Studies of morphological changes in rivers due to volcanic eruptions and forestry operations are strengthened at the UACh

The University of Padua, in Italy, has a long history of collaboration with the Faculty of Forest Sciences and Natural Resources of the Austral University of Chile. In this context, it is that he frequently receives the visit of Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Picco, an academic from that house of studies and a collaborator in various FONDECYT projects of Dr. Andrés Iroumé, a researcher at the Faculty.

On this occasion, Dr. Picco is once again in Valdivia to work with two PhD students in Forest Ecosystems and Natural Resources, who are in different stages of joint supervision. They are Alberto Paredes and Daniel Sanhueza.

Applying to the U. of Padua to carry out the co-tutelage is Alberto Paredes, whose tutor professor is Dr. Andrés Iroumé.

“My research is focused on the study of the associated morphological changes after the eruption of the Chaitén volcano, analyzing some emerging properties of the system such as longitudinal, lateral and structural connectivity. We also seek to automatically detect the contribution of woody material within the basins”, explained Paredes, whose study is framed within the FONDECYT Regular 1200079 project “Understanding changes in river corridors after volcanic eruptions: secondary effects, cascading processes and eco-hydrosedimentary mechanisms. PIROSED», by Dr. Andrés Iroumé.

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Paredes plans to carry out his internship at the U. of Padua during March and September of this year, where he will have the opportunity to counter realities on the ground by comparing the case of the Chaitén river with that of Italian rivers, especially in relation to the detection of wood from big size.

“The idea is to compare whether the proposed methodology will work within a river with different characteristics,” he added.

For Dr. Lorenzo Picco, this collaboration “always gave us the opportunity to make comparisons about what is happening in Chilean rivers, which are natural, but affected by great forces such as volcanic eruptions, with rivers in Italy, which they are smaller, less natural and the disturbances are different. This situation also allows us to make comparisons to understand what the processes and dynamics are”.

He added that co-tutelage provides added value, “because it is very interesting to share doctoral students in both directions.”

On the other hand, Daniel Sanhueza, who is already studying in Padua, explained that “my doctoral research is focused on the effects of forestry operations on the morphological changes of the basins. Specifically, the first part of the research is focused on the effects that forestry operations that have historically developed in the Biobío Region (Nacimiento) have had on hydrology and sediment transport.”

Another objective is to know the morphological changes and effects of forestry operations considering the variables of morphology and hydrology. “It is important because if we know what the magnitude of these effects is, we can also know how to manage these basins and where we have to aim to better manage them and thus avoid water contamination -in terms of inorganic sediments- which is what that I currently work,” he said.

In Chile there is not enough research on this subject, especially on the effects of sediment transport, so this study would provide the first more complete publications on sediments, transport dynamics before, during and after harvests.

For Prof. Picco, supervisor of Daniel Sanhueza’s doctoral thesis, “it is interesting to achieve this level of internationalization, it is something that they ask us to promote and we are lucky to have achieved this long-term collaboration.”

“Daniel Sanhueza’s research can become a guide that has information for the correct way to manage forestry operations. As for the work of Alberto Paredes, it is interesting because the idea is to develop automated analysis methodologies for large timber in rivers, but since the rivers in Italy are a little different then some uncertainty must be added in the automatic methodology to see what can be applied”, he commented.