Contact Information for Principal Investigator

Transcription

1 Contact Information for Principal Investigator Name: Cecilia Smith Ramírez Address: Comercio 393, Río Bueno, XIV Región Country: Chile Telephone: Fax: Website: C. Contact information for Managing Institution Institution Name: Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad (IEB), Universidad de Chile Address: Las Palmeras 3425, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile Institutional Contact Person: Director, PhD. Mary Kalin Arroyo Name: Administrative Contact, Benjamín Vera Telephone: Fax: bvera@uchile.cl Website: 1

2 Resumen Chile es un país que posee una biota filogenéticamente muy antigua, posee climas contrastantes y una geografía variada. En Chile se encuentra el desierto mas seco del mundo, unos de los cinco bosques secos mediterráneos, la mayor parte del bosque templado del hemisferio sur de América, tundras, vegetación alto-andina e islas oceánicas con biota polinésica. Chile posee uno de los mayores índices de endemismo a nivel mundial. Lamentablemente, desde mediados del siglo XX, ha sufrido una de las más rápidas tasas de deforestación a nivel mundial. En Chile existen colecciones de insectos que abarcan cerca de un millón de especimenes. La información presente en los insectarios no ha sido digitalizada en nuestro país. Además, se han hecho variados estudios sobre interacciones plantapolinizador El objetivo de este proyecto es realizar una exhaustiva sistematización de la información bibliográfica sobre interacciones planta-polinizador y digitalizar información de especimenes presentes en las principales colecciones entomológicas del país. En este estudio se revisara toda la literatura sobre polinizadores. Supondremos que si un género es mencionado en la literatura de ser polinizador, las otras especies de ese mismo género pueden ser potenciales polinizadores. Se visitarán las diez principales colecciones, desde el extremo norte a sur del país. Además, se visitarán dos o tres de las principales colecciones entomológicas en Argentina. Abstract Chile possesses an ancient biota, contrasting climates, a varied geography, and one of the world s highest endemism rates. The world s driest desert, one of Earth s five Mediterranean dry forests, old-growth southern temperate forests, moorlands, highlands, as well as oceanic islands with Polynesian biota are all found in Chile. Sadly, during the middle of the 20th century Chile s deforestation rate was one of the fastest in the world. Chile has large insect collections with approximately one million specimens, however, the information in these entomological collections is not digitalized; and the study of plant-pollinator interactions is well advanced. The objective of this project is to exhaustively systematize the information on insect pollinators present in entomological collections and plant-pollinator interactions for all Chilean biomes. This study will review all the literature available on pollinators, supposing that when a genus is mentioned in the literature as pollinator, then other species of the same genus can be potential pollinators. The research includes visits to the main collections in the country, covering the extreme north to south. Additionally, we will include two or three of Argentina s main entomological collections, hoping to systemize information for over species of insect pollinators. 2

