The land that borders the boulevard upon entering the Isla Teja Campus of the Austral University of Chile is an important ecosystem called hualve or pitranto, a type of swampy forested wetland that presents high levels of biodiversity. These characteristics, together with the great interest in spreading science, prompted Fernando Riveros, a 5th year student of Natural Resources Conservation Engineering at the UACh, to investigate more on the subject and begin to disseminate the need to conserve it and also to restore it.
With the support of Dr. Mauro González, an academic from the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Natural Resources, Fernando is in the first stage, studying the legal status of this site to later find the most appropriate mechanisms to make a restoration proposal.
“This freshwater forested wetland -according to the Ramsar classification- is recognized under the Law for the Protection of Urban Wetlands. Starting in 2021, all projects in urban wetlands must undergo an environmental impact study, which is something positive,” said the student.
Chuncho in the Isla Teja Campus wetland
But what exactly is a wetland? It is a permanently or temporarily flooded site, a transition zone between a terrestrial environment and an aquatic one, or vice versa. In the case of hualves, in general, they can house up to 247 plant species and a great variety of fauna. Its services are multiple: water purification, habitat where many species reproduce, help to control floods, among many others. These ecosystem services would be lost if the wetland disappears.
“Many people I have asked do not recognize the UACh wetland as such, which is curious, since we see it every day,” said Fernando, whose first intention is for the entire university community to know the importance of the wetland. Guadalafquenas it has been temporarily called.
Although there is still much to be done to generate its baseline, it can be mentioned that it has approximately 60 plant species, 43 fauna species and a high abundance of exotic species of high risk, such as the blackhead and the Australian aromo, which -according to what was reported by the student- are replacing some native species. You can also observe native plantations and species such as the maqui and pitra. In addition, there is a composting sector.
Huairavo
Among the fauna found are amphibians such as the Chilean frog, the masked toad, the Valdivian lizard and others. The mammals observed in the wetland are the dog and the rabbit; As for birds, the list is longer and we can mention the queltehue, tench, bandurrias, blackbird, cachudito, huairavo, chuncho and choroy, among others.
Invertebrates also inhabit the wetland, being able to find damselfly, dragonflies, Chilean bumblebee, European bumblebee, coliguacho, leafhoppers and others.
threats
What worries Fernando Riveros the most are the threats to which this place could be subjected, which are divided into anthropic (contamination, climate change), biological (exotic fauna and flora) and physical-chemical (composting that could cause eutrophication). “Exotic threats are worrisome. This year, for example, a dead fox was found inside the Campus due to an attack by dogs that circulate through the sector”, he pointed out.
To help prevent this from happening, the student together with his classmate Javiera Manríquez prepared a restoration proposal that they will share with the relevant UACh units to analyze its feasibility in the future. At the moment, they indicated that their specific objectives are to increase native species over exotic ones, establish a baseline for the aquatic component, and raise awareness and educate the university community about the existence of this wetland.
“I would like to make a call to those who are interested and are dedicated to wetland studies, to support this initiative and the conservation of ecosystem services. The hualves are ecosystems that need protection and for this we need the support of the entire university community”, he emphasized.
Fernando Riveros gave a talk at the UACh, where he explained this topic in detail and which can be accessed at this link: https://youtu.be/dIJtHeQao08?t=18
