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Salar de Surire un ecosistema altoandino en peligro, frente a escenario del cambio climático

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Ingrid Garcés at University of Antofagasta
Ingrid Garcés
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Este trabajo realiza un análisis al salar de Surire desde el punto de vista de la biodiversidad y sus implicancias producto del cambio climático. Como resultado se predice que los próximos años serán secos y la temperatura podría ir en aumento, lo cual afectará notablemente a la flora y fauna del altiplano. El salar de Surire es un cuerpo salino ubicado en el altiplano andino chileno, en un entorno geológico de características volcánicas. La climatología actual de aridez no permite una acumulación de agua superficial de gran extensión, y por lo tanto es posible diferenciar tres tipos principales de aguas: los aportes de drenaje, las acumulaciones de agua en la aureola pantanosa externa o “bofedales”, y las aguas del interior del cuerpo salino (surgencias termales y salmueras). Estas condiciones hidrológicas afectan factores abióticos, como anaerobiosis de suelos, disposición de nutrientes y salinidad, factores determinantes del desarrollo de la flora y fauna. Palabras claves: Salar de Surire; Biodiversidad andina; Cambio climático; Ecosistema andino
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... The deposits that make up the salar correspond to carbonates, sulfates, chlorides, borates, and sinter deposits [19]. The Borax Chemical and Industrial Company operates the ulexite deposit in the Salar de Surire since 1985, producing a range of boron products, including boric acid, boron granules (known as granulex), and fertilizers and insecticides, which combine boron or boric acid with calcium sulfate and sodium borates [47]. The surface morphology of the salar is practically flat, although with a slight tilting toward the west, conditioning that the waters that access it go and accumulate in its western margin. ...
... Chilean salt flats have only ulexite as an economic mineral, these deposits being related to a shallow saline lake, whose main contributions in boron are from thermal sources. Boron in Andean salars is mainly linked to the Cenozoic volcanic rocks that prevail in the eastern Andean territory, particularly in recent or latent volcanic centers, and there is an increase in boron in areas of active latent volcanism, such as the hot springs of Salar de Surire [47] and Salar de Aguas Calientes I [48]. ...
boron industry, sources and evaporitic andean deposits geochemical characteristics and evolution path
Chapter
Full-text available
  • Feb 2020
This study accounts for boron deposits in Chile. In addition, a vision is given of the geochemical evolution of its waters that depend largely on the evaporation of water and various factors among which are the geomorphology, climate, and volcanic activity that favor the conditions for the deposition of various salts between that accentuate lithium, potassium, and boron. Borates are found in lenticular stratified bodies, known as “bars,” interspersed in detrital-saline sequences and always in the first meters of the saline surface part or as high-grade nodules (up to 30% B2O3) that can reach tens of centimeters. In the first part, a description is made of the saline deposits to coming of the salars of South America, because it is the most important reserves of boron-rich minerals known in this continent are directly related to this type of deposits. Subsequently, the deposits in Chile and their characteristics are described. The only mineral of economic recovery known in Chile is ulexite. The second part refers to the Pitzer ion interaction model that is applied to predict the precipitation of salts in multicomponent aqueous systems with high ionic strength in a temperature range of 0–60°C, using the three natural brines of Andean borates.
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... The deposits that make up the salar correspond to carbonates, sulfates, chlorides, borates, and sinter deposits [19]. The Borax Chemical and Industrial Company operates the ulexite deposit in the Salar de Surire since 1985, producing a range of boron products, including boric acid, boron granules (known as granulex), and fertilizers and insecticides, which combine boron or boric acid with calcium sulfate and sodium borates [47]. The surface morphology of the salar is practically flat, although with a slight tilting toward the west, conditioning that the waters that access it go and accumulate in its western margin. ...
... Chilean salt flats have only ulexite as an economic mineral, these deposits being related to a shallow saline lake, whose main contributions in boron are from thermal sources. Boron in Andean salars is mainly linked to the Cenozoic volcanic rocks that prevail in the eastern Andean territory, particularly in recent or latent volcanic centers, and there is an increase in boron in areas of active latent volcanism, such as the hot springs of Salar de Surire [47] and Salar de Aguas Calientes I [48]. ...
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... The Atacama Desert is considered one of the most arid and extreme environments on Earth, and is characterized by high daytime solar radiation levels (average 600 W/m 2 , (Eshelet al. , 2021)), strong thermal daily oscillation (absolute minimum temperatures of -5degC to -12degC, and absolute maximum temperatures of 35degC to 36degC), extreme drought (less of 50 mm of annual precipitations) and high soil salinity (0.3 to 1.0 m of saline crust in the soil) (Acevedo Hinojosa et al. , 2007). The Surire Salar, located 4,300 meters above sea level (m a.s.l), in the Chilean Altiplano, is characterized by poor annual rainfall of about 200 mm concentrated during a few summer months, and strong thermal daily oscillation (absolute minimum temperatures of 0degC to 13degC, and absolute maximum temperatures of 18degC to 20degC) (Garces, 2011). Results from the first screening drive us to focus on three species of the woody genusProsopis because of their contrasting response to the mentioned trade-off. ...
Living in extreme environments: a photosynthetic and desiccation stress tolerance trade-off story, but not for everyone.
Preprint
  • May 2023
A trade-off between allocated resources for photosynthesis and stress tolerance is generally observed in nature. Thus, the search for outlier species breaking this trend is an interesting approach to identity new mechanisms for plant breeding purposes. Hypothetically, outlier extremophyte species present a distinctive arrangement of physiological functions that favor stress tolerance mechanisms without jeopardizing investment allocation into photosynthesis. We explored this trade-off, analyzing twenty-one plant species for desiccation tolerance, and photosynthetic capacity, under the extreme arid environments of the Atacama Desert and the Surire Salar in the Chilean Altiplano. Most of the studied species followed the trade-off tendency, however, we did find one outlier species, Prosopis tamarugo . To study the mechanisms involved in this atypical response, the Prosopis genus was analyzed more deeply. Our results suggest that the outlier response of P. tamarugo is multifactorial. This species presented a high photochemistry activity, associated with a higher synthesis of chlorophylls, photoprotective pigments, and complex antioxidant molecules. Moreover, the synthesis of no-nitrogen osmoprotectant molecules, such as ciceritol and mannitol in P. tamarugo , would allow the allocation of nitrogen to support its high photosynthetic capacity, without compromising its leaf desiccation stress tolerance.
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... The Atacama Desert is considered one of the most arid and extreme environments on Earth, and is characterized by high daytime solar radiation levels (average 600 W/m 2 , (Eshelet al. , 2021)), strong thermal daily oscillation (absolute minimum temperatures of -5degC to -12degC, and absolute maximum temperatures of 35degC to 36degC), extreme drought (less of 50 mm of annual precipitations) and high soil salinity (0.3 to 1.0 m of saline crust in the soil) (Acevedo Hinojosa et al. , 2007). The Surire Salar, located 4,300 meters above sea level (m a.s.l), in the Chilean Altiplano, is characterized by poor annual rainfall of about 200 mm concentrated during a few summer months, and strong thermal daily oscillation (absolute minimum temperatures of 0degC to 13degC, and absolute maximum temperatures of 18degC to 20degC) (Garces, 2011). Results from the first screening drive us to focus on three species of the woody genusProsopis because of their contrasting response to the mentioned trade-off. ...
Living in extreme environments: a photosynthetic and desiccation stress tolerance trade-off story, but not for everyone.
