César Marín

University Santo Tomás (Chile) | UST · Centro de Investigación e Innovación para el Cambio Climático

We tested the hypothesis that improved weed suppression by maize can be achieved through increased crop density and spatial uniformity. Field experiments on three varieties of maize sown at three densities (5, 7 and 10.5 seeds m−2) and in two spatial patterns (grid pattern and rows) under very high weed pressure from Brachiaria brizantha were perfo...

While arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in Chile have been widely documented in agro-ecosystems, there is a knowledge gap regarding AM fungal diversity in Chilean temperate rainforests. AM fungal communi- ties of these forests are affected by several factors: the mountain systems of Chile (Coastal Range or Andes Mountains), the mycorrhizal dominanc...

In Chile, cereals cultivation is mainly in volcanic soils with pH values typically between 4.5–5.5 and high levels of exchangeable aluminum (Al) and low P availability. In this context, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) provide or enhance protection against this environmental stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the breed...

Affiliation with a scientific area or degree program could affect one ́s religious beliefs and acceptance of evolution; however, this issue has been poorly studied. Moreover, little information is available regarding Chilean university scientists’ views on religion and evolution. This study aims to provide the first documentation of the opinion of...

Compost produced with chicken manure and vegetable residues enriched with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) could become a sustainable agricultural strategy in biofertilization and bioremediation in rice (Oryza sativa L.) A completely randomized pot experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of AMF, humified composted poultry manure, an...

How the multiple facets of soil fungal diversity vary worldwide remains virtually unknown, hindering the management of this essential species-rich group. By sequencing high-resolution DNA markers in over 4000 topsoil samples from natural and human-altered ecosystems across all continents, we illustrate the distributions and drivers of different lev...

Araucaria araucana forests in the Coastal Mountain range of Chile are highly endangered due to their population isolation, wildfires, and land-use change. Mycorrhizas constitute a potential restoration tool for this species. Firstly, in a greenhouse we tested A. araucana growth responses to single/mixed commercial and native arbuscular mycorrhizal...

The Peruvian Amazon has been significantly affected by land use and climate change, decreasing decomposition processes, which cause a significant depletion of soil C stocks. In this study, we estimated soil organic C (SOC) mediated by different plant covers in coffee (Coffea arabica L.) plantations and secondary forests in several districts of the...

Secondary forests and coffee cultivation systems with shade trees might have great potential for carbon sequestration as a means of climate change adaptation and mitigation. This study aimed to measure carbon stocks in coffee plantations under different managements and secondary forest systems in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest (San Martín Region)....

The production system influences the cadmium (Cd) content and mycorrhization in cocoa plantations. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different production systems on Cd uptake and the presence of mycorrhizas in cacao clones in field conditions, in the Peruvian Amazon. Twelve subplots of 108 m2 were selected in representativ...

The mycorrhizal type of dominant trees ("mycorrhizal dominance") likely affects other non-mycorrhizal fungal guilds by means of soil resource partitioning and/or competition (i.e., by niche overlap between saprotrophic and ectomycorrhizal fungi). Chilean temperate rainforests, located in two mountain systems (Andes and Coast), offer a model system...

Arriving to a proper definition on what is science has constituted a main issue of the philosophy of science for a long time. Besides, several actors in the general public (including authorities, funders, and science teachers/professors) have a lot of misconceptions and myths about how science works and what scientists do. This assay offers a serie...

Currently, effective ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems and the reduction of gas emissions have been considered solutions to mitigate and counteract the negative effects of climate change. Moreover, mycorrhizas are currently widely recognized as fundamental components of plant communities and key modulators of ecosystem functioning. Cons...

Nothofagus are the dominant tree species in the Subantarctic Temperate Forests from Argentina and Chile. They are usually colonized by abundant and diverse ectomycorrhizae. Due to the considerable ecological and economic importance of Nothofagus and its ectomycorrhizae, several researchers have used different experimental approaches to study this s...

Linking how mycorrhizal biodiversity and functioning are related has been at the forefront of mycorrhizal ecology over the last decades. Typically, plant growth and nutrition are thought as the most important output or function of the mycorrhizal symbiosis, but there are plenty more functions, such as soil aggregation and chemical and pathogen defe...

Recovery of belowground microbial biodiversity is important for soil restoration after mining exploitation. We aimed to compare microbial communities of a mine rehabilitation site to those with native vegetation. Community structure and metabolic potential of soil microbial communities were analyzed in an inactive open-pit coal mine located in nort...

This study aims to investigate the synergistic effect of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculation and organic amendment on Theobroma cacao plants growing in Cd-contaminated soils. A pot experiment was carried out to investigate the influence of AMF inoculation, compost (CP) application, and cadmium (Cd) addition on the development of cocoa pl...

The multiplication of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) spores is a limitation for agricultural applications as biofertilizers. In the present study, a massive multiplication of AMF from cocoa farms (Theobroma cacao L.) in the San Martín region, Peru, was carried out to optimize their handling and spore production under controlled environmental co...

