University authorities led the planting activities of three species of Nothofagus endangered and endemic to Chile. This milestone inaugurates the ex situ conservation line of the Campus Naturaleza project and future botanical garden of the University of Concepción.

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The ruil (Nothofagus alessandrii), hualo (N. glauca) and Santiago oak (N. macrocarpa), Nothofagus tree species that are endangered and endemic to Chile, were the protagonists of the planting days, which begin the first ex-situ collection for the future UdeC botanical garden. The activities were headed by the Rector of the University of Concepción, Dr. Carlos Saavedra Rubilar, the Vice-Rector Dr. Paulina Rincón González, the Vice-Rector for Economic and Administrative Affairs, Dr. Miguel Quiroga Suazo, the Vice-Rector for Institutional Relations and Outreach, Dr. Ximena Gauché Marchetti and the Director of the UdeC Campus Naturaleza project, Dr. Cristian Echeverría Leal.

Ex-situ conservation (conserving species outside their natural range of distribution) is one of the lines of action of the Campus Naturaleza UdeC project, whose objective is to contribute to the persistence of these three species, which are key to the ecology of forests in the southern hemisphere. Currently, they show a worrying tendency towards disappearance in their natural habitats as a result of overexploitation, change in land use, fires and climate change, among other factors.

The Rector, Dr. Carlos Saavedra Rubilar, said that “this is a very symbolic act for the University, for the city and the country, in the sense of this effort that is being made to develop a bio-socio-cultural legacy. First of all, biodiversity in Chile will be protected, in this case of three species of Nothofagus that are threatened in the center of the country. With this possibility, we will allow their permanence over time; there will be 3,000 plants this year, 3,000 next year, which will cover at least 6 hectares and will give people the possibility to learn about these species in the coming years, to learn, but at the same time immersed in a space for research and training processes, where our students accompany the development and naturally the link in teaching.”

“Every time we approach these projects, we know the importance of this being more than conservation, but also a search for the functionality of the forest and how biodiversity is then enriched by this plantation. We are very pleased as a University, very pleased and also grateful for the international collaboration that is present in this project, seeking to protect national biodiversity,” adds the Rector.

In a similar vein, the Vice-Rector for Economic and Administrative Affairs, Dr. Miguel Quiroga Suazo, institutional sponsor of the project, states that “Campus Naturaleza has enormous value, not only for the University, but also as a legacy to future generations. It will allow us to show that it is possible to develop and enhance our missionary work, generating knowledge and training, while preserving and conserving unique spaces that still remain from the ancient deciduous forest of Concepción and its biodiversity, which will also be available for the community to enjoy.”

“In this context, ex situ conservation plays a crucial role in the Campus Naturaleza project as a response from the university to climate challenges. This type of conservation involves protecting and maintaining species outside their natural habitat, which is vital when these habitats and species are threatened by climate change, urbanisation, agriculture or deforestation. In addition, it allows the genetic diversity of threatened species to be maintained, making them more resilient to changes in the environment, providing a biological reserve that can be key to their survival. Campus Naturaleza thus becomes a space for scientific research regarding the adaptation of these species to new habitats and climatic conditions,” he concludes.

Likewise, Pedro Ramírez Glade, Director of the Corporación Universidad de Concepción, emphasized that “this activity is of tremendous importance, because a botanical garden is being started here, with the first species of Nothofagus. I believe that the Universidad de Concepción will stand out worldwide in this regard, even more so with species that are only found in Chile and that are threatened. I congratulate those who have conceived, promoted and also made the beginning of this initiative a reality,” he emphasized.

The University of Concepción has allocated 6 hectares for the implementation of the future botanical garden. This territory was previously covered by a forest plantation of exotic eucalyptus trees, for which 3 hectares of the total were harvested between April and July of this year.

Ex situ conservation

The Nothofagus genus includes 37 species distributed across 7 countries in the southern hemisphere. In Chile, the species ruil (Nothofagus alessandrii), hualo (N. glauca), and Santiago oak (N. macrocarpa) grow between the Metropolitan and Biobío regions, where they are showing a worrying tendency toward extinction, according to Dr. Cristian Echeverría Leal, Director of the UdeC Campus Naturaleza project. “There is growing concern about the loss of biodiversity and the effects of climate change on our planet’s ecosystems. The Chilean context presents a critical scenario for the conservation of biodiversity. Urban pressure, deforestation, and climate change have seriously affected our ecosystems, especially the deciduous forests of south-central Chile. For this reason, there are mechanisms for the conservation of endangered species, with ex situ conservation being a fundamental modality, which arises from a deep vocation for the conservation of biodiversity and the commitment to sustainable development.”

“The first ex situ collection represents a significant step towards the implementation of the future UdeC botanical garden; with it, the University takes a step forward in the protection of these emblematic species,” says the academic, adding that the genus, also known as “roble,” grows only in southern Chile and Argentina. “Of the 10 species of Nothofagus that exist in South America, three species are threatened and are only found in Chile.”

The experience of planting a tree

Tatiana Bustamante Betancourt, who works at the Faculty of Engineering, says that “the experience of planting a tree is something I have wanted to do for a long time. In fact, it was something curious, because at lunch with my colleagues I told them that I wanted to plant a tree and the next day the invitation email arrived. For this reason, I consider it a gift from the University, which allows me to be here for this activity. I am very happy about it. In addition, the idea of ​​following up not only on the little tree we planted, but on the entire project in general, seems to me to be a wonderful initiative to contribute, not only to society, but to the planet.”

Meanwhile, Vanessa Rojas Flores is sure that the botanical garden initiative also involves planting a culture. The Translation and Interpretation student from the Faculty of Humanities and Arts at UdeC says that it is “quite gratifying and a novelty for me, since my career is quite far from the subject of ecosystems and the environment. So it was quite pleasant to participate and know that in a few years this will be a beautiful garden, where people will be able to learn about, admire and also enjoy nature for a while, which is quite important. I even knew that this environment was populated by forests, but I had never had access here,” she confesses.

The Campus Naturaleza project of Universidad de Concepción is an unprecedented initiative in our country. Based on science and community involvement, the Casa de Estudios Penquista proposes a new interaction between humans and nature, comprehensively addressing in situ and ex situ conservation, ecological restoration, biocultural education and comprehensive human health.

An elusive species of fungus, recorded only in the south of the country, was discovered in the native forest of the Campus Naturaleza project a few weeks ago, in the surroundings of the Patrimonial Campus of the University of Concepción. The research of Professor Götz Palfner, professor of the Faculty of Natural and Oceanographic Sciences of the University, together with two students, becomes the northernmost discovery of the species Psathyrella chiloensis Singer.

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“There is no previous drawing or photo of the species, only the textual description, published in 1969.” Professor Götz Palfner, a German biologist who has been in Chile for many years as a research professor in the Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Oceanography of the University of Concepción, refers to the unprecedented discovery he made a few weeks ago, of which there is not even a previous graphic record.

While researching in the native forest remnant, which today forms part of the Universidad de Concepción Campus Naturaleza project, she recorded, together with students Scarleth Jerez and Carolina Sobarzo, three native species of fungi that had not previously been seen in the area.

“We went to the native forest of Campus Naturaleza and we were checking the soil, wood, decomposition where Carolina had discovered a fallen trunk of a native tree with different species of fungi, there were more mushrooms in the same spot, there on stumps of native trees.”

“To our surprise, we found three native species of fungi that had not been previously recorded in the native forest. One of them, the most important, is called Psathyrella chiloensis and was originally discovered in Chiloé in 1967 by Rolf Singer, a prominent mycologist of the time. Apart from this type material, there is only one other previous record from the Valdivia area, published in 1998 by Eduardo Valenzuela and collaborators. With this record in Campus Naturaleza, the known distribution of the species increases considerably, because it is the most northern record known.”

The native forest located just a few minutes from the University is often visited by researchers and academics from different faculties and corresponds to a relict ecosystem of deciduous forest in Concepción. It is home to unique and varied tree species, which mark the transition between the native forests of the central and southern areas of the country, making it a prime conservation space as part of the Campus Naturaleza Universidad de Concepción project.