Preprint
  • May 2023
A trade-off between allocated resources for photosynthesis and stress tolerance is generally observed in nature. Thus, the search for outlier species breaking this trend is an interesting approach to identity new mechanisms for plant breeding purposes. Hypothetically, outlier extremophyte species present a distinctive arrangement of physiological functions that favor stress tolerance mechanisms without jeopardizing investment allocation into photosynthesis. We explored this trade-off, analyzing twenty-one plant species for desiccation tolerance, and photosynthetic capacity, under the extreme arid environments of the Atacama Desert and the Surire Salar in the Chilean Altiplano. Most of the studied species followed the trade-off tendency, however, we did find one outlier species, Prosopis tamarugo . To study the mechanisms involved in this atypical response, the Prosopis genus was analyzed more deeply. Our results suggest that the outlier response of P. tamarugo is multifactorial. This species presented a high photochemistry activity, associated with a higher synthesis of chlorophylls, photoprotective pigments, and complex antioxidant molecules. Moreover, the synthesis of no-nitrogen osmoprotectant molecules, such as ciceritol and mannitol in P. tamarugo , would allow the allocation of nitrogen to support its high photosynthetic capacity, without compromising its leaf desiccation stress tolerance.
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... The Salar de Surire (18°50'S, 69°3'W) sits at 4,250 m asl in the Chilean Altiplano of the Arica y Parinacota Region of northern Chile (Garcés, 2011). The skeletal remains reported in this paper were discovered accidentally in 2003 during borate mining activities, and excavated unsystematically, so crucial contextual information is missing. ...
A Partially Complete Skeleton of Hippidion Saldiasi Roth, 1899 (Mammalia: Perissodactyla) from the Late Pleistocene of the High Andes in Northern Chile
Article
  • Mar 2021
South America is well known for its abundance of Quaternary fossiliferous deposits, but well-preserved fossil remains from well-dated sites are scarce in the Atacama Desert and adjacent arid Andes. Here we report on a partially complete skeleton (46%) of a single young (ca. 3–4 years old) extinct horse discovered in the Salar de Surire, a salt flat located on the Andean altiplano of northern Chile (4,250 m asl). Comparative and osteometric morphological analyses identify the specimen as a South American endemic horse Hippidion saldiasi Roth, 1899. A direct AMS radiocarbon date on bone collagen yielded a calibrated age of 13,170 cal yr BP (2σ range: 13,300–13,060 cal yr BP) indicating that it lived near the end of the last glaciation. The body mass of the individual was calculated at approximately 326.4 kg, close to the upper limit of the larger sizes reported for the genus. Stable isotope evidence shows that the Salar de Surire horse relied on an almost 100% C3 diet that is mostly consistent with Hippidion specimens from other environments that also consumed either mixed C3/C4 or fully C3 diets. This finding is now the southernmost high-elevation record for this species and provides further evidence for the broad geographic and ecological distribution of this genus throughout southern South America.
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... La menor y mayor superficie del bofedal cubierta por vegetación se registró en años con presencia del fenómeno El Niño fuerte y La Niña fuerte, respectivamente; sin embargo, al comparar los valores de vigor vegetacional, correlacionados con la precipitación, se observó que no siempre responden a esta dinámica opuesta. (Castro et al., 2009;SAG, 2009;Garcés, 2011). Asimismo, junto a su condición de reservorios hídricos, filtros de agua y sales, y de recursos forrajeros en un ambiente escaso de ellos, los bofedales son focos de biodiversidad y hábitat para un conjunto heterogéneo de invertebrados (Cortes et al., 1995;Tabilo, 2006;Cepeda-Pizarro y Pola, 2013). ...
