Francisco VILLASANTE Benavides

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor at Universidad Nacional de San Agustin de Arequipa

Epiarenic (sand-growing) Tillandsia vegetation in the hyperarid and arid region of the Chilean-Peruvian Atacama Desert represents an extreme case of adaptation in plant species-poor ecosystems. The involved species exist at the limit of terrestrial life and form mono/oligo-specific and very characteristic structures within the landscape. Covering t...

Among the fascinating and highly specialized vascular plants in the hyperarid core of the Chilean and Peruvian Atacama Desert there are few Tillandsia species from the bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae). These grow epiarenically on bare sand without a functional root system, and in some rare cases they build up a monospecific and often the only landsc...

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) results in a total healthcare cost of 12.3 billion dollars to the United States annually. GERD is often seen with hiatal hernias. Our study aims to compare short-term functional outcomes and postoperative symptom relief afforded by hiatal hernia repair with transoral incisionless fundoplication (TIF), together...

Fundoplication is often added to the crural repair for long-term relief of reflux in patients undergoing hiatal hernia repair. Fundoplication can be achieved surgically or with endoscopic means such as trans-oral incisionless fundoplication (TIF). Patients with hiatal hernias larger than 2 cm may undergo surgical hiatal hernia repair with concomita...

Tillandsia purpurea is an endemic species of the Peruvian desert coast, where its main source of water and nutrients is supplied by ocean fog. It is a poorly studied species, and its phenological changes in response to different abiotic factors, including temperature and water availability, are unknown. This study aims to describe the different phe...

Species distribution modeling and assessment of the possible current conservation status for loma-forming Tillandsia purpurea Ruiz & Pavón in Peru were performed. This species is considered an epiarenic species that lives under hyperarid conditions, where its main source of water and nutrients comes from the fog of the Pacific coast. For the distri...

Introduction and importance Cryptorchidism is seen in 3% of fullterm neonates. Rarely, it may cause small bowel obstruction. Knowledge of this presentation of cryptorchidism is essential to treat bowel obstruction arising due to cryptorchidism before the patient suffers complications. Case presentation We present a case of a patient who underwent...

Water quality is an issue of global concern because of the evident contamination of the sources of this resource. In recent decades the study of inland waters has been oriented towards the recovery and conservation of these ecosystems, in this sense abundant studies were carried out in lotic systems, and to a lesser extent in lentic systems and in...

Distribución y caracterización de las comunidades de Tillandsia (Bromeliaceae) en el sur de Perú y su relación con la altitud, pendiente y orientación Pauca-Tanco, G.A., Villasante-Benavides, F., Villegas-Paredes, L., Luque-Fernández, C.R., Quispe-Turpo, J.P. 2020. Distribución y caracte-rización de las comunidades de Tillandsia (Bromeliaceae) en e...

Introduction Endoscopic vacuum (endovac) therapy has shown excellent outcomes when used for esophageal anastomotic leaks. The results of endovac therapy are superior to those of other endoscopic therapies for esophageal leaks. Case presentation We present a case of a 70-year-old male with esophageal adenocarcinoma who underwent Ivor Lewis esophago...

Macroinvertebrates of the Chalhuanca high Andean wetland (bofedal) is presented, which presents two aquatic environments, river and water pools within bofedal vegetation. This wetland is located in the district of Yanque (Caylloma, Arequipa) at 4300 meters, in southern Peru. Aquatic macroin-vertebrates in wetlands such as these have been sparsely s...

In this paper we try to discover a parallelism among climate and bioclimate belts, use of the territory, and previously studied plant communities, taking into account historical and archaeological data to find an answer as to how different cultures perceived the landscapes. After a statistical analysis generating a Sørensen dendrogram, we were able...

Myrcianthes ferreyrae (McVaugh) McVaugh, el "arrayan" es un árbol endémico y amenazado de las lomas costeras del sur de Perú. El presente trabajo evaluó su estado de conservación entre marzo 2011 a agosto 2012. Se realizó el conteo de todos los individuos en casi todo su rango de distribución conocido (lomas de Atiquipa, Taymara y Chala viejo en la...

The Cactaceae family is a group of succulent plants that presents difficulties in their taxonomy. Their ecological importance is related to their fundamental role in the maintenance of arid ecosystems, providing ecosystem services such as soil protection against erosion and water infiltration, acting as nurses, providing food and shelter to animals...

El litoral rocoso es un ecosistema heterogéneo en el que se distinguen una franja supralitoral, una zona mediolitoral y una franja infralitoral, al reconocer a las especies de moluscos como indicadoras de una zonación vertical. Este trabajo contribuye al conocimiento de la riqueza y la distribución vertical de los moluscos intermareales para la pro...

The Bioclimatic Belts model relates climatic indexes, bio-indicator plants and plant communities, and therefore landscapes and uses of the territory. Taking into account the Thermicity Index (It), precipitation intervals (P) and bio-indicator plants that constitute communities, the bioclimatic belts are presented in order to describe areas in Peru...

El libro Flora de Lomas de Atiquipa, contiene un breve reseña sobre las antiguas civilizaciones que residieron en el lugar, una descripción paisaje-ecológica y datos sobre 150 especies de plantas que crecen de forma silvestre en el lugar, adicionalmente se presenta un listado preliminar de las especies presentes en las lomas de Atiquipa. The book...

Epiphytes have the potential to modify the canopy environments in which they grow. Accurately evaluating the impact of epiphytes can be challenging, since plants without epiphytes may also otherwise differ from host plants, and experimental removal is impractical and difficult to replicate in many forests. We studied the impacts of epiphytes (prima...

Este trabajo presentó la evaluación del comportamiento fenológico de la vegetación arbórea con el fin de determinar su probable utilización como indicadores biológicos de la ocurrencia de eventos "El Niño". Los árboles evaluados fueron Caesalpinea spínosa, Duranta armata, Caríca candícans y Citharexylum flexuosum. Los resultados indican una alta va...

Using climatic values of precipitation and potential evapotranspiration, as well as climate indices of thermicity and aridity, in this work we try to establish a relationship between cactus communities and their distribution in the western slopes of the Peruvian Andes. Using the Sørensen index on a matrix with the floristic composition of plant com...