Fungi are highly diverse organisms, which provide multiple ecosystem services. However, compared with charismatic animals and plants, the distribution patterns and conservation needs of fungi have been little explored. Here we used high‐resolution sequencing to assess endemicity patterns, global change vulnerability and conservation priority areas...

Soil harbour up to a quarter of the world's biodiversity, substantially contributing to many ecosystem functions and processes. It is significantly important to identify the distribution patterns of soil organisms and their ecosystem functions, to support their conservation efforts and to build policy around them. This has been recently analysed at...

IMS Newsletter

Understanding how soil chemical/physical and biological parameters behave after the increasingly common fires in Mediterranean Chilean ecosystems is critical to boost their recovery. Incorporating organic amendments in soil to support its post-fire recovery is promising; however, there are important gaps regarding the seasonal responses of soil par...

Fungi play pivotal roles in ecosystem functioning, but little is known about their global patterns of diversity, endemicity, vulnerability to global change drivers and conservation priority areas. We applied the high-resolution PacBio sequencing technique to identify fungi based on a long DNA marker that revealed a high proportion of hitherto unkno...

Aim of the study: To evaluate the effects of a mega-fire on the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) community and parameters in soils under Cerrado vegetation. Study area: Chapada dos Veadeiros National Park, Goiás, Brazil. This site suffered the biggest fire in its history on October 10, 2017, with an affected area of 66,000 ha. Material and meth...

El cadmio (Cd) en el suelo es un problema en las plantaciones de cacao en el Perú. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el efecto de la diversidad de hongos formadores de micorrizas arbusculares (HMA) provenientes de diferentes provincias de la Amazonía peruana en la absorción de cadmio y en el crecimiento vegetativo del cacao en condiciones de...

Vegetation processes are fundamentally limited by nutrient and water availability, the uptake of which is mediated by plant roots in terrestrial ecosystems. While tropical forests play a central role in global water, carbon, and nutrient cycling, we know very little about tradeoffs and synergies in root traits that respond to resource scarcity. Fro...

Fungi are highly important biotic components of terrestrial ecosystems, but we still have a very limited understanding about their diversity and distribution. This data article releases a global soil fungal dataset of the Global Soil Mycobiome consortium (GSMc) to boost further research in fungal diversity, biogeography and macroecology. The datase...

Global climatic conditions have exacerbated the occurrence of fires, particularly in Mediterranean biomes. In Chile, during the 2016-2017 summer, a megafire affected more than 5,000 km2 in the nation’s southcentral area, compromising sclerophyllous forests characteristic of the Chilean mediterranean ecosystem. This work aims to evaluate the effect...

The South American Mycorrhizal Research Network originated in Chile in 2017, as an horizontal scientific community directed towards the progress of mycorrhizal applications, research, and outreach in South America. By conducting a scientific literature review, and experimental settings, the state of knowledge of mycorrhizal fungi diversity, types,...

Societal Impact Statement Mycorrhizal associations are acknowledged as key components of global ecosystem functioning. This is especially relevant in the context of global change, since they contribute to the amelioration of adverse soil conditions and play crucial roles in agriculture. Generally speaking, the lay public is uninformed on the import...

Abstract: Soil harbor up to a quarter of the world’s biodiversity, contributing to many ecosystem functions. It is of great importance to identify distribution patterns of soil organisms and their ecosystem functions to support their conservation and policy building. This has been recently analyzed at macroecological scales, but analyses at nation...

This study aimed to evaluate contrasting organic amendments as a strategy to promote the recovery of biotic and abiotic edaphic conditions central to the reestablishment of soil ecosystem functions at a site in south-central Chile affected by megafires in the 2016-2017 summer season. We analyzed the effects of the application of fresh (poultry and...

Aim of the study: Manilkara bidentata (A.DC.) A.Chev. (‘quinilla’) is a Neotropical tree highly threatened by extensive agricultural practices and climate change, resulting in a substantial reduction of natural stands and seed availability. Commercially, the propagation through seeds of this species is severely impeded by a low germination rate. Ve...

Rooting induction of leafy stem cuttings of Hevea brasiliensis can be used as a relevant tool for the cultivation, conservation of genetic diversity, and rescue of this species in Peru, decimated by decades of extractive practices. In this study, we evaluated the effects of different numbers of leaflets and concentrations of indole-3-butyric acid (...

Relationships between degree/area of academic formation and religious and Darwinian views are controversial. This study aimed to compare the religious beliefs and acceptance of Darwinian evolution between two contrasting South American scientific communities (Chile and Colombia), accounting for different degrees and areas of academic formation. In...

Artificial group selection has long been proposed as a useful method for crop breeding, yet the possibility that group selection occurs naturally in agroecosystems has not been explored. Due to natural and/or artificial selection, the fitness of an individual can depend on both the individual's traits, the traits of neighboring individuals, and on...

There were errors in the name of author László G. Nagy and in affiliation no. 31 in the original publication. The original article has been corrected.

This article is a Commentary on Rodriguez‐Ramos et al. (2021), pp. 1105–1117.

