersii under two contrasting habitat conditions (forest and shrubland), using plots with fenced enclosures which differentially excluded mammalian herbivores according to body size. Results show that herbivory had a significant negative effect on B. miersii. Both large and small herbivores had a significant negative effect on seeds and seedlings in the shrub habitat. In the forest habitat small herbivores had a significant negative effect only on seeds. Our results suggest that different herbivores can have varying effects on seed and seedling survival, but these effects can vary spatially, probably due to different herbivore assemblage of each habitat. Results suggest that restoration plans for B. miersii need to be adjusted according to local conditions. Key words: Beilschmiedia miersii, herbivory, seed predation, seedling survival, restoration. RESUMEN En la zona mediterránea de Chile, las poblaciones de la especie amenazada Beilschmiedia miersii han sido afectadas fuertemente por actividades antrópicas, provocando que actualmente se encuentre en un estado crítico de conservación. La herbivoría ha sido propuesta como el principal factor que limita actualmente la regeneración de esta especie. El efecto de herbívoros grandes versus pequeños, la etapa del ciclo de vida más afectada (semillas vs. plántulas) y si la sobrevivencia depende de las condiciones de hábitat permanece menos conocida. En este estudio evaluamos el efecto de diferentes tipos de herbívoros en la sobrevivencia de semillas y plántulas de B. miersii usando parcelas con cierres perimetrales que excluyeron a los herbívoros mamíferos de acuerdo a su tamaño. También evaluamos la variabilidad espacial del efecto de los herbívoros comparando entre habitas de matorral y bosque. Los resultados muestran que la herbivoría tuvo un efecto significativamente negativo sobre B. miersii. Ambos herbívoros, grandes y pequeños, tuvieron un efecto significativamente negativo sobre semillas y plántulas en el hábitat de matorral, donde la sobrevivencia de plántulas fue de 2,5% para exclusiones parciales y cero para parcelas sin exclusión. La sobrevivencia de semillas fue nula en las exclusiones parciales y en parcelas sin exclusión. En el hábitat de bosque los herbívoros pequeños tuvieron un efecto negativo solo sobre semillas. La sobrevivencia de semillas fue nula en parcelas parcialmente excluidas y parcelas sin exclusión. Nuestros resultados indican que diferentes tipos de herbívoros pueden tener efectos variados sobre semillas y plántulas, pero estos resultados pueden variar espacialmente, debido probablemente a los diferentes ensamblajes de herbívoros en cada hábitat. Los resultados sugieren que los planes de restauración de B. miersii deben ser ajustados de acuerdo al hábitat y al tipo de herbívoro. Palabras clave: Beilschmiedia miersii, herbivoría, depredación de semillas, sobrevivencia de plántulas, restauración

Inhibitory effects of Eucalyptus globulus on understorey plant growth and species richness are greater in non-native regions

Aim: We studied the novel weapons hypothesis in the context of the broadly distributed tree species Eucalyptus globulus. We evaluated the hypothesis that this Australian species would produce stronger inhibitory effects on species from its non-native range than on species from its native range. Location: We worked in four countries where this species is exotic (U.S.A., Chile, India, Portugal) and one country where it is native (Australia). Time period: 2009–2012. Major taxa studied: Plants. Methods: We compared species composition, richness and height of plant communities in 20 paired plots underneath E. globulus individuals and open areas in two sites within its native range and each non-native region. We also compared effects of litter leachates of E. globulus on root growth of seedlings in species from Australia, Chile, the U.S.A. and India. Results: In all sites and countries, the plant community under E. globulus canopies had lower species richness than did the plant community in open areas. However, the reduction was much greater in the non-native ranges: species richness declined by an average of 51% in the eight non-native sites versus 8% in the two native Australian sites. The root growth of 15 out of 21 species from the non-native range were highly suppressed by E. globulus litter leachates, whereas the effect of litter leachate varied from facilitation to suppression for six species native to Australia. The mean reduction in root growth for Australian plants was significantly lower than for plants from the U.S.A., Chile and India. Main conclusions: Our results show biogeographical differences in the impact of an exotic species on understorey plant communities. Consistent with the novel weapons hypothesis, our findings suggest that different adaptations of species from the native and non-native ranges to biochemical compounds produced by an exotic species may play a role in these biogeographical differences.NSF EPSCoR Track-1, Grant/Award Number: EPS-1101342; Australian Research Council, Grant/Award Number: DE12010222