Effects of climate variability on water level fluctuations and farming practices in andean higland wetlands
Article
Full-text available
  • Sep 2014
  • INTERCIENCIA
During the last decades, climatic variations in the Chilean Higlands (Altiplano) that threaten the sustainability of the local wetlands and, thus, the sustainability of farming practices that depend on them, have been demostrated. Among the most important wetlands in the region is the area of the Caquena 'bofedal', which thanks to its ecological value and potential yields, is one of the most significant natural meadow and an important source of food and water in the area, playing a key role in the high Andean ecosystem and social system. The present study aims to analyze the existing relationship between the fluctuations of the surface of the Caquena marsh, climate variability and livestock activity in the area between 1990 and 2011 using weather data and satellite imagery analysis for the spring and autumn periods. The lowest and the highest surface covered by wetland vegetation was recorded in years when strong El Niño and strong La Niña phenomena, respectively, took place. However, when comparing the values of vegetation vigor, correlated with precipitation, it was found that they do not always correspond to such opposing dynamics.
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... The pools show a wide salinity gradient and are exposed to a daily temperature variation of 15°C. The minimum temperatures varied between 0-13°C from June through September, and the maximum temperatures vary between 18-20°C in December and January (garCéS, 2011). The third population of Boeckella gracilipes was sampled at the oligo-mesotrophic Riñihue Lake (DaDay, 1902;VillaloBoS & Zúñiga, 1991;Soto & Zúñiga, 1991;De loS ríoS & Soto, 2007), Chile (39°49ʼS; 72°19ʼW, 107 m a.s.l) a North Patagonian Lake with a surface area of 77.5 km 2 and an annual temperature variation of 9- 20°C (woelFl et al., 2003). ...
Morphometric differences in two calanoid sibling species, Boeckella gracilipes and B. titicacae (Crustacea, Copepoda)
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2012
  • IHERINGIA SER ZOOL
Calanoid copepods are abundant in South American inland waters and include widespread species, such as Boeckella gracilipes (Daday, 1902), which occurs from the Ecuador to Tierra del Fuego Island. This species occurs under various environmental conditions, and is found in oligotrophic lakes in Patagonia (39-54°S) and in shallow mountain lakes north of 39°S. The aim of the present study is to conduct a morphometric comparison of male specimens of B. titicacae collected in Titicaca and B. gracilipes collected in Riñihue lakes, with a third population of B. gracilipes collected in shallow ponds in Salar de Surire. Titicaca and Riñihue lakes are stable environments, whereas Salar de Surire is an extreme environment. These ponds present an extreme environment due to high exposure to solar radiation and high salinity levels. The results of the study revealed differences among the three populations. These results agree well with systematic descriptions in the literature on differences between the populations of Titicaca and Riñihue lakes, and population of Salar de Surire differs slightly from the other two populations. It is probable that the differences between the population of Salar de Surire and the other two populations result from the extreme environment in Salar de Surire. High exposure to solar radiation, high salinity and extreme variations in temperature enhance genetic variations that are consequently expressed in morphology.
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Surire de Perut+Osnovikoff: Observando el fin del mundo en la piel del desierto
Article
Full-text available
  • Jul 2023
En este artículo analizo el documental observacional Surire (2015) de los realizadores Bettina Perut+Iván Osnovikoff desde una perspectiva metodológica que vincula la ecocrítica con una aproximación táctil a la imagen cinematográfica. Este documental muestra, sin comentarios, entrevistas o música, la vida cotidiana de una comunidad aimara que reside en las inmediaciones del Salar de Surire, un área natural protegida por el Estado de Chile. Paralelamente, Surire registra las operaciones extractivas de una mina de bórax que amenaza la biodiversidad del salar. De esta manera, el documental expone la crisis que experimentan las formas de vida que confluyen en lo que Macarena Gómez-Barris ha llamado la zona extractiva, es decir, aquellas regiones de alta biodiversidad que se han convertido, desde un paradigma colonial, en espacios de extractivismo y exclusión racial. Al mismo tiempo, el documental nos enseña cómo los habitantes humanos y extrahumanos del salar llevan la vida adelante a pesar de la crisis en que se hallan por medio de alianzas establecidas en los bordes de lo que Jens Andermann llama el inmundo. Partiendo de estos operadores teóricos, el ensayo aborda Surire desde la perspectiva de la violencia a la que están expuestos los habitantes del Salar y también de sus estrategias de sobrevivencia frente a la amenaza del extractivismo. Para esto, me enfoco en el uso de primerísimos planos de la piel de los cuerpos indígenas, los animales y la superficie del desierto, lo que crea una visualización háptica del entorno del salar y nos hace sentir la crisis en nuestros propios cuerpos.
