Análisis multivariable de la vegetación de un complejo de turberas en Cordillera Pelada (Valdivia,Chile)

Se estudió la vegetación en un gradiente de inclinación de un complejo de turberas, en la cordillera costera de Valdivia, Chile. Se levantaron 17 censos de vegetación, ubicados equidistantes en un transecto de 50 m. La tabla fitosociológica resultante se analizó con métodos estadísticos multivariables de ordenación y de clasificación. Además, se determinaron algunas características químicas del sustrato. El transecto estudiado corresponde a una coenoclina, cuya parte alta es ocupada por un alerzal (Fitzroyeturn cupressoidis), en la zona intermedia se desarrolla una turbera ombrogénica de Donatia fascicularis (Drosero-Donatieturn fascicularis) y, en la parte inferior, una topogénica de Sphagnum magellanicum (Sphagnetum magellanicii). En las zonas ecotonales entre estas comunidades prosperan pantanos turbosos de Astelia pumila (Astelio-Oreoboletum obtusangulae) y de Marsippospermum philippii (Marsippospormo-Astelietum pumiliae) que muestran escasa diferenciación florística. Se proponen dos alianzas fitosociológicas nuevas Donation fascicularis (turberas de Donatia) y Astelion pumilae (pantanos de Astelia) para la clase Myrteolo-Sphagnetea Oberdorfer 1960. Los contenidos de materia orgánica y de agua del sustrato son los factores determinantes de estos patrones de distribución. Finalmente, se analiza la posición fitogeográfica de las comunidades vegetales determinadas.

Reality Shows in Chile, origin and road map. Historical-Communication Dialogues

Reality shows are TV programs which represent a format used in television nowadays; however, the observation practices of individual and/or group intimacy dates from thousands years ago. Sometimes this was driven by voyeurism or morbid fascination, some others, by the purpose of guarding, supervising and maintaining status quo. This work offers an alternative answer to the explanation of this type of TV program emergence and relates this appearance to a government procedure bound up with modern State terrorism which began at the end of the eighteenth century and has been recalled by different regimes until present days.

Pension structural reforms, re-reforms and their effects on social welfare: The case of Chile

This article fi rst summarizes the structural reforms of pensions (total or partial privatization) in Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe, identifying their advantages and disadvantages, and does the same with the international process of re-reforms of pensions with a greater role of the state. Second, chooses Chile as a case study, as a world pioneer in both types of reforms; describes their characteristics and effects on social welfare of the structural reform of 1981 and the re-reform of 2008. Such effects are evaluated based on ten basic principles of social security from the International Labour Offi ce (ILO): 1) social dialogue to approve the reforms, 2) universal coverage of the population, 3) equal treatment of insured persons, 4) social solidarity, 5) gender equity, 6) suffi ciency of benefi ts, 7) effi ciency and reasonable administrative cost, 8) social participation in the management of the system, 9) role of the state and supervision, and 10) fi nancial sustainability. Third, it summarizes the advantages and disadvantages-challenges of the re-reform and informs on the current debate for further reforms.

Dynamics of North Patagonian rainforests from fine-resolution pollen, charcoal and tree-ring analysis, Chonos Archipelago, Southern Chile

Fine-resolution palaeoecological and dendrochronological methods were used to investigate the impacts of climate change, and natural and anthropogenic disturbances on vegetation in the North Patagonian rainforest of southern Chile at decadal to century timescales during the late Holocene. A lake sediment mud–water interface core was collected from the northern Chonos Archipelago and analysed for pollen and charcoal. Dendrochronological analysis of tree cores collected from stands of Pilgerodendron uviferum close to the lake site was incorporated into the study. The combined analysis showed that the present mosaic of vegetation types in this region is a function of environmental changes across a range of timescales: millennial climate change, more recent natural and anthropogenic disturbances, and possibly short-term climatic variations. Of particular interest is the spatiotemporal distribution of Pilgerodendron uviferum dieback/burning in the Chonos Archipelago region.

Postglacial formation and dynamics of North Patagonian Rainforest in the Chonos Archipelago, Southern Chile

Pollen analysis of continuous sediment cores from two lakes in the northern Chonos Archipelago (44S) in southern Chile shows a complete postglacial record of vegetation change. The fossil records indicate that deglaciation was complete in the northern Chonos by at least 13,600 14Cyr BP. Ericaceous heath and grassland persisted for more than 600 years after deglaciation under the influence of dry/cold climates and frequent burning. Nothofagus-Pilgerodendron-Podocarpus forest, with modern analogues in the southern Chonos Archipelago, was established across the northern islands by 12,400 14Cyr BP under increasingly warm and wet climates. There is no evidence for a return to cooler climates during the Younger Dryas chronozone. The rise of Tepualia stipularis and Weinmannia trichosperma as important forest components between 10,600 and 6000 14Cyr BP may be associated withclimates that were warmer than present. The collapse of Pilgerodendron communities during this time may have been triggered by a combination of factors related to disturbance frequency including tephra deposition events, fire and climate change. After 6000 14Cyr BP Pilgerodendron recovers and Nothofagus-Pilgerodendron-Tepualia forest persists until the present. European logging and burning activity may have increased the susceptibility of North Patagonian Rainforest to invasion by introduced species and to future collapse of the long-lived Pilgerodendron communities.