Influencia del día de inicio del tratamiento en los resultados de superovulación en vacas lecheras

Se comparan dos momentos de inicio, dentro del periodo que se establece como adecuado (8 a 14 días después del estro), del tratamiento superovulatorio en hembras donantes de embriones. Se han utilizado vacas de raza Holstein Friesian, en condiciones similares de manejo y alimentación. Sometidas a un tratamiento superovulatorio con FSH, iniciado en 16 animales el día 8 y en otros 16 el día 12 del ciclo y tras la recogida de los embriones, mediante un método transvaginal, y su transferencia a las receptoras, se ha comprobado que iniciando el tratamiento en el día 12, se obtienen resultados muy superiores a los observados cuando se comienza en el día 8, principalmente en lo que se refiere al número de embriones transferibles obtenidos, así como en el porcentaje de gestaciones en las hembras receptoras

Age-Related Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Mechanical Reperfusion and 30-Day Mortality for STEMI : Results of the ISACS-STEMI COVID-19 Registry

Background: The constraints in the management of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) during the COVID-19 pandemic have been suggested to have severely impacted mortality levels. The aim of the current analysis is to evaluate the age-related effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mechanical reperfusion and 30-day mortality for STEMI within the registry ISACS-STEMI COVID-19. Methods: This retrospective multicenter registry was performed in high-volume PPCI centers on four continents and included STEMI patients undergoing PPCI in March–June 2019 and 2020. Patients were divided according to age (< or ≥75 years). The main outcomes were the incidence and timing of PPCI, (ischemia time longer than 12 h and door-to-balloon longer than 30 min), and in-hospital or 30-day mortality. Results: We included 16,683 patients undergoing PPCI in 109 centers. In 2020, during the pandemic, there was a significant reduction in PPCI as compared to 2019 (IRR 0.843 (95%-CI: 0.825–0.861, p < 0.0001). We found a significant agerelated reduction (7%, p = 0.015), with a larger effect on elderly than on younger patients. Furthermore, we observed significantly higher 30-day mortality during the pandemic period, especially among the elderly (13.6% vs. 17.9%, adjusted HR (95% CI) = 1.55 [1.24–1.93], p < 0.001) as compared to younger patients (4.8% vs. 5.7%; adjusted HR (95% CI) = 1.25 [1.05–1.49], p = 0.013), as a potential consequence of the significantly longer ischemia time observed during the pandemic. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the treatment of patients with STEMI, with a 16% reduction in PPCI procedures, with a larger reduction and a longer delay to treatment among elderly patients, which may have contributed to increase in-hospital and 30-day mortality during the pandemic

Age-Related Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Mechanical Reperfusion and 30-Day Mortality for STEMI: Results of the ISACS-STEMI COVID-19 Registry

