Renato A. Quinones

University of Concepción · Departamento de Oceanografía

Background Understanding the mechanisms behind resilience has become more relevant in the last decades, due to the increasing and intensifying disturbances from natural and anthropogenic sources that threaten biodiversity. Evidence from terrestrial populations suggests that resilience increases with genetic diversity. Few studies, however, have eva...

Background Marine aquaculture is a very important economic and food production activity in Patagonian channels. The biophysical mechanisms through which farms interact with surrounding areas is poorly understood. A better understanding of the relationship between zooplankton distribution, hydrodynamics and aquaculture farms in Patagonian channels c...

River runoff to the coastal zone is one of the most important environmental variables that influences the structure and functioning of the neritic trophic web and modulates temporal fluctuations of coastal fishery production in many ecosystems worldwide. The relationship between recruitment of anchovy ( Engraulis ringens ) and common sardine ( Stra...

Propuesta metodológica para optimizar el uso de la macrofauna bentónica como bio-indicador en la evaluación de perturbaciones antropogénicas.

The Territorial Use Rights for Fisheries (TURF) system are a kind of marine property where user rights are assiged to collective entities of artisanal fishers’ organizations. But their effectivity continues to be limited, which demands a comprehensive evaluation of their social, economic, and ecological performance. Consequently, the practical inte...

The increasing occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) affecting mariculture has been related to climatic factors but also to increasing eutrophication of coastal zones, to which aquaculture may also contribute. The role of climate change on HABs may be increasingly relevant but scientific efforts to separate this from other causal factors are to...

Long‐term studies that monitor changes in the abundance of pinnipeds are particularly relevant given that these long‐lived species are considered to be indicators of the quality of the ecosystems around them. We report a continuous record of the total abundance by sex and age‐classes of the South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) in Cobquecura,...

Sea louse infestations are threatening the sustainability of the salmon farm industry worldwide; the southern marine ecosystem of Chile is one of the most affected areas. A highly infested management area located in the Los Lagos Region (42.5°S) has been regularly affected by Caligus rogercresseyi outbreaks during the spring-summer period since 201...

The talk is available at: https://www.facebook.com/patricio.w.grez/videos/10159196345239840 The Chilean coastal zone is subjected to a complex spectrum of anthropogenic, geophysical and climate-driven perturbations. The territory is characterized by strong latitudinal gradients, with a climate ranging from the most arid region worldwide (18°S) to...

The ecological characteristics of the benthic macrofauna make a good indicator to evaluate the effects of anthropic perturbations (e.g., aquaculture, submarine pipelines emissions) on marine ecosystems. Chilean environmental regulation establishes that macrofauna characterization must be performed with sieves with 1,000 µm opening. To evaluate the...

En este capítulo se presentan los resultados de dos estudios realizados para evaluar y/o mitigar impactos de origen antropogénico sobre la biodiversidad marina. Uno de ellos utiliza como modelo de estudio a la macrofauna bentónica y el otro a la megafauna del bentos y necton. En el primer estudio, se caracteriza la distribución y abundancia de orga...

Los organismos planctónicos son componentes fundamentales de las tramas tróficas de los ecosistemas marinos. En Chile, el fito y zooplancton son incluidos en Programas de Vigilancia Ambiental y Líneas de Base, considerando solo su diversidad y abundancia. En los últimos años, dado el incremento del uso de agua de mar por procesos industriales en la...

Background It is known that aquaculture may produce negative environmental effects on marine ecosystems. Southern Chile is one of the most important salmon and mussel-producing areas in the world. Here we assess the ecological status of benthic communities near farming centers in Caucahue Channel, Chiloe, which has been used intensely for salmon an...

The upwelling ecosystem of central southern Chile sustains the pelagic common sardine and anchovy fisheries, which are managed by setting a global quota allocated to small-scale (artisanal) and industrial fishers. A prearranged spatial allocation of quotas for small-scale fishers is based on historical landings rather than the current spatial distr...

Coastal storms have increased in recent decades, affecting many species, including the South American sea lion (Otaria byronia). Reports of stranded sea lion pups are becoming common in Chile, presumably due to the increase in the frequency and intensity of coastal storms. To validate this assumption, a 10-year database was built by coupling wave g...