3 Digital database of plant-pollinator interactions in Chile Context and importance of the Chilean biota Chile possesses rich, varied, and ancient biota along its 4,200 km, including sharply contrasting climates. Its varied geography gives rise to the world s driest desert, one of Earth s five Mediterranean dry forests, old-growth southern temperate forest, extensive moorlands, highland communities in the Andes mountains, as well as oceanic islands with Polynesian biota. A great part of the Chilean territory has been considered one of the 25 priorities areas for global conservation, not just for species richness, but also for the ancient phylogenetic relationships. In terms of vascular flora, which has undergone the most exhaustive studies, very few species can be found per genus or family. Some families have only one or two representants in the world, evidence of the enormous extinction event that happened during the Terciary period in the Andean uplands and that ultimately produced the isolation of Chilean biota. In the Chilean temperate forest and its Andean counterpart in Argentina, it is possible to find Gondwanic flora and fauna, the former of which represents 36% of its biogeographic component. The nearest relatives of Gondwanic Chilean flora are found in the islands of New Zealand and Tasmania. Furthermore, nearly 45% of biogeographic components of Chilean flora occur in the Neotropics, mainly in Yungas sub-tropical forests (Argentina and Bolivia) and Matta Atlantica forests in Brazil. During the begining of the Quaternary, Chilean biota was highly isolated from other biota, causing numerous neo-endemisms to occur, especially in desert areas. Paleo-endemism and neo-endemism are very frequent in Chilean entomofauna, such as Ichneumonoidea (Hymenoptera), which has extraordinary endemism (80%) to Chilean forests. Many of the genus of this group have only one or two species. By example, the family Apozygidae (Ichneumonoidea) exists exclusively in Chile, with one genus and two species. In Diptera, 53% of the species are endemic to Chile. Human presence in Chile dates back to 12,500 years ago. From 1850 to 1900, the most extensive deforestation activities of the dryland forests took place, with the most extensive deforestation activities of the central and southern forests occurring from 1930 to 1960, relying heavily on the use of fire. It has been reported that the Chilean deforestation process was one of the fastest in the world. In present day, many of the Chilean biota are threatened; for example, 20% of the flora found in Administrative Region VI s Mediterranean forest is threatened. Chile has five major entomological collections at universities and natural history museums. There are five other important collections at universities and in private hands, as well as minor collections at National Parks and in the possession of individuals. Futhermore, there are important Chilean collections in Paris, Londres, Ottawa, Chicago and San Francisco. The number of specimens in Chilean collections varies from to 1 million. We estimate the number of species of pollinators in Chile to be 3000, but probably would be more. There are three published community studies about pollinators in central, southern and patagonianandean highland in Chile. Based on these studies, it is possible to establish that pollinator richness is high, and that while there are many plants, there are no specialized flowers; Eucryphia cordifolia, for example, attracted approximately 100 pollinator species in one study site (Smith-Ramírez et al. unpublished). But there several studies on pollinators at species level in herbs, cactaceae, vines and trees that contribute to understanding of Chilean pollinator fauna (Smith-Ramírez et al. 2004). Based on these studies and visit frequency, it is possible to establish that diptera, which are concentrated mainly in coastal forests have the highest richness among Chilean pollinators (Smith-Ramírez et al. 2004) 1. While no bat pollinators 1 Smith-Ramírez C, P Martínez, M Nuñez, C González & J Armesto Diversity and preferences of pollinators in second-growth forests of Chiloé Island, Chile. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 147: 3