Kingdom fungi

Regarding the importance of fungi as a relevant actor in native ecosystems, Professor Palfner, who is an associate academic of the Campus Naturaleza project, highlights that they interact with other components of the forest, but “they play their greatest ecological role with plants, in all types of vegetation. Fungi form their own kingdom, the fungi kingdom. This is distinguished from animals, from plants, they are a separate group of organisms, but, nevertheless, they form multiple associations with plants. Wherever we find vegetation, we always find fungi, which play different roles, as decomposers of plant remains, but also as symbionts, mutualistic symbionts, and also symbionts that parasitize plants.”

He argues that native forests, by having more plant diversity, also host more fungal diversity. “In monoculture plantations there is much less fungal diversity. Native forests in Chile and native forests everywhere in the world have millions of years of evolutionary history and species diversification. So they are much richer in fungal species due to their evolutionary history than an exotic pine or eucalyptus plantation, which consists of trees that were only introduced here perhaps 50 or at most 100 years ago.”

“We found some fungi in pine plantations, in eucalyptus plantations, that are even specifically associated with these exotic trees, but they are not compatible with native trees. So first of all, in exotic plantations we have much less diversity of fungi and they are also alochthonous species, as we scientists call them, foreign species that come from other parts of the world and are not compatible with the native forest.”

Edible and poisonous species

The academic maintains that in the hills near the UdeC they have always found a great variety of species, “some edible ones too, such as the changles, for example, of the Ramaria genus. There is even loyo. These are the best edible species.”

He reveals that there is no law or general rule that allows one to safely separate an edible mushroom from a toxic or poisonous mushroom. “I always say that there are a couple of rules that people who like to collect wild mushrooms to eat should always respect. First, collect only the species that they really know and recognize, which they know are edible and which are not easy to confuse with unknown species or even with toxic species.”

“And the second rule is to learn the poisonous species, because there are few. In fact, in Chile we only have two or three species of toxic fungi that are dangerous, that can cause fatal poisoning. They only grow in pine plantations or under other exotic trees and not in the native forest. However, it is not a strict limit, because the problem is that pines also invade the native forest and invade it along with their associated fungi. So where there is pine next to native forest, it cannot be ruled out that a poisonous species of pine may suddenly appear in the native forest as well,” he says.

“There is also a species of Amanita that has a light yellow cap and the rest of the mushroom is white, which is called Amanita gemmata, the toxic variety, or Toxic Amanita, as a synonym. It was named this because it is suspected of having caused serious, even fatal, poisoning in south-central Chile. There is another that has a red cap, sometimes quite large and with white dots on top. That is the Amanita muscaria and it is indeed toxic too, but it has a less dangerous toxin than the deadly amanitas called ibotenic acid or another form of the same toxin called muscimol. They cause symptoms such as vomiting, nausea, vertigo, and also headaches, but they are not fatal.”

“He emphasizes that the most dangerous amanita is the Amanita phalloides, which is green and has toxins that destroy liver and kidney tissue. That is why it causes the death of the patient, of the person who ingests it. Specifically, the deadly species are those that produce this necrosis of the liver and kidneys.”

Regarding the different colours of mushrooms, his opinion is that all that remains is to marvel. “More than anything, enjoy the great variety of colours that mushrooms have, because colour says nothing about whether the mushroom is edible or poisonous. There are some beliefs, there are people who say, for example, that when you cut a mushroom and it turns blue it is poisonous, but that is not true. Colour has no direct relationship with the edibility or toxicity of the mushroom. I would say that it is almost a playground of nature, where it experiments with different and varied colours.”

Professor Palfner does emphasize the ecological importance of the native forest of Campus Naturaleza, “because it houses a high diversity of fungi, both decomposers and fungi that form mycorrhizae, as well as parasites, which are endemic, meaning that they only exist in the native forest of Chile, perhaps in part of Argentina as well, but nowhere else in the world.”

“For this reason, this is part of a unique biological heritage that we have here in the south of Chile and that we find here in the heart of the city of Concepción, in the remnants of native forest that have survived. We must care for and conserve both the forest and all the endemic fungi that are associated with it,” argues the specialist.