Salmon production in Chile has increased significantly since the 1990s. However, there have been significant economic losses owing to outbreaks of Caligus rogercresseyi. Pesticides, among them Azamethiphos, are used to mitigate the impact of this sea louse. Azamethiphos can affect non-target species living near salmon farms such as microbial plankt...

• The spatial variation in community structure among 30 areas for the management and exploitation of benthic resources (AMEBRs) in central Chile was assessed from surveys conducted during the same spring–summer season. One hundred taxa identified in the subtidal surveys were grouped into 10 functional groups. • The influence and relative importance...

This paper presents a numerical study to assess the hydrodynamic effects of different levels of biofouling in fish cage aquaculture netting. The methodology adopted includes high resolution Large Eddy Simulation (LES) coupled to a regional model implemented within the framework of the Coastal and Regional Ocean Community Model (CROCO). The physical...

Fungi are ubiquitous in the marine environment, but their role in carbon and nitrogen cycling in the ocean, and in particular the quantitative significance of fungal biomass to ocean biogeochemistry, has not yet been assessed. Determination of the biochemical and stable isotope composition of marine fungi can provide a basis for identifying fungal...

The species–area relationship (SAR) and the species–time relationship (STR) are two well-established macro-ecological patterns. Species richness has also been shown to follow a humped relationship with body size, suggesting that SAR and STR may also depend on body size. We test whether the pattern of increase in the number of species with time vari...

Climatological hydrographic data for the southeastern Pacific from the World Ocean Atlas show an extended low-salinity region associated with high rainfall/river runoff along the Chilean Patagonia coast. However, the structure and variability of this extensive freshwater area is poorly understood due to the lack of periodic hydrographic observation...

The growth of Chilean salmon production has not been free of important sanitary and environmental shortcomings. To ensure sustainability, it is necessary to understand the environmental impacts of salmon production on the Patagonian ecosystems. Currently, there is limited regulation or monitoring of impacts in the freshwater phase compared to the m...

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have affected salmon farms in Chile since the early 1970's, causing massive losses in fish. Two large HABs occurred in 2002 and 2009, during which Alexandrium catenella blooms killed tons of salmon over an extended geographic area in southern Chile. At the beginning of 2016, high and persistent densities of Pseudochatton...

The interaction between local hydrodynamics conditions and salmon cages are important in disease transmission and in the transport of waste products generated by aquaculture. We propose a modeling methodology to assess the hydrodynamic effects of a salmon farm in a Patagonian channel. The method is based on the coupling between a Coastal and Region...

Objetivo General: Elaborar una Política Regional de Fomento Productivo para la Región del Biobío, cuyo horizonte de plazo de desarrollo sea de 5 años (20 17-2022). Objetivos Específicos: • Establecer una situación actual (línea base) y deseada (Visión 2022) en materia de fomento productivo de la Región del Biobío a partir de: consultas a los actor...

The Baker River is the largest free-flowing river in Chilean Patagonia. Long-range dependence (LRD), a recognised hydrological property of river runoff worldwide, was detected for the Baker River runoff time series. Analyses were conducted on a monthly scale between 1961 and 2015 using the fractal and multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis met...

Even though occurrence of fungi in several marine environments has been documented, their inclusion within the marine microbial loop is not fully recognized. A major constraint is whether fungi in coastal waters are truly marine or represent transient microorganisms transported from terrestrial environments. We approached this issue by analyzing am...

Non-predatory dead variability in zooplankton remains poorly quantified worldwide. Here, we make the first estimation of the percentage of dead organisms in coastal zooplankton communities in the Humboldt Current System (HCS) under in situ conditions. The study was conducted in four coastal sites of the southern HCS (between 36 and 37°S) over a per...

The continental shelf off central-south Chile sustains highly productive fisheries. The sustainability of these resources is nevertheless in jeopardy since many of them are either overexploited or collapsed. Using an allometrically (size-based) parameterized model of the shelf s food web, we analyze the likely ecosystem effects of fishing in this s...

The spatial and seasonal variability of nutrients and chlorophyll in the southern Humboldt Current System were assessed using a high-resolution regional ocean circulation model (ROMS) coupled to a biogeochemical model (Pelagic-Interactions Scheme for carbon and Ecosystem Studies; PISCES). The simulated nutrients and chlorophyll fields were validate...

Faunal assemblages of subtidal sedimentary environments are key components of coastal ecosystems. Benthic communities inhabiting the coastal zone near urban centers in Concepción Bay (Chile) have been described as highly disturbed (i.e. impoverished in diversity and species richness). This is due to the frequent presence of hypoxic conditions at th...

In January 2008 there was an intensive and extensive upwelling event in the southern Hum-boldt Current System. This event produced an intrusion of water with low dissolved oxygen into Coliumo Bay, which caused massive mortality and the beaching of pelagic and benthic organisms, including zooplankton. During this event, which lasted 3 to 5 days, we...

Satellite images of the study zone from December 30th, 2007 to January 31st, 2008. Images were obtained from the ANTARES Observation Network (http://antares.ws) and show the temporal dynamics of the upwelling during the hypoxia event. White arrows indicate the location of Coliumo Bay. (DOCX)

Nutrients and pigments concentrations. Average (±SD) concentration (in μM) of (a) nitrate, (b) nitrite, (c) phosphate and, (d) silicic acid. Also shown are average ratios of (e) N:P and, f) Si:N. Plots (g and h) correspond to average concentrations of chlorophyll a (mg m-3) and phaeopigments (mg m-3), respectively. All measurements are the integrat...

Results of PLS regression for macrozooplankton, microphytoplankton, and nanoplankton density as a function of environmental variables. (DOCX)

(a) PERMDISP output for the analyses conducted for environmental and biological variables in Coliumo Bay. (b) PERMDISP pair-wise output for macrozooplankton inside Coliumo Bay. (DOCX)

Macrozooplankton and microphytoplankton composition and abundance data. (XLSX)

Partial least squares (PLS) analysis for environmental variables during the hypoxic event (January 3rd, to 18th, 2008). The first and second component explained 37% and 33% of the total variance, respectively. Environmental variables are surface (-S) and bottom (-b) temperature (T), salinity (Sal), dissolved oxygen (Ox), pH, and redox (R). Average...

PERMANOVA pair-wise output for macrozooplankton inside Coliumo Bay. (DOCX)

Time series of the wind intensity/direction, sub-tidal temperatures, and tide height for the study before, during, and after the hypoxia event. The time series of the intensity/direction (U and V vectors) of the winds (a), sub-tidal temperature (b) and tide height (c) for the study before, during and after the hypoxia event. The dashed line indicat...

Vertical sections of dissolved oxygen, temperature and salinity for Coliumo Bay during the hypoxia in January 2008. Vertical sections of: (a, b) dissolved oxygen (mL O2 L-1), (c, d) temperature (°C) and (e, f) salinity for Coliumo Bay during the hypoxia in January 2008. Dots indicate the depths at which the hydrographic data were obtained and used...

Nanoplankton and dinoflagellates abundances. Average (±SD) abundance (cells mL-1) of total nanoplankton in Coliumo Bay from January 3rd, to 18th, 2008 (a) autotrophic nanoflagellates (ANF), (b) heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNF), (c) dinoflagellates. The grey bars correspond to inside Coliumo Bay (E2, E3, E6), and the black bars correspond to outs...

Summary of the microphytoplankton taxa in Coliumo Bay. (DOCX)

Spearman correlations between the most abundant macrozooplankton taxa and concentration of surface dissolved oxygen. (DOCX)

Thermoregulation in ectothermic animals is influenced by the ability to effectively respond to thermal variations. While it is known that ectotherms are affected by thermal changes, it remains unknown whether physiological and/or metabolic traits are impacted by modifications to the thermal environment. Our research provides key evidence that fish...

The South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) is widely distributed along the southern Atlantic and Pacific coasts of South America with a history of significant commercial exploitation. We aimed to evaluate the population genetic structure and the evolutionary history of South American sea lion along its distribution by analyses of mitochondrial...

List of individuals that bear each mitochondrial DNA control region haplotype, and the respective GenBank number. Absolute frequency in the sample and geographic distribution of haplotypes for South American sea lion. (DOCX)

List of individuals that bear each mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b haplotype. Absolute frequency in the sample and geographic distribution of haplotypes for South American sea lion. (DOCX)

Extended Bayesian skyline plot showing the effective population size fluctuation of South American sea lions populations throughout time based on the mtDNA control region. Internal dashed lines are median estimates and thin lines and coloured areas are the 95% Central Posterior Density (CPD) intervals. Nef, effective female population size (log sca...

Extended Bayesian skyline plot showing the effective population size fluctuation of South American sea lions populations throughout time based on the mtDNA control region. Internal black dashed lines are median estimates and thin lines are the 95% CPD intervals. Thin green lines are the individual population trajectories. Nef, effective female popu...

Species and access number of sequences downloaded from GenBank used to estimate the Bayesian phylogeny (Fig 3). (DOCX)

Genetic diversity of South American sea lions for each locus per clustered localities and for the species as whole. (A) Number of alleles, (E) = exclusive alleles, (Ho) observed heterozygosity, (He) expected heterozygosity.* Loci that deviated from HW equilibrium after Bonferroni correction. (DOCX)

Plots from STRUCTURE HARVESTER performed with Evanno’s method. (A) Highest value of (ΔK) = 79.20 on K = 2. (B) Mean of estimated Ln probability of data (± sd) averaging ten runs from K = 1 to K = 10. (TIF)

STRUCTURE bar plot from the test for migrants or hybrids between oceans using the sampling locations (in this case the ocean basin) and the USEPOPINFO model. Each bar is one individual and each colour represents the assignment probability of the individual to belong to that genetic cluster. (TIF)

Sandy beaches are characterised by high temporal and spatial variability, resulting in environmental gradients between beaches based on morphodynamic differences. This variability is less well known when beaches are affected by abrupt and highly energetic perturbations such as earthquakes and tsunamis. Here, we analysed the changes in the morphodyn...

The Humboldt Current System (HCS), off the coast of Chile, has an Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) between 30 and 250 m depth, with oxygen concentrations < 0.5 ml L-1. Densities of Merluccius gayi gayi associated with this zone are highest between 100 and 300 m depth, suggesting metabolic adaptations allowing it to remain in the OMZ. The aerobic and anaer...

Facultative marine filamentous fungi have recently emerged as a functional component in coastal marine systems. However, little is known about their ecological role and functions in biogeochemical cycles. Penicillium decumbens, S. strictum, and F. fujikuroi were isolated from the coastal upwelling zone off south-central Chile. Their carbon profiles...

Blue whales Balaenoptera musculus select highly productive feeding habitats where dense and abundant euphausiid aggregations dependably arise. This study seeks to understand the oceanographic characteristics that provide suitable foraging conditions for endangered blue whales in northern Chilean Patagonia (NCP). We present the first in situ oceanog...

The aerobic and anaerobic enzymatic activity of two important commercial bathypelagic species living in the Juan Fernández seamounts was analyzed: alfonsino (Beryx splendens) and orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus). These seamounts are influenced by the presence of an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) located between 160 and 250 m depth. Both species h...

The seasonal variability of the hydrology and the poleward subsurface Peru-Chile Undercurrent (PCUC) off the central Chilean coast (29°-41°S) were examined using a high resolution regional model. The model realistically reproduced observed sea level variability, such as intense anticyclonic eddies, the offshore intensification of the poleward flow...

The use of fireworks has increased worldwide in recent years. Despite this, their effects on sea lions and similar species are almost undocumented. In this study, we documented some effects of the 2015 New Year’s fireworks on the behavior of South American sea lions (Otaria flavescens), a marine mammal species that utilizes coastal rookeries for br...

The seasonal variability of the hydrology and the poleward subsurface Peru-Chile Undercurrent (PCUC) off the central Chilean coast (29–41°S) were examined using a high-resolution regional model. The model realistically reproduced observed sea level variability, such as intense anticyclonic eddies, the offshore intensification of the poleward flow a...