Mauricio Aguayo

University of Concepción · Faculty of Environmental Sciences and EULA-Chile Center

Land use and land cover (LULC) change is one of the clearest representations of the global environmental change phenomenon at various spatial and temporal scales. Chile is worldwide recognized to have areas dedicated to non-native forest plantations that specifically in coastal range show high environmental and economic deterioration, questioning t...

Native forest deforestation has been identified as one of the main land cover changes affecting flood risk specially during small and moderate storm events. In this regard, forest protection and reforestation are considered a nature-based solution (NbS) for flood regulation. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the effects of different defor...

Land use/cover change (LUCC) and climate change (CC) affect water resource availability as they alter important hydrological processes. Mentioned factors modify the magnitude of surface runoff, groundwater recharge, and river flow among other parameters. In the present work, changes that occurred in the recent decades at the Quino and Muco river wa...

Groundwater (GW) use has intensified in recent decades, threatening the ecological integrity of groundwater-dependent ecosystems (GDEs). The study of GDEs is limited; therefore, integrated, interdisciplinary environmental approaches that guarantee their monitoring and management amid current climate and anthropogenic changes are needed. A new geosp...

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar is an effective means of measuring changes in the altitude of the Earth’s surface. In this research, the areas of surface deformation associated with low- and medium-intensity seismic events in Central Chile were analyzed using SENTINEL 1 satellite radar interferograms and geographical information system (GI...

Most water bodies are currently used as receptors for pollutants coming mainly from the industrial and domestic sectors. The Biobío river is subjected to multiple anthropogenic pressures such as industrial water supply, drinking water, hydroelectric power generation, agriculture, and the final receptor body of a large amount of industrial and urban...

In this study, the SWAT (Soil Water Assessment Tool) hydrological model is implemented to determine the effect of climate change on various hydrological components in two basins located in the foothills of the Andes: the Quino and Muco river basins. The water cycle is analyzed by comparing the model results to climatic data observed in the past (19...

In this study, the SWAT (Soil Water Assessment Tool) hydrological model is implemented to determine the effect of climate change on various hydrological components in two basins located in the foothills of the Andes: the Quino and Muco river basins. The water cycle is analyzed by comparing the model results to climatic data observed in the past (19...

Groundwater (GW) is the primary source of unfrozen freshwater on the planet and in many semi-arid areas, it is the only source of water available during low-water periods. In north-central Chile, there has been GW depletion as a result of semi-arid conditions and high water demand, which has unleashed major social conflicts, some due to drought and...

Several impacts over ecosystem services have been produced by land use/cover changes, placing it as one of the main factors driving global environmental change. In the present study, the SWAT model was used to assess the effect of land use/cover changes on the hydrology response in the Andalien river basin from the south-central zone of Chile. Thre...

A new indicator for the accounting effect of landcover is defined based on the integration of thermodynamics (exergy analysis) and ecology (net primary production (NPP)). The indicator NPPEX allows quantifying and assessing the impacts of landuse changes, in spatial and temporally dimensions. This study is focused on the effect of landuse changes o...

Comprehensive flood risk assessment requires enhanced understanding of the coevolution of the river and its floodplain occupation. Paleoflood analysis to determine flood prone areas in combination with numerical simulations to estimate flood hazard and a historical analysis of urban development to consider the evolution of exposure to floods is a p...

Una de las principales preocupaciones de los científicos al trabajar con datos temporales es la calidad de la información. Los datos meteorológicos, que son entradas de modelos y predicciones hidroclimáticas, generalmente carecen de series completas. El uso de técnicas de relleno frecuentemente ignora las características orográficas del área de est...

Abstract Non-native tree plantations (NNTP) are an increasingly relevant global source of timber. Their expansion may lead to tradeoffs with important local ecosystem services (ES) that need to be evaluated for a sound and sustainable landscape planning. For a mountain area in southern Chile, we assessed the effects of NNTP expansion and potential...

Land use change (LUC) is one of the most conditioning biophysical factors in the hydric regulation although the magnitude of its effects has been little studied. The objective was to analyze the changes in the magnitude of the ecosystem service of water regulation under future scenarios of LUC at watershed scale, taking as case study the municipali...

Los servicios ecosistémicos son los beneficios que las personas obtienen de los ecosistemas naturales. La caracterización y cuantificación de los servicios ecosistémicos contribuyen a la gestión sustentable de los recursos naturales. Los bosques son ecosistemas que otorgan múltiples servicios, entre los que se destacan servicios de provisión de pro...

We study the fluctuations seven North Ice Field glaciers and their relationship with decadal climatic variations post Little Ice Age, through bibliography, interpretation of cartographic documents, aerial photographs, satellite images and terrain surveys. Decadal climatic variations are obtained from the records of Puerto Aysén and Balmaceda meteor...

Andean watersheds present important snowfall accumulation mainly during the winter, which melts during the spring and part of the summer. The effect of snowmelt on the water balance can be critical to sustain agriculture activities, hydropower generation, urban water supplies and wildlife. In Chile, 25 % of the territory between the region of Valpa...