“I think that finding three little-known native species in an area of ​​approximately 20 square metres is a clear indicator that this relic is a refuge for many native species, and I think that increases its conservation value considerably. I have been visiting the forest for many years and we have often found species that we had not previously discovered or seen,” he says.

With the presentation “Balancing the dimensions of Strong Sustainability in the Biobío Region: Campus Naturaleza UdeC”, the project director, Dr. Cristian Echeverría Leal, participated in the panel forum “Sustainability Challenges”, organized by the Sustainability Committee of the Judiciary, with the support of the Penquista Court of Appeals.

The academic from the Faculty of Forest Sciences at UdeC explained the differences between sustainability approaches and their evolution from the triple helix to the so-called strong sustainability. He also presented the UdeC Campus Naturaleza project, detailing its genesis, lines of action and the activities carried out during the last year.

“Campus Naturaleza UdeC is a pioneering initiative of its kind, where our University reaffirms its commitment to the community where it was born, protecting this unique space for the conservation of biodiversity and human well-being. Presenting Campus Naturaleza at the “Sustainability Challenges” Forum was a very good experience, since we were able to get closer to a branch of the State that has a high interest in improving our relationship with nature and knowing how our institutional project is being executed,” said Echeverría.

Various actions marked the first year of a project based on science and the benefits that nature provides to humans. The unprecedented initiative by the University of Concepción aims to consolidate its governance model, community engagement, and biodiversity conservation, among other aspects.

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An exhibition and projection of images on the façade of the Faculty of Chemical Sciences commemorated the first year of the Campus Naturaleza Universidad de Concepción project. The photographs, depicting significant events since before the project's launch in May 2023, were combined with a selection titled "Threatened Ecosystems of Chile" by the experienced national photographer Guy Wenborne Huyghe to provide the thematic context for the activities.

The Campus Naturaleza project will conserve 25 hectares of native ecosystems on land adjacent to the UdeC Heritage Campus, made up of remnants of deciduous forests in Concepción and aquatic ecosystems. In addition, ecological restoration, human well-being, mental health and ex situ conservation (botanical garden) actions will be carried out, the first phase of which is already underway.

Regarding the activities, the Rector of the University of Concepción, Dr. Carlos Saavedra Rubilar, emphasizes that "this exhibition precisely engages with a change in the perception of nature and its objectives. It invites us to reflect on the importance of preserving Chile's native ecosystems and raising awareness about the threats they face, such as deforestation and climate change."

He adds, "The timing could not be more appropriate, not only because we are celebrating the institutional anniversary or because last weekend we celebrated Heritage Day, but above all because our country is in what we call ecological overshoot, making it the first Latin American country to reach this level of deficit, something we know is not good news. However, we will continue to contribute from our natural and intellectual spaces to be a country that vindicates the importance of nature, enhancing it and bringing it to its rightful place."

Similarly, the Vice-Rector for Economic and Administrative Affairs, Dr. Miguel Quiroga Suazo, institutional sponsor of the project, indicates that the initiative has a value "that goes beyond the direct impact it may have on conservation and biodiversity, and therefore on the objectives of sustainable development. That is the possibility of conserving and preserving these unique spaces for future generations. Its greatest value comes from the possibility of developing a project that can reconcile the development of academic activity and our mission with nature conservation, contribute to the well-being of communities and development, and become a meeting point and interaction between man and nature."

He also adds, "This initiative is closely linked to the mission, values, and objectives contained in our institutional strategic plan, and aspires to consolidate and become the university's fifth campus. From this perspective, it not only aspires to generate cutting-edge and impactful science but also to contribute to the training of new professionals and scientists, to continue connecting with our territory, and to help position us as one of the leading universities in this field worldwide."

