The Rewilding Chile Foundation, a legacy of Tompkins Conservation, works to combat the climate and extinction crises by creating national parks and restoring ecosystems, together with national and international specialists, is carrying out scientific expeditions in the underwater forests of Chilean Patagonia to study these ecosystems, considered key to marine biodiversity and climate change mitigation.
Underwater forests in Chilean Patagonia, primarily composed of Macrocystis pyrifera (giant kelp) and “Huiros,” (giant macroalgae) , can reach up to 80 metres in height and store up to 20 times more carbon than terrestrial forests and they constitute the world’s largest continuous ecosystem.
Spanning from the Gulf of Corcovado to Cape Horn, these ecosystems act as vital “lungs of the ocean”, serving as major blue carbon sinks, biodiversity hotspots, and natural coastline barriers. However, despite their environmental importance, less than 1% of these ecosystems are currently protected.
Through various projects and initiatives by organizations like Rewilding Chile, scientists are researching and mapping these ecosystems to protect them from threats like invasive species and industrial activities.
The current project called “Megatransect Patagonia” seeks to characterize the biodiversity of an area of 1.200 kilometres that extends from the Gulf of Corcovado, a large body of water separating the Chiloé island from the mainland of Chile to Cape Horn, a rocky headland on Hornos Island, in southern Chile’s Tierra del Fuego archipelago.
Researchers are conducting over 180 scientific diving transects, utilizing 7.200 underwater photo quadrants, environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling and 90+ sampling sites to created a detailed map of biodiversity.
The data collected aims to define the role of the Patagonian sea in climate change miutigation and provide scientific evidence for the creation of new protected area in southern Chile.
Led by Rewilding Chile’s marine programme director Mathias Hüne, the project involves national and international experts from renowned institutions such as Austral University, the Southern Scientific Research Center in Argentina, and the University of Victoria.
In addition the project aims to quantify the storage capacity of carbon dioxide in Chilean Patagonia, known as blue carbon.
In the three expeditions carried out so far, the researchers detected threats such as the presence of the invasive anemone Metridium senile (Plumose Anemone), a highly variable, commonly found temperate sea anemone characterized by a smooth, slimy column and a “fluffy” or “trilled” appearance, which expands rapidly and reduces the habitat of macroalgae.
Experts recalled that Charles Darwin, iconic British naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contribution to evolutionary biology, was one of the first scientists to escribe the ecological role of these ecosystems almost 200 years ago.
During a press conference convened by Imagen de Chile, the Director of the Marine Program of Rrwilding Chile, Mathias Hüne, explained that the labyrinth of fjords, channels, bays and islands of Patagonia constitutes a unique marine territory, but still little explored by science.
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