Effects of plantation forestry on biodiversity are controversially discussed in literature. While some authors stress positive effects, others tend to attribute a largely negative influence to plantations. One important factor steering the influence on biodiversity are management practices. A second important factor is the environmental matrix. Chi...

A global level more than half of the water generated through the process of runoff is used by man. In south-central Chile the watersheds have been subjected to intensive processes of land use changes, including expansion of forest plantations with exotic species. This study evaluates the hydrological effects of future scenarios for forest expansion...

Andean watersheds present important snowfall accumulation mainly during the winter which is later melted during spring and part of the summer. The effect of snowmelt on the water balance can be critical to sustain agriculture activities, hydropower generation, urban water supply and wildlife. In Chile 25 % of the territory between the Valparaiso an...

The aim of this study was to establish sustainably feasible areas for the implementation of anaerobic co-digestion plants for agricultural wastes (cattle/swine slurries and cereal crop wastes). The methodology was based on the use of geographic information systems (GIS), the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and map algebra generated from hedges rel...

El Parque Nacional Torres del Paine (TDP) es un área donde las plantas invasoras son una amenaza creciente para la conservación. El aumento de turistas ha propiciado durante los últimos años un incremento de invasoras en sitios donde el turismo tiene impacto directo (e.g. áreas de camping, senderos). En ocasiones, turistas negligentes han provocado...

Modeling and mapping of cultural ecosystem services (CES) represents a significant gap in ecosystem service research. A GIS-based methodological framework was developed and applied to map agricultural heritage (AH), understood as a non-divisible combination of three cultural services (dimensions, D): the heritage value associated to a culturally si...

Una revisión bibliográfica de inundaciones fluviales históricas en el período 1574-2012 a través de diferentes publicaciones, permite analizar, explicar y sistematizar causas o factores detonantes, periodos de recurrencia, distribución y efectos geográficos de las inundaciones acaecidas en Chile continental. Según el factor detonante se identifican...

A literature review of river floods from 1574 to 2012, allows us to analyze and identify the causes or trigger factors, recurrence periods, spatial distribution and geographical effects of flooding within continental Chile. Five types of flooding are identified, based on the triggering factor: volcanic processes, snow/glacial processes, landslides,...

For many ecological applications of remote sensing, traditional multispectral data with moderate spatial and spectral resolution have to be used. Typical examples are land-use change or deforestation assessments. The study sites are frequently too large and the timespan covered too long assumes the availability of modern datasets such as very high...

Land use and cover change (LUCC) is among the most important factors affecting ecosystem services. This study examines the influence of LUCC on recreation and ecotourism opportunities over three decades in southern Chile. An in-depth analysis of the transition matrix was conducted based on Landsat images from 1976, 1985, 1999 and 2007. Main LUCC tr...

Historical documents were analyzed to reconstruct the effect of human activities on the insular territories of Aysen from the XVI to XIX centuries. The results show that the impact of anthropogenic activities on the environment reached its peak during the second half of the XIX century, which was marked by a significant degradation of local ecosyst...

The diel variation of temperature in mesoscale river reaches (catchment area > 1000 km2) is analysed using concurrent measurements of water temperature and of those meteorological (incident short-wave radiation, air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed variables) and hydraulic variables (streamflow, top width, channel slope and flow depth)...

The question of how ecosystem services can be spatially defined and visualized continues to be challenging, particularly for cultural services such as recreation and ecotourism. This study proposes a methodological framework that combines Geographic Information System and participatory methods (Delphi method and Analytic Hierarchy Process) to map r...

The effects of a perturbation gradient on a Patagonian rodent community were assessed over the course of a year by comparing the community parameters in natural and different disturbed environments in the central Chilean Patagonia. The studied habitat types were mature forest, second-growth forest, forest plantations, and agricultural grassland. We...

Historical documents were analyzed to reconstruct the effect of human activities on the insular territories of Aysen from the XVI to XIX centuries. The results show that the impact of anthropogenic activities on the environment reached its peak during the second half of the XIX century, which was marked by a significant degradation of local ecosyst...

We present the first records of the Chilean tree mouse (Irenomys tarsalis) and Valdivian long-clawed mouse (Geoxus valdivianus) in non-native forestry plantations. Despite being characterized as forest species, specimens of I. tarsalis and G. valdivianus were captured within a 30-year-old Pinus contorta plantation in Coyhaique National Reserve. The...

This work estimates the loss and fragmentation of native forest in the watershed of the river Aysén during the 20th century, as a result of clearance fires induced by land settlers. In order to generate the reconstruction of the native forest cover, several documentary records and GIS ArcView 3.2 were used. Different indexes of landscape changes we...

This work estimates the loss and fragmentation of native forest in the watershed of the river Aysen during the 20(th) century, as a result of clearance fires induced by land settlers. In order to generate the reconstruction of the native forest cover, several documentary records and GIS Arc View 3.2 were used. Different indexes of landscape changes...