4 are present in Chile, there are seven hummingbirds and some Passeriforms have been described as pollinators (Smith-Ramírez & Armesto 2003) 2. Innovation: In Chile, no institution possesses a digital database of entomological collections. In 2002, the head researcher for this project, in collaboration with Argentinean colleagues, partially systematized information on plant-pollinators and plant-dispersers in temperate forests of Chile and its margin in Argentina (Aizen et al. 2002) 3, but no similar effort has been made for other ecosystems of the country. As such, this project represents an innovative initiative that would make an enormous contribution in bringing together all Chilean knowledge on biodiversity of insect pollinators and their interactions with plants. The researchers of IEB (the sponsor institution) have been working in pollinator-plant interactions since 1976, and more recent studies by researchers from different universities have targeted different ecosystems in the country, incorporating in recent years the effect of fragmentation on mutualistic relationships. Furthermore, last year, with the help of a doctoral student from IEB (L. Suarez), we began to look for information about plant-pollinator in Mediterranean ecosystems, but the analysis of that information is still in underway. In both efforts, there was a lack of information about the distribution of pollinators and their conservation status. It is necessary to interview entomological specialists to know more about the insects, taxonomic problems and the probability of finding these species at the present. Many of the collections are from middle of the XX century, before or during the bigger deforestation in the country. The focus of these studies has been plant-pollinator interactions, but due to the rapid change in land use in Chile, the extinction of pollinator insects endemic to Chile is most likely high, as has been reported for hymenopterans by Ruz (2005) 2. In this project, we focus on the distribution, collection year and place collection in order to prioritize future efforts to collect new specimens and gain better understanding of the conservation status of pollinator insects. Furthermore, with the IABIN help we will finish the present compilation on Mediterranean plantpollinator interactions, we will update the information on temperate forests plantpollinator interactions, and we will compile information on plant-pollinator interaction in the Chilean desert, Magallanic moorland, alpine and Polynesian areas. The objective of this project is: To undertake an exhaustive systematization of information on insect pollinators present in entomological collections and in literature on plant-pollinator interactions for all Chilean biomes. Methodology In this study, we will review all literature on Chilean pollinators, which will be complemented by literature on Argentinean pollinators occurring in habitats similar to those in Chile, in order to establish the families, genus and species identified as pollinators. We will also review information from other parts of the world (especially New Zealand and Australia) on families that are present in Chile and could be potential pollinators. We will suppose that when a genus is mentioned in the literature as pollinator, then other species of the same genus can be potential pollinators. Following the literature review, we will visit all of Chile s important entomological collections to encounter specimens from the species, genus and family identified in the literature and subsequently put the information into digital format. We will review private and public collections throughout Chile, from the far north to the far south. We will associate the place of collect with a latitude and longitud coordinate, in order to generate distributional maps of pollinators. We will update insect names based on actualized publications. 2 Aizen M, D Vázquez & C Smith-Ramírez Historia natural de los mutualismos planta-animal del Bosque Templado de Sudamérica Austral. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 75: Smith-Ramírez, C. & J. J. Armesto Behavior of nectar-feeding birds visiting Embothrium coccineum (Proteaceae) trees on edges of forest fragments in Chiloé Island, Chile. Austral Ecology 28: Ruz L (2005). Las abejas de la cordillera de Nahuelbuta. En: Biodiversidad y ecología de los bosques costeros de Chile. Editores: C Smith-Ramírez, J Armesto & C Valdovinos. Editorial Universitaria, 708 pp. 4

5 The metrics of the cost- and effort-efficiency: We plan to have information on approximately 7,000 to 10,000 specimens, belonging to approximately 3,000 species of Diptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and birds, that can be pollinators or potential pollinators. In the preparation of this proposal, we have made contact with all the important entomological and private collections in the country, as well as important collections that occur in Argentina (Buenos Aires, La Plata and Bariloche). The name of the curators or contact points for these collections are as follows: Sergio Rothman, National Agricultural Committee; Dr. Francisco Squeo, Universidad de La Serena; Javier Leiva, Park Administrator for Robinson Crusoe Archipelago; Mario Elgueta, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural; Cristian Gonzalez Universidad de Ciencias de la Educación (co-researcher in this proposal); Roberto Gonzalez; Agronomy, Universidad de Chile, Luisa Ruz, Universidad de Valparaíso; Jorge Artigas, Universidad de Concepción; Ramón Rebolledo, Universidad de la Frontera, Dolly Lan Franco, Universidad Austral (co-researcher in this proposal); Vicente Pérez Dangelo, Universidad de Magallanes; H. Valdés private collection; Diego Medan, Universidad de Buenos Aires; and Marcelo Aizen, Universidad de Comahue, Argentina. The name of the our contacts in others collections are John E. Chainey (Diptera), Londres; James O'Hara (Diptera) in Ottawa; Keve J. Ribardo (Diptera) in san Francisco and Philip P. Parillo (Diptera) in Chicago. The information gathered for each species will be: Insects: insect name, family, order, collection place, province, collection year, collection date, collector name, endemism to Chile (specific, genus and family level), if the species is introduced, notes, name of the entomological collection, conservation status if it possible. Insect interactions: plants visited, nectar secreted, sugar (ml), concentration (% p/p), bibliographic references or communications, notes. Birds: bird name, family, distribution in Chile and Argentina (if appropriate), endemism to Chile (specific, genus and family level), conservation status, plants visited by the bird, frequency if data are available, nectar secreted (ml), sugar concentration (% p/p), Bibliographic references or communications, notes. The geographic coverage of the project will be from 18 in the Arica desert to 56 at Navarino Island near Antarctica. The user communities in Chile that are interested in the product of this project are all related to public universities. Fourteen public universities have entomological collections and researcher groups that work in botany, zoology and ecology. Furthermore, this information will be very useful for the National Museum of National History and the Agronomic National Committee. The data will be updated and maintained on the IEB web page, following similar guidelines set forth for the IABIN-PTN database. If changes in information occur, they will be incorporated by the IEB web page technician, R. Schroeder, under my supervision. The data will be entered into the database following the standards used by PTN for the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), the Darwin Core for specimens and observations, DiGIR or TAPIR for data exchange, and the Darwin Core Extension for pollinator-plant associations. Furthemore, the standards and general protocols of the IABIN will be taken into consideration. Although IEB presently does not have an expert in digital biological databases on staff, one will be hired for this project. IEB has worked with biological databases by creating checklists of threatened plants in northern Chile. IEB is an academic biological institution formed by seven institutions, from the far north to far south of Chile. The policies of IEB are integrated into the biological and environmental knowledge throughout the country. More information is available on web page: IEB is not involved in any IABIN project. IABIN s Focal Point in Chile is Karen Molt of National Environmental Comitte (CONAMA), she knows this project and she was sending a letter to IABIN about this proposal. The data quality are ensured by the publication quality of the sources (ISI impact), the name and academic degree of the expert consulted, number and care of the insects in each collection, and by the name and reputation of the collector. The methodology will be evaluated by the project leader throughout its execution in order to monitor and to evaluate the technical and logistic aspects of its development. 5