Museums and youth: between misunderstanding and disappointment. Youth perceptions and arguments about the cultural consumption of museums in Chile

Young people are less explored in museum audience research; this is a paradoxical situation when considering its strategic location in the cultural reproduction and if considering the high performing cultural consumption compared with other sectors. The phenomenon of museums consumption by young Chileans who are self recognized as public and non-public museums is explored from a qualitative approach. It was conducted with focus groups in the three largest cities in Chile (Santiago, Valparaíso and Concepción). They identify the museum as a cultural institution in full force. However, in questioning museums activity youth reveal the specificity of their cultural matrix. This is referred to a social temporality based on the fragment, the discourse of familiarity, proximity and instead of breaking and critical. They claim a museum aesthetic / historical experience based on pleasure and enjoyment. An overview is proposed to further clarify the youth cultural consumption to characterize more precisely the place of the museum in the set, to design more effective policies museums.

Indigenous rights in Chile: National identity and majority group support for multicultural policies

We examine support for policies affecting indigenous ethnic minorities in Chile. Specifically, we examine the role of national group definitions that include the largest indigenous group—the Mapuche—in different ways. Based on questionnaire data from nonindigenous Chilean students (N = 338), we empirically distinguish iconic inclusion, whereby the Mapuche are seen as an important part of Chile's history and identity on the one hand, from egalitarian inclusion, which represents the Mapuche as citizens of equal importance to the nonindigenous majority on the other. Both forms of inclusion positively predict support for indigenous rights, independent of participants' political affiliation, strength of national identification, and social distance. A second study (N = 277) replicates this finding whilst controlling for right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, blind patriotism, and constructive patriotism. It also finds iconic inclusion to be predictive of a pro-Mapuche position regarding the unrest over the issue of ancestral land in 2009. We conclude that understanding how national identity affects attitudes about minority rights necessitates appreciating the importance of particular meanings of nationality, and not only the strength of identification.

Environmental pricing of externalities from different sources of electricity generation in Chile

The rapid increase in electricity demand in Chile means a choice must be made between major investments in renewable or non-renewable sources for additional production. Current projects to develop large dams for hydropower in Chilean Patagonia impose an environmental price by damaging the natural environment. On the other hand, the increased use of fossil fuels entails an environmental price in terms of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. This paper studies the debate on future electricity supply in Chile by investigating the preferences of households for a variety of different sources of electricity generation such as fossil fuels, large hydropower in Chilean Patagonia and other renewable energy sources. Using Double Bounded Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation, a novel advanced disclosure method and internal consistency test are used to elicit the willingness to pay for less environmentally damaging sources. Policy results suggest a strong preference for renewable energy sources with higher environmental prices imposed by consumers on electricity generated from fossil fuels than from large dams in Chilean Patagonia. Policy results further suggest the possibility of introducing incentives for renewable energy developments that would be supported by consumers through green tariffs or environmental premiums. Methodological findings suggest that advanced disclosure learning overcomes the problem of internal inconsistency in SB-DB estimates.

Assessment of bioavailable arsenic and copper in soils and sediments from the Antofagasta region of northern Chile

Copper levels of nearly 500 mg l(-1) were measured in aqueous extracts of soil and sediment samples from the lowlands of Antofagasta. Arsenic levels of up to 183 mg l(-1) were found in river sediments, and 27.5 mg l(-1) arsenic was found at the location of a dam where potable water is extracted. This indicates that the arsenic contamination of water supplies reported recently for the pre-Andes may be a widespread problem throughout the region. Copper contamination from smelting activities also provides cause for concern as elevated levels were found in aqueous extracts of soil up to 20 km away from a smelter. This study went beyond traditional chemical analysis by assessing the potential benefits of using microbial biosensors as an alternative to determination of chemical speciation, to provide an environmentally relevant interpretation of soil/sediment residue levels. This approach is simple to use and enables a rapid, low cost assessment of pollutant bioavailability. It may, therefore, be of use for further investigations in the region and beyond.

Isolation and characterization of a novel simazine-degrading bacterium from agricultural soil of central Chile, Pseudomonas sp MHP41

s-Triazine herbicides are used extensively in South America in agriculture and forestry. In this study, a bacterium designated as strain MHP41, capable of degrading simazine and atrazine, was isolated from agricultural soil in the Quillota valley, central Chile. Strain MHP41 is able to grow in minimal medium, using simazine as the sole nitrogen source. In this medium, the bacterium exhibited a growth rate of mu = 0.10 h(-1), yielding a high biomass of 4.2 x 10(8) CFU mL(-1). Resting cells of strain MHP41 degrade more than 80% of simazine within 60 min. The atzA, atzB, atzC, atzD, atzE and atzF genes encoding the enzymes of the simazine upper and lower pathways were detected in strain MHP41. The motile Gram-negative bacterium was identified as a Pseudomonas sp., based on the Biolog microplate system and comparative sequence analyses of the 16S rRNA gene. Amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis allowed the differentiation of strain MHP41 from Pseudomonas sp. ADP. The comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses suggested that strain MHP41 is closely related to Pseudomonas nitroreducens and Pseudomonas multiresinovorans. This is the first s-triazine-degrading bacterium isolated in South America. Strain MHP41 is a potential biocatalyst for the remediation of s-triazine-contaminated environments.

Parties, cleavages, and issue evolution: The case of the religious-secular cleavage in Chile

Several recent articles have reached different conclusions regarding the impact of the religious–secular cleavage in Chile. The resolution of this debate has important consequences for the understanding of cleavages. Studies subscribing to the view that parties have considerable agency in the maintenance of cleavages have found that religiosity no longer affects vote choice, while studies rooted in a sociological perspective argue that religiosity still matters. We show that the reason for the discrepant results is because a partisan realignment is underway, whereby religious voters are gradually shifting their loyalties from the parties of the left to the parties of the right, matching a division that has taken place at the elite level. These results are consistent with an issue evolution perspective, which provides a clearer articulation of how cleavages form than either the agency or the sociological approaches.