Unique Project

Campus Naturaleza is a unique project at the national level, and regarding this, its director, Dr. Cristian Echeverría Leal, explains that, given this singularity, it was necessary to articulate a governance model to include all relevant actors. "There are advisory bodies such as the Technical Advisory Committee, which provides support from experts in various fields of university knowledge. There is also the Mixed Advisory Council, composed of 12 actors from different areas of local activities, which aims to integrate the community in a pioneering way. Similarly, and composed of members of the Board of Directors of the Corporation (UdeC) and the Academic Council, the Mixed Commission was established, which is responsible for making final decisions," he explains.

The academic emphasizes that, even before the launch at the end of May 2023, work began on different facets that are now fundamental pillars of the project. "The baseline survey and subsequent biodiversity monitoring allowed us to characterize the existing native species on the UdeC property, as well as their distribution, among other indicators. On the other hand, the outreach program has given us the opportunity to involve and engage the support of various local actors and to visualize collaboration opportunities within and outside the university, addressing different audiences, and informing about the project's characteristics long before the launch."

The native ecosystems, fragile and irreplaceable, contain unique tree species that serve as a transition between the forests of the central and southern zones of the country. For this reason, the community plays a central role in ensuring their long-term survival, as Dr. Echeverría comments. "The project relies on the collaboration of the community, which is why a guided tours program was established, which was very successful in 2023. This program allows people to visit the main remnant of coastal native forest just minutes from the city in an orderly manner and with project monitors. This way, we ensure that the community gets to know these spaces without altering the habitat of the different species that exist there."

The guided tours also contribute to the development of another line of action. "Different scientific studies conclude that constant contact with the natural environment brings benefits to people. The project also has a unit focused on integral health and biocultural environmental education, which also integrates children from nearby kindergartens. This is a pilot for nature education for early childhood, which addresses various objectives such as emotional bonds with nature, development of physical, intellectual, social, and emotional skills, among others," emphasizes the academic.

Assumes New Deputy Director

In early May of this year, Dr. Andrea Fernández Covarrubias, a faculty member of the Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism, and Geography at the University of Concepción, assumed the deputy directorship of the project, replacing Dr. Cristóbal Pizarro P., who coordinated the outreach area in the project's first phase, among other tasks. "I hope to contribute to the Master Plan process and to the challenge of making the interaction with the community visible, from an integrative perspective. Likewise, to continue the community engagement processes that the previous deputy director was developing. In this sense, I highlight the importance of involvement with the community, since this space is located in a very powerful and consolidated social environment."

In the perspective of the challenges, she indicates that "among the most relevant aspects is the understanding of urban-ecological interaction. How connections between nature and the built environment will be established facing the future, as the closeness and proximity of this natural space to the city have the potential to increase the relationship with its inhabitants and also highlight the basic interrelationships and environmental characteristics of our territory. This opportunity is undoubtedly one of the relevant purposes that this project will grant to the city, the region, and the country. Its scopes are in a currently unknown dimension because there is no space with these characteristics of naturalness and proximity to the city."

Meanwhile, Dr. Cristian Echeverría highlights one of the latest actions carried out in December 2023, which combined the components of outreach and biodiversity conservation: the first release of two monito del monte specimens(Dromiciops gliroides) affected by the fires of the summer of 2023, on the grounds of Campus Naturaleza, together with the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) and the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of UdeC. "Campus Naturaleza is being seen as a place that will ensure the continuity of certain species in the future, as a space that safeguards local biodiversity, where it is possible to receive wildlife damaged by human-related factors, such as fires or habitat destruction."

On the other hand, the preparations for the establishment of the first botanical garden of the University of Concepción are actions that will mark the project in this 2024, explains Dr. Echeverría. "The first phase of the eucalyptus plantation harvest, which is already underway, is necessary to have an area to implement the first ex situ collection of threatened Nothofagus species in Chile (botanical garden). Ex situ conservation refers to the conservation of threatened tree species outside their natural distribution and which may not survive due to the climate crisis and alterations produced by humans. For this reason, ex situ conservation is a synonym for a lifeline, which will allow us to conserve species native to the Metropolitan, O'Higgins, and Maule regions and bring them to Campus Naturaleza, in a task that is complex from a technical point of view but that awakens all hopes from a scientific and also human point of view, as it aligns with the university's objectives of leaving a biocultural legacy for future generations," concludes the academic.