Forests and climate change: dendroecological surveys in the South-Central Chilean Andes

Abstract

Last February 2008 the University of Molise, partner of the MIUR International Project Ciclo del Carbonio ed altri gas serra in ecosistemi forestali, naturali ed artificiali dell’America Latina: analisi preliminare, studio di fattibilità e comparazione con ecosistemi italiani, has realized a scientific expedition in Chile, in order to intensify the scientific cooperation with Chilean and Argentinean Academic partners. Forest sampling was realized along a latitudinal transect in Chile.
The exploration started from the extreme south of Chile, in Tierra del Fuego, in particular in the Omora Etno-Botanical Park. In this park, old-growth forests dominated by Nothofagus betuloides (coigüe) were investigated. Living and dead downed trees were sampled using dendrochronological methods, in order to evaluate the wood decay progression.
Afterwards, the expedition stopped over the Torres del Paine National Park, where dendro-ecological sampling activities where realized with the aim of integrate the latitudinal transect along Chile. The sampling activities proceeded towards the north, within three volcanic areas located nearby the Andean Cordigliera: Villarica, Lonquimay e Chillan. Particularly, dendrochronological investigations on volcanic areas will allow studying the impact of volcanic eruptions on tree growth and on primary productivity, resulting in strong climatic changes on the local scale following each eruption. Data analyses have already shown a significant decrease in ring width following each eruption, probably due to an increase in relative humidity and a decrease in temperature caused by volcanic ashes and aerosols in the atmosphere.
This expedition showed the importance of the International cooperation, which could facilitate the comparison with remote forest areas, characterized often by higher near to nature conditions, especially if related with the European and Mediterranean forest areas.