Maria Uriarte


Ocean Mircobes Mariculture and Fog in Southern Chile This is the flaghsip project of the Ocean, Atmospheric, Terrestrial Systems (OATS) working group. We are examining the links between mariculture development, microbial ecology, and nutrient processing and transport to forests in Southern Chile. To assess the effects of mariculture development and timber harvesting on coastal and terrestrial ecosystems at the landscape scale, we are conducting spatial analyses of changes in land use and ocean water quality and characterizating the microbial ecology of coastal surface waters at selected points. Studies of the nitrogen cycling in coastal old growth forests in Southern Chile have uncovered exchange of nutrients from the coastal waters to the terrestrial system via fog. These forests play a crucial role in regulating hydrologic regimes, biodiversity conservation, and other ecosystem services in the region. The initiative adds to existing programs in microbial ecology at Columbia (LINK) and will play a critical role in evaluating the sustainability of aquaculture development in Chile. Project Participants OATS working group Eli Dueker (Deparment of Earth & Environmental Science , DEES) Kathleen C. Weathers (Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, IES) Ajit Subramanian (Lamont/DEES) Chris Small (Lamont/DEES) Andy Juhl (Lamont/DEES) Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Chile (IEB; Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity)

Ocean Mircobes Mariculture and Fog in Southern Chile

This is the flaghsip project of the Ocean, Atmospheric, Terrestrial Systems (OATS) working group. We are examining the links between mariculture development, microbial ecology, and nutrient processing and transport to forests in Southern Chile. To assess the effects of mariculture development and timber harvesting on coastal and terrestrial ecosystems at the landscape scale, we are conducting spatial analyses of changes in land use and ocean water quality and characterizating the microbial ecology of coastal surface waters at selected points. Studies of the nitrogen cycling in coastal old growth forests in Southern Chile have uncovered exchange of nutrients from the coastal waters to the terrestrial system via fog. These forests play a crucial role in regulating hydrologic regimes, biodiversity conservation, and other ecosystem services in the region. The initiative adds to existing programs in microbial ecology at Columbia (LINK) and will play a critical role in evaluating the sustainability of aquaculture development in Chile.

Project Participants

OATS working group

Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Chile (IEB; Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity)