Scientific investigation

Chile is a country of contrasts, with a mountain range that runs from 7,000 meters of altitude, down to submarine trenches in its coast that reach 8,000 meters in depth. Flanked by desert, mountains and sea, we are an island in the continent. Our coasts, forests, deserts, rivers and mountains are home to countless species with tremendous biogeographic and conservation value. However, there are still important gaps in knowledge about its systematic, distribution, ecology and above all about the impacts of human activities on them, which means a setback when it comes to achieving effective conservation.

Each species and ecosystem has different degrees of tolerance to environmental changes and, therefore, it is necessary to understand and try to predict the possible consequences of these changes in time, through the generation of scientific knowledge. Since 2012, Fundación MERI has carried out research projects in collaboration with Chilean and international institutions seeking to bring knowledge about the conservation of Patagonia to this area. It is thus, that Fundación MERI conducts internal and collaborative projects with other research institutions, especially by promoting the use of the Melimoyu Nature Reserve, the Melimoyu Bay and Patagonia, as a natural laboratory.

Projects led by Fundación MERI

• Acoustic Monitoring of blue whales in the Gulf of Corcovado (from 2012-to date)
• Biomagnification and potential effects of persistent organic pollutants in food webs of the Antarctic Peninsula and Patagonia. (2013- 2015 by Dr. Gustavo Chiang of Fundación MERI, Universidad de Concepción, Universidad de Mar del Plata, University of New Brunswick, Acadia University)
• Trophic ecology and behavior of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) and other cetaceans in the Gulf of Corcovado, Chile (2014- to date. MERI, WHOI, plus researchers from the University of Saint Andrews, NOAA, Stonybrook University, Stanford University).
• The war of a hundred years: Assessing the effects of introduced salmonids on native fishes in small streams in Patagonian freshwater systems (2016-to date. Dr. Paulina Bahamonde. MERI, The Rufford Small Grant Foundation).
• Influence of landscape and physical-chemical features of Patagonian watersheds on freshwater and coastal mercury bioavailability and biomagnification through aquatic food webs. (2016-2019. Dr. Gustavo Chiang. MERI, regular Fondecyt 2016).

Collaborative Projects:

• Oceanographic baseline and sampling of krill (2012, Susannah Buchan (Universidad de Concepción- Universidad Austral.)
• Study and identification of mushrooms in Melimoyu (2012, Dr. Donald Pfister of Harvard University and Dr. Matthew E. Smith of the University of Florida.)
• Darwin’s frog Monitoring (Dr. Claudio Soto, 2013-2016, UNAB, Universidad de Chile.)
• Evaluation of the state of artisanal fishing in Melimoyu. (2013, Rodrigo Oyanedel, Marine Biology student at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile).
• Monitoring of the Melimoyu Volcano (2014- to date. SERNAGEOMIN).
• Small Cetaceans of Chiloé and its surroundings (2015- to date. Yaqu Pacha, UNAB, University of Saint Andrews)
• Research on marine species with therapeutic potential (2015. Fundación Costa Humboldt and Sirenas Marine Discovery)
• Research on sei whales population in Gulf of Penas and Laguna San Rafael National Park (2016 -to date. Patagonia Projects; Blue Marine Foundation; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso; GeoBio-Center; Huinay Scientific Field Station; Deep Trekker, Iridium, Global Marine NETWORKS, Praxes)