Francisca Massardo

Integrating Ecology and Environmental Ethics: Earth Stewardship in the Southern End of the Americas

The South American temperate and sub-Antarctic forests cover the longest latitudinal range in the Southern Hemisphere and include the worlds southernmost forests. However, until now, this unique biome has been absent from global ecosystem research and monitoring networks. Moreover, the latitudinal range of between 40 degrees (°) south (S) and 60° S constitutes a conspicuous gap in the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) and other international networks. We first identify 10 globally salient attributes of biological and cultural diversity in southwestern South America. We then present the nascent Chilean Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) network, which will incorporate a new biome into ILTER. Finally, we introduce the field environmental philosophy methodology, developed by the Chilean LTSER network to integrate ecological sciences and environmental ethics into graduate education and biocultural conservation. This approach broadens the prevailing economic spectrum of social dimensions considered by LTSER programs and helps foster bioculturally diverse forms of Earth stewardship.

Ten Principles for Biocultural Conservation at the Southern Tip of the Americas: The approach of the Omora Ethnobotanical Park

This article discusses ten principles for biocultural conservation at the southern tip of the Americas. The article focuses on a case study at the Omora Ethnobotanical Park in Chile.

Changing lenses to assess biodiversity: patterns of species richness in sub-Antarctic plants and implications for global conservation

Article discussing patterns of species richness in sub-Antarctic plants and implications for global conservation.

Three levels of integrating ecology with the conservation of South American temperate forests: the initiative of the Institute of Ecological Research Chiloé, Chile

The diversity of native species assemblages and that of indigenous cultures that once characterized the temperate forests of southern Chile have experienced a process of homogenization ever since the Spanish conquest. Today this process continues to erode both biotic and cultural diversity. With the goal of linking ecological research with actions to conserve the biological and cultural richness of this region, we established the Institute of Ecological Research Chiloé. The Institutes philosophy and activities involve three approaches: (1) participation of professional ecologists in environmental education and decision making, through collaboration with the community at local, regional, and global scales. (2) programs of ecological education, which include planting indigenous trees in urban areas and creating a local botanical garden with representative Chilean forest species. (3) critical analyses of the narrow economic and utilitarian environmental ethics that currently prevail in Chile, and often in other Latin American nations, and examination of traditional or novel alternative ethics and perspectives that address multiple interrelations between biological and cultural dimensions.

DESCUBRIMIENTO E IMPLEMENTACIÓN DEL PÁJARO CARPINTERO GIGANTE (CAMPEPHILUS MAGELLAMCUS) COMO ESPECIE CARISMÁTICA: UNA APROXIMACIÓN BIOCULTURAL PARA LA CONSERVACIÓN EN LA RESERVA DE BIOSFERA CABO DE HORNOS

Resumen es: Al sur de Sudamerica se encuentra la Reserva de Biosfera Cabo de Hornos donde persisten los bosques siempreverdes subantarticos. Esta zona, considerada u...

Filosofía ambiental de campo y conservación biocultural en el Parque Etnobotánico Omora: Aproximaciones metodológicas para ampliar los modos de integrar el componente social ("S") en Sitios de Estudios Socio-Ecológicos a Largo Plazo (SESELP)

This article discusses field environmental philosophy and biocultural conservation methods at the Omora Ethnobotanical Park in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve in Chile.

The road to biocultural ethics

Article discussing biocultural ethics. As a child, Ricardo Rozzi visited indigenous communities in the high Andes with his grandfather and was enchanted by their close relationship with the natural world. Later, he and his wife would return to the region to explore the traditional ecological knowledge of the worlds southernmost indigenous people.

The Politics of Earth Stewardship in the Uneven Anthropocene

The Anthropocene is not only an epoch of anthropogenic dominance of the Earth’s ecosystems, but also an epoch characterized by new forms of environmental governance, institutions, and uneven development. Following the literature in political ecology, we are calling these new forms of environmental governance, “global assemblages.” A key argument from a political ecological perspective is that socio-ecological changes historically disproportionately impact communities in the Global South, and minority and low-income communities in the Global North. While global assemblages are powerful mechanisms of socio-ecological change, we demonstrate the ways transnational networks of grassroots organizations can challenge their negative social and environmental impacts, and thus foster socio-ecological resiliency.

Fenología de Tayloria dubyi (Splachnaceae) en las turberas de la Reserva de Biosfera Cabo de Hornos

This article proposes a methodology for phenological studies of Tayloria dubyi (Splachnaceae) in the peatlands of the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve.

Primer registro de Vespula vulgaris (Linnaeus 1758) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) en la isla Navarino, Chile

La avispa comun Vespula vulgaris (Linnaeus 1758) es una especie introducida en el Hemisferio Sur que ha sido registrada en Australia, Nueva Zelanda, Tasmania, Argentina y Chile central. Este trabajo documenta la presencia de V. vulgaris en la isla Navarino, Reserva de la Biosfera Cabo de Hornos, sur de Chile.