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Safeguarding Indigenous Heritage in the Chilean Atacama Desert: Negotiating Identity Claims and Community Perceptions of Long-term Climate Change
Article
  • Aug 2022
Climate change has become the largest threat to cultural heritage in the twenty-first century. While it is known that the world’s most vulnerable populations, including Indigenous peoples, will disproportionately face the effects of climate change, there is less knowledge of the wider cultural frameworks that influence Indigenous understandings of climate change. This article seeks to understand the local perceptions of natural and anthropogenic climate change and its impact on heritage among contemporary indigenous or originario peoples in small oases in the Atacama Desert of Chile’s Tarapacá region. Theories from critical heritage studies are used to explore the impacts of both anthropogenic and natural climate change on what is understood as Indigenous heritage. The authors examine how these changes have intersected with national and regional socio-political events in the past century to impact contemporary Indigenous identities in the communities of Pica and Matilla. Semi-structured interviews and oral histories were discontinuously conducted between March 2016 and April 2018 and included lay Aymara and Quechua community members as well as the representatives of local organizations such as Neighbour Councils and Indigenous Development Areas (ADIs) in the communities. These accounts illustrate how recent climate change is being used as a rhetorical device to facilitate the revitalization and regeneration of local ethnicities in northern Chile today. Furthermore, the article demonstrates the value of originario knowledge in understanding the nuances of local cultural context and how essential it is in the implementation of environmental and heritage policies in the wider Chilean context.
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VARIACION ESTACIONAL DE LA FLORA Y VEGETACION EN LA PRECORDILLERA ANDINA DE LA COMUNA DE PUTRE (I REGION DE TARAPACA, CHILE) DURANTE EL PERIODO 2002-2003
Article
Full-text available
  • Dec 2005
The pre-andean mountains of the northern Chile (18º 15´S _ 69º 33´W) corresponds to a narrow strip which is affected by the desert at lower altitud to the west, and the Altiplano, a higher plateau at the east. The vegetation in the area also presents an altitudinal variation, and the pre-andean mountains constitutes the second of four altitudinal floors, commonly called tolar or pre-altiplano shrubland (sensu Gajardo). Ten sampling sites were studied for life forms of plants, absolute and relative vegetal cover, plant diversity and species richness of vascular plants before and after summer rainfall (dry and wet season) in four expeditions during 2002 and 2003 by using transects. The summer rainfall in 2002 was 203 mm, considered a normal precipitation for the region, whereas the following year presented a lower amount of rain of 84.7 mm (less than 50% of normal summer rain for the area). The majority of the species of plants (92,9 %) were native (total n=98 species) and the most abundant life forms were chamaephytes, nanophanerophytes and hemicryptophytes. The results of the transects showed patterns of seasonality; they presented higher vegetal cover, species richness and biodiversity in wet season. In the dry season nanophanerophytes and chamaephytes, mainly tolas (shrubs in Aymara language), are the most abundant life forms. Whereas in the wet season therophytes and hemicryptophytes herbs also are present. The proportional change of vegetal cover between wet and dry season and the presence of terophytes community were lower in the wet season during 2003, which was dryer than 2002.
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Libro Rojo de los Vertebrados Terrestres de Chile
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Garcés, I. & López, P. (2005). Hydrochemistry of Springs, Wetlands, and Surface Brine Ponds of the Surire Salt Deposit (Chile). In Proceedings of the 2nd Southern Deserts Conference. Arica, Chile.
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América Latina ante el cambio climático. El Observatorio de la Globalización (OG). D3E. París, Francia. Disponible en
  • Jan 2007
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