Assessments of climate sensitivity to projected greenhouse gas concentrations underpin environmental policy decisions, with such assessments primarily based on model simulations of climate during recent centuries and millennia.
My talk will refer to the value of Fitzroya forests from a scientific point of view (climate and fire records, productivity), the ecosystem services they deliver to society and their historic and cultural relevance. This as a basis to design and promote their conservation and restoration.
In arid and semi-arid regions a progressive decline of water resources will impact all socio-ecological and economic dynamics. The semi-arid region of north-central Chile has not been exempt from these climatic scenarios. The Choapa River flow records show an increase in the variability of the flow rates from 1985 and a constant decline in total discharge from 2002 to date. So the aim of this talk will be to present a 168 year hydro-climatic reconstruction of the Choapa River using Kagenekia angustifolia trees.