Background: The constraints in the management of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) during the COVID-19 pandemic have been suggested to have severely impacted mortality levels. The aim of the current analysis is to evaluate the age-related effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mechanical reperfusion and 30-day mortality for STEMI within the registry ISACS-STEMI COVID-19. Methods: This retrospective multicenter registry was performed in high-volume PPCI centers on four continents and included STEMI patients undergoing PPCI in March-June 2019 and 2020. Patients were divided according to age (= 75 years). The main outcomes were the incidence and timing of PPCI, (ischemia time longer than 12 h and door-to-balloon longer than 30 min), and in-hospital or 30-day mortality. Results: We included 16,683 patients undergoing PPCI in 109 centers. In 2020, during the pandemic, there was a significant reduction in PPCI as compared to 2019 (IRR 0.843 (95%-CI: 0.825-0.861, p < 0.0001). We found a significant age-related reduction (7%, p = 0.015), with a larger effect on elderly than on younger patients. Furthermore, we observed significantly higher 30-day mortality during the pandemic period, especially among the elderly (13.6% vs. 17.9%, adjusted HR (95% CI) = 1.55 [1.24-1.93], p < 0.001) as compared to younger patients (4.8% vs. 5.7%; adjusted HR (95% CI) = 1.25 [1.05-1.49], p = 0.013), as a potential consequence of the significantly longer ischemia time observed during the pandemic. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the treatment of patients with STEMI, with a 16% reduction in PPCI procedures, with a larger reduction and a longer delay to treatment among elderly patients, which may have contributed to increase in-hospital and 30-day mortality during the pandemic

Gender Difference in the Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Mechanical Reperfusion and 30-Day Mortality for STEMI: Results of the ISACS-STEMI COVID-19 Registry

Background. Several reports have demonstrated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management and outcome of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The aim of the current analysis is to investigate the potential gender difference in the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mechanical reperfusion and 30-day mortality for STEMI patients within the ISACS-STEMI COVID-19 Registry. Methods. This retrospective multicenter registry was performed in high-volume primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) centers on four continents and included STEMI patients undergoing PPCIs in March–June 2019 and 2020. Patients were divided according to gender. The main outcomes were the incidence and timing of the PPCI, (ischemia time ≥ 12 h and door-to-balloon ≥ 30 min) and in-hospital or 30-day mortality. Results. We included 16683 STEMI patients undergoing PPCIs in 109 centers. In 2020 during the pandemic, there was a significant reduction in PPCIs compared to 2019 (IRR 0.843 (95% CI: 0.825–0.861, p < 0.0001). We did not find a significant gender difference in the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the numbers of STEMI patients, which were similarly reduced from 2019 to 2020 in both groups, or in the mortality rates. Compared to prepandemia, 30-day mortality was significantly higher during the pandemic period among female (12.1% vs. 8.7%; adjusted HR [95% CI] = 1.66 [1.31–2.11], p < 0.001) but not male patients (5.8% vs. 6.7%; adjusted HR [95% CI] = 1.14 [0.96–1.34], p = 0.12). Conclusions. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the treatment of patients with STEMI, with a 16% reduction in PPCI procedures similarly observed in both genders. Furthermore, we observed significantly increased in-hospital and 30-day mortality rates during the pandemic only among females. Trial registration number: NCT 04412655

Impact of Smoking Status on Mortality in STEMI Patients Undergoing Mechanical Reperfusion for STEMI : Insights from the ISACS–STEMI COVID-19 Registry

The so-called “smoking paradox”, conditioning lower mortality in smokers among STEMI patients, has seldom been addressed in the settings of modern primary PCI protocols. The ISACS– STEMI COVID-19 is a large-scale retrospective multicenter registry addressing in-hospital mortality, reperfusion, and 30-day mortality among primary PCI patients in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the 16,083 STEMI patients, 6819 (42.3%) patients were active smokers, 2099 (13.1%) previous smokers, and 7165 (44.6%) non-smokers. Despite the impaired preprocedural recanalization (p < 0.001), active smokers had a significantly better postprocedural TIMI flow compared with nonsmokers (p < 0.001); this was confirmed after adjustment for all baseline and procedural confounders, and the propensity score. Active smokers had a significantly lower in-hospital (p < 0.001) and 30-day (p < 0.001) mortality compared with non-smokers and previous smokers; this was confirmed after adjustment for all baseline and procedural confounders, and the propensity score. In conclusion, in our population, active smoking was significantly associated with improved epicardial recanalization and lower in-hospital and 30-day mortality compared with previous and non-smoking histor