Soil quality and fragility indices are prepared in Los Ríos and Aysén

In Aysén, a team of soil experts from the Universidad Austral de Chile carried out a field campaign to collect samples, which they have already begun to analyze with the objective of developing indicators of soil fragility and quality.

Lorenzo Palma, Journalist.- The degradation of the soils of the ecosystems is one of the most relevant environmental problems that results in the loss of its functionality of the soils and therefore in the decrease of its quality. For this reason, the FONDEF project, “Development and availability of soil fragility and quality indices for the management and sustainable management of ecosystems in the Los Ríos and Aysén regions” seeks to generate and establish soil fragility and quality indices, that will be attached to a digital platform of the IDE Minagri that will allow a better management and sustainable management of the vital natural resource in the regions of Los Ríos and Aysén.

The initiative is led by Dr. Dante Pinochet, an academic at the Institute of Agricultural and Soil Engineering (IIAS) of the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences of the Austral University of Chile. The work team is made up of the researchers (as) specialists in soils, Dr. Susana Valle, Director of the IIAS and the Master in Soil Sciences; Dr. Felipe Zúñiga, academic from the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Natural Resources; Dr. John Clunes, IIAS Professor and Artificial Intelligence Expert, MSc. Luis Vidal, academic from the Faculty of Engineering Sciences of the UACh.

In this context, Dr. Pinochet explained that one of the central focuses of this project will be to generate and establish soil fragility and quality indices that allow better management and sustainable management of the vital natural resource. In this way, territorial planning at the property level. Community and regional may have an additional tool to maintain the breadth of soil ecosystem services according to the particular functions of each type of soil and design management standards that allow it to be used without damaging it, preserving this valuable resource.

summer campaign

The Aysén Region is one of the largest regions in Chile in terms of surface area, covering an area of ​​108,494 km². It was in this vast territory that the academic, Dr. Susana Valle and Dr. Felipe Zúñiga, together with the UACh Master’s student in Soil Science, Rodrigo Vergara, carried out the first soil sampling campaign during the summer, managing to carry out more than 160 sampling points, out of a total of 266 committed in a period of two years.

“In this first campaign we covered from Chile Chico, bordering the General Carrera Lake, and from there to the north, covering the territory up to its northern limit, ending in La Junta. Including the limits of the border”, commented Dr. Felipe Zúñiga. Missing points will be made during March and April. And, in parallel, the planning of the sampling of the Los Ríos Region will be carried out, with similar characteristics.

In the Aysén region, we can find a variety of soils with unique characteristics. Some of these soils are relatively young because this area was covered by glaciers 12,000 years ago. In addition, other soils have been affected by volcanic activity, which has caused acidification in some places. However, there are also deep and fertile soils near the Baker and Mañihuales rivers.

“Understanding soil and climate factors is essential for the planning and management of agriculture, forestry and other activities related to soil and other natural resources such as water. We hope that this initiative can be replicated in other regions of the country; since this is a start and we hope that the methodology can be replicated in other regions with little knowledge of the quality and fragility of their soils”, stressed Dr. Valle.

It is important to highlight that this project seeks to develop and make available soil quality and fragility indices to zone the productive and natural ecosystems of both regions.

The researchers explain that these indices will be useful for decision makers and have the support of the Office of Agrarian Studies and Policies (ODEPA), the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) and the Institute for Agricultural Development ( INDAP), who will house the information once it is published, which is expected at the end of 2024.