Ramiro D. Crego

Potential impact of the Alien American Mink (Neovison vison) on Magellanic woodpeckers (Campephilus magellanicus) in Navarino Island, Southern Chile.

The American mink (Neovison vison) has been described as one of the worst invasive species in the northern hemisphere. Although some studies on the mink exist for the southern hemisphere, aside from impacts on marine and freshwater birds, its effect on other components of the biota is not well understood. Here, as a result of 3 different studies, we report evidence for the mink as a predator of the Magellanic woodpecker (Campephilus magellanicus). To our knowledge, these are the first evidences of predation on this charismatic and endemic woodpecker and indicate that mink might have a more widespread impact on forest birds than was initially suspected.

Expansión de la invasión del Visón Norteamericano (Neovison vison) en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Cabo de Hornos, Chile

La Reserva de la Biosfera Cabo de Hornos (RBCH) se ubica en el extremo sur del continente sudamericano. Dado el gran remanente de vegetacion nativa, junto a la baja fragmentacion y baja densidad-poblacional humana, la region se encuentra catalogada como una de las ultimas 24 areas pristinas del planeta (Mittermeier et al. 2003). La RBCH esta embebida en la ecoregion de los Bosques Sub-Antarticos caracterizada por la presencia de coigues de Magallanes (Nothofagus betuloides) (Rozzi et al. 2006). Una de las mayores amenazas a la conservacion de esta area son las invasiones biologicas, dado que numerosas especies exoticas han logrado establecerse en la region (Anderson et al. 2006; Valenzuela et al. 2014).

Potential niche expansion of the American mink invading a remote island free of nativepredatory mammals

The success of an invasive species depends in part on its niche and the new niche opportunities that such species may find in the invaded habitat. Niche opportunities can be understood as the potential provided by a community to an invasive species to expand its niche by changes in habitat use, behavior, or diet, that favors population growth, reflected in the species occupying more habitat. This may occur under a favorable combination of access to resources that can be further favored by a lack of competitors and a release from natural enemies. The American mink (Neovison vison) is a crepuscular/nocturnal and semi-aquatic mustelid native to North America that generally concentrates activities at <100 m from the water. It has recently established an invasive population on Navarino Island in southern Chile. Here, the mink is now the top terrestrial predator free of predators or competitors. We hypothesized that this lack of potential predators and competitors, together with a more diurnal and terrestrial prey, have resulted in the mink expanding its spatial and temporal niche on Navarino Island as compared to that in its native habitats, expressed in occupancy of sites away from water and diurnal activity. We evaluated this by using 93 randomly-chosen camera-trap stations, occupancy models and mink daily activity patterns. Models showed a dynamic occupancy with the area occupied by mink being highest during summers and lowest in spring with seasonal changes in occupancy related to distance to water sources. Mink occupied and were active at sites up to 880 m from water sources during summers. Occupancy decreased at shorter distances from water during spring, but mink were still active at up to 300 m from water. Mink were active daylong during summers, and nocturnal and crepuscular during winter and spring. These results show that compared to the native and other invaded habitats, on Navarino Island mink use more terrestrial habitats and are more diurnal during summers, suggesting a niche expansion under new niche opportunities that may enhance the negative impacts of this predator on a myriad of small native vertebrates.

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.

Field environmental philosophy: ecology and ethics in LTSER-Chile and ILTER networks

Universidad de Concepcion, casilla 160-C, Concepcion, Chile.SUMMARYThe long-term socio-ecological research (LTSER) study sites should integrate theoretical and applied research to effectively confront global socio-environmental change. For a socio-ecological integration beyond the socio-economic approach that prevails today in LTSER networks worldwide, in the southernmost site of the LTSER-Chile network (Omora Park, 55