6 Activities Month 2 Month 4 Month 6 Month 6 Month 8 Month 10 Bibliography review Digitize 10,000 specimens of insects and ten spp.birds Consult expert interactions, conservation status of spp. Update names of specimens Write systematized final report and presentation in ISI paper format Upload information to the web pages of IABIN-PTN, IEB and each institutions All bibliography reviewed. Summary report written Approx.3500 specimens digitized (38 %) Six institutions visited and experts consulted Approx specimens digitized (38%) Six institution s visited, experts consulted Approx specimens digitized, from Argentina (24%) Two institutions visited and experts consulted Consult with experts in USA, Canada and Europe Approx.3,000 species names reviewed and results sent to each institution Participation in a National Conference on Ecology, Planning and/or Entomology All information uploaded. Manuscipt finished Objectives Impact indicators Result Indicators Digitize the eleven insect collection of approximately 3000 insect pollinators Data available to the public through the IABIN portal, the PTN portal and the CHM in February Involve Universities, private and government institutions and individual experts in this effort Build and make available scientifically credible data to assist in decision making for biodiversity use and conservation. Involve and teach students about plantpollinator interactions and conservation status Write a manuscript in ISI format to publish Data in collection will be backed-up in case anything happens to the collection Decision making based on scientifically information increases Increased participation of experts and academics in the PTN An up-to-date pollinator specimens database Number of students involved in this project Final report or ms. send to IABIN, month 10 6

7 Budget table: Quantity IABIN IEB IABIN IEB Travels Chilean Chilean US US pesos pesos Valdivia-Pta. Arenas, Airplane Valdivia-La Serena Valdivia-Santiago Valdivia-Valparaíso Valdivia-Concepción Valdivia-Temuco Valdivia-Antofagasta, Airplane Valdivia-Bariloche (Argentina) Valdivia-Buenos Aires, Airplane Consumables Days Pta. Arenas La Serena Santiago Valparaíso Concepción Temuco Antofagasta Bariloche (Argentina) Buenos Aires (Argentina) Equipment and desk items Quantity Computer Movil Computer Printer Ink, paper, photocopies, phone Enthomological portatil lenss Salaries Month Salary C. Smith Salary D. Lanfranco Salary C. González Salary Informatic Professional Salary Tecnichian Salary Tecnichian Total

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