Ecosystems can act as both sources and sinks of allochthonous nutrients and organic matter. In this sense, fjord ecosystems are a typical interface and buffer zone between freshwater systems, glaciated continents, and the coastal ocean. In order to evaluate the potential sources and composition of organic matter across fjord ecosystems, we characte...

Alien conifer invasions are affecting ecosystems across the globe, but until recently, reports of such invasions in South America were scarce. Pinus contorta was first established in Chilean Patagonia for erosion control caused by historical fires and cattle farming. Recently, the species has been planted over large areas for commercial purposes. I...

A multidisciplinary approach is followed for analysis of the effect of changes in land use patterns on the hydrologic response of the Vergara watershed (4340 km2) located in central Chile. Probable future land use scenarios were generated using heuristic rules and logistic regression models, in order to identify and represent the main pressure on t...

A multidisciplinary approach is followed for analysis of the effect of changes in land use patterns on the hydrologic response of the Vergara watershed (4340 km²) located in central Chile. Probable future land use scenarios were generated using heuristic rules and logistic regression models, in order to identify and represent the main pr...

Las políticas de Estado junto con la importante oferta/demanda de productos inmobiliarios para población de mayor ingreso han orientado el desarrollo reciente de varias ciudades chilenas, originando nuevas formas urbanas. Si bien estos procesos han sido descritos y analizados para varias ciudades y áreas metropolitanas de Chile central, no existen...

The historical behaviour of Cipreses glacier from the nineteenth through the early twentieth century is described based on written records, cartography, iconography and photographs. These data allow us to infer that the last maximum advance of Cipreses glacier attributable to the ‘Little Ice Age’ occurred around AD 1842. The first historical retrea...

Land use changes have transformed much of the Earth's surface in the last 300 years. Deforestation, intensification of agriculture, and urban sprawl have radically changed the preindustrial landscape. In south-central Chile, landscape change was initially related to the expansion of farming to address national needs and the growing international de...

Land use changes have transformed much of the Earth's surface in the last 300 years. Deforestation, intensification of agriculture, and urban sprawl have radically changed the preindustrial landscape. In south-central Chile, landscape change was initially related to the expansión of farming to address national needs and the growing international de...

Las coloraciones anormales en los mamíferos marinos ocurren en muy baja frecuencia. Estas coloraciones atípicas son clasificadas como albinismo, melanismo y leucismo, siendo esta última coloración registrada con más frecuencia en Arctocephalus gazella. En este artículo se documenta el primer caso de leucismo en un ejemplar de Otaria flavescens obse...

Past ice lobe behaviour at Laguna San Rafael is described in documents provided by Spanish and then Chilean explorers from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. These records begin in AD 1675, when temperate conditions, probably similar to those at present, prevailed. At that point, the glacier was confined within its valley, not p...

City growth and changes in land-use patterns cause various important social and environmental impacts. To understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of these processes, the factors that drive urban development must be identified and analyzed, especially those factors that can be used to predict future changes and their potential environmental eff...

Urban growth patterns of Chilean mid-cities are explored, analyzing land use/land cover changes between 1955–1978 and 1978–1998 in Los Angeles, a mid-city located in central Chile. Urban sprawl is analyzed with respect to population growth and possible effects on the city's socio-spatial structure. Markov's matrix was used to analyze sequences of l...

Mediante el desarrollo de un modelo de simulación espacial del cambio de uso del suelo, se evalúa y simula el cambio en el coeficiente de escorrentía superficial para la ciudad de Los Ángeles y sus alrededores, VIII Región del Biobío, para el período 1998-2022. El modelo se ha desarrollado en el SIG Idrisi Kilimanjaro, integrando los métodos de Cad...

Through development of a spatial simulation model of the land use change it is evaluated and predicted the increase of the surface runoff coefficient in Los Angeles city, Biobío region, between years 1998 and 2022. The model has been developed in the SIG Idrisi Kilimanjaro integrating Markov Chains, Multi-Criteria Evaluation and Cellular Automata....

Wetlands are one of the most productive ecosystems which provide a number of ecosystem functions, maintaining also a high biodiversity. Nevertheless, almost half of the wetlands in the world have disappeared in the last century due to urban development process. Along the Chilean landscape a great variety of aquatic habitats exist. Due to urban expa...

Urbanization is increasingly homogenizing the biota of less developed countries. Even though urban sprawl is a worldwide problem, most studies on the effects of urbanization, and the conceptual models have focused on developed countries. South America has not escaped urbanization, and here we discuss the potential impacts of urban sprawl with respe...

RESUMEN Los humedales son ecosistemas altamente productivos que se caracterizan por cumplir múltiples funciones, manteniendo además una alta diversidad biológica. No obstante, casi la mitad de los humedales en el mundo ha desaparecido en el último siglo debido al proceso de desarrollo urbano. En Chile, la diversidad bioclimática genera una gran var...