A monitoring and indicator system can inform policy

Climate change and inappropriate landscape management have increased the intensity and severity of wildfires in Chilean Mediterranean ecosystems, including sclerophyllous forests. During the 2016-2017 summer, a megafire affected more than 5,000 km2 in the country, compromising these ecosystems. Despite advances on aboveground recovery following fir...

There is increasing attention to the importance of biodiversity for food security and nutrition, especially above-ground biodiversity such as plants and animals. However, less attention is being paid to the biodiversity beneath our feet, soil biodiversity, which drives many processes that produce food or purify soil and water. This report is the re...

Biological activities determine quality, sustainability, health, and fertility of soils. The purpose of this study was to evaluate chemical and biological characteristics of soils from Ecuadorian highlands subjected to different management practices, as well as the density and diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Soils from naturalized...

The cryptic lifestyle of most fungi necessitates molecular identiication of the guild in environmental studies. Over the past decades, rapid development and afordability of molecular tools have tremendously improved insights of the fungal diversity in all ecosystems and habitats. Yet, in spite of the progress of molecular methods, knowledge about f...

Purpose. Small Peruvian coffee producers face low yields per hectare, caused mainly by recent rust outbreaks and by natural crossing of coffee varieties, which are sown without specific order. Coffee rust has drastically reduced areas of susceptible but high-quality cup varieties as caturra, pache, and nacional, which have been replaced by others w...

Soils harbor a substantial fraction of the world’s biodiversity, contributing to many crucial ecosystem functions. It is thus essential to identify general macroecological patterns related to the distribution and functioning of soil organisms to support their conservation and consideration by governance. These macroecological analyses need to repre...

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02039-4 As an Afro-Colombian soil ecologist with dreadlocks, I have encountered prejudice and scepticism about my profession countless times — from airport and immigration authorities, the public at outreach events and even colleagues at conferences. Such experiences reinforce my conviction that, as scie...

Purpose Most studies on bamboo have evaluated their commercial use but few have investigated their associated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). These symbiont fungi are fundamental on plant growth, nutrient cycling, biodiversity maintenance, etc., particularly on acidic/dystrophic soils as those of the Brazilian Cerrado. This study aimed to chara...

Soils harbor a substantial fraction of the world's biodiversity, contributing to many crucial ecosystem functions. It is thus essential to identify general macroecological patterns related to the distribution and functioning of soil organisms to support their conservation and governance. Here we identify and characterize the existing gaps in soil b...

Old-growth temperate rainforests, located at the Patagonian and Valdivian regions of southern Chile and Argentina, represent unique ecosystems in South America. These forests are characterized by a large amount of precipitation, with very little to none atmospheric pollution, and a flora derived from Gondwanian elements. The mycorrhizal traits of t...

With the application of new molecular analyses to determine soil fungal community composition, and with new macroecological approaches to analyze the biogeographic patterns of mycorrhizal plant species and communities, mycorrhizal ecology has notably advanced. However, this advance has not been balanced between Northern and Southern hemispheres. Wh...

Revista de divulgación “Esta es una publicación financiada por el Fondo de Protección Ambiental del Ministerio del Medio Ambiente” Proyecto FPA 6-RE-002-2018: Recuperación de Salud de Suelos y su Implicancia en el Restablecimiento de Bosque Nativo Incendiado en Zonas del Secano de la VI Región 2019

This article looks at the unsustainability of the global eco-agri-food system and how this is manifesting locally in Chile's bread-wheat value chain

Though Chile has a large variety of fungi and a long tradition of research on this fiels, there is little information on its conservation status, specifically in relation to its presence in protected areas. This review was intended to establish the conservation status of terrestrial fungi and inside the protected areas in Chile, recording examples...

La falta de diálogo entre ciencias y humanidades puede causarse por: delirios racionalistas desde y hacia los científicos, y estereotipos de cómo funciona la ciencia. Delirios como afirmar que la razón es el atributo más noble del hombre, y que a través de esta se llega a una integridad moral. La evidencia psicológica muestra qué, esto no es el cas...

Chilean temperate rainforests have unique climatic, edaphic and biotic conditions, constituting pre-industrial blueprint ecosystems. Mycorrhizal associations play a central role in the biogeochemical processes of these ecosystems´functioning ecosystems´functioning. Baseline forest ecology studies are necessary in order to better understand diversit...

El estudio de los procesos biogeoquímicos implica entender cómo los macro y micro nutrientes que componen los seres vivos se mueven de un componente a otro del ecosistema (incluyendo la atmósfera, organismos, suelo, cuerpos de agua, etc.). Usualmente, una mayor diversidad biótica y una mayor complejidad de las interacciones bióticas y abióticas, re...

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05341-4

This report presents a selection of the main points emerging from 74 contributions shared by participants from 29 countries, whom we thank very much for their time and valuable input. The outcomes of this online consultation were presented for discussion at the Multi-stakeholder Dialogue on Biodiversity Mainstreaming across Agricultural Sectors whi...

By reducing soil organic matter and litter input, land-use changes are predicted to decrease total soil fungal di- versity, but at functional levels this have been poorly studied. It is expected, though, that increasing disturbance decreases saprotrophic and mycorrhizal fungi biodiversity. This study aimed to determine the effects of land-use chang...