Bernardo Sepúlveda

Baseline Concentrations of Potentially Toxic Elements in Natural Surface Soils in Torrelles (Spain)

The objective of this article is to establish baseline concentrations of Ba, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sr, V, and Zn (aqua regia-extractable) in natural surface soils of the Torrelles Municipal District and to investigate the relationships between these elements and soil properties and between the element concentrations themselves. Upper baseline concentrations of these elements were (mg kg −1): Ba 272.6, Cr 40.8, Cu 31.0, Ni 29.9, Pb 68.1, Sr 83.0, V 49.7, and Zn 132.7; most corresponded with the values reported in the literature. Correlation analysis showed that total Fe and Al have the strongest relationships with trace elements.

Producción masiva forzada de árboles silvestres del desierto de Atacama, Copiapó (Chile)

espanolEn zonas aridas la perdida de biodiversidad, cobertura y biomasa vegetal son problemas ambientales permanentes. En condiciones naturales aridas, las semillas de especies silvestres suelen germinar irregularmente y en tiempo prolongados, lo que hace dificil usar estas especies en procesos productivos. Se evaluaron condiciones adecuadas para optimizar y masificar la produccion desde semillas de especies silvestres arboreas del valle de Copiapo; usando tratamientos de escariacion e induccion hormonal de la germinacion con GA3. Se determino el tratamiento para cada especie y la capacidad de produccion efectiva de plantulas. La produccion de plantas aumento 83,8% sobre la produccion normal en vivero antes del proyecto, por incremento de la germinacion. Usando el protocolo de produccion de diferentes especies se llego a obtener 25.000 plantas (diferentes especies) semanales, con una proyeccion anual que permitiria manejar la produccion artificial de especies silvestres. La propagacion masiva de plantas puede ser una herramienta para conservar poblaciones naturales de especies silvestres y potenciar su uso en procesos productivos. EnglishIn arid zones the loss ofbiodiversity, plant cover and biomass are permanent environmental problems. Under arid natural conditions, seeds of wild species usually germinate in irregular periods and in long time, making it difficult to use these species in productive processes. Suitable conditions for optimizing and producing massively wild trees from seeds of species from the Copiapo Valley were evaluated, using treatments of reaming and hormonal induction ofgermination with GA3. The induction conditions for each tree species and the effective plant production capacity was determined. Plant production increased 83.8% on the production of plants in nurseries before the project, by increasing of the germination. Using the production protocol, 25,000 plants from different species by week were produced, with a annual projection which would be possible to control the artificial production of wild plant species. The massive propagation ofplants could be a tool to conservation of natural populations of wild species and give potential to use it in production process.