MUSELS Annual Report 2014 - EULA · mitilicultura, y aportar con capital humano calificado que se...

MUSELS Annual Report – 2014


1. ANNUAL REPORT MUSELS-2014

1.1 Executive Summary

The Center for the study of multiple forcings in Socio-Ecological Marine Systems (spanish acronym

MUSELS - “Centro para el Estudio de Forzantes Múltiples en Sistemas Socio-Ecológicos

Marinos”) corresponds to a nucleus of interdisciplinary research dedicated to understand the

impacts that multiple environmental, ecological, economical and social stressors have over the

aquaculture of bivalve species in Chile. The integration of diverse disciplines, ranging from the

natural to the social sciences, allows us to analyze aquaculture in Chile as a complex social-

ecological system subject that is influenced by the environmental changes that characterize the

anthropocene and different socio-economic contingencies acting at global, regional and local scales.

MUSELS involves the active interaction of a multidisciplinary group of Chilean and International

researchers with ample experience in Oceanography, Biogeochemistry, Ecology, Experimental

Biology, Genomics, Socio-Ecology, Environmental Economy, and who are well acquainted in the

support of decision-making processes. Under this scenario MUSELS will aim: (i) to evaluate the

interaction between the main environmental processes that affect marine systems worldwide today

and the economic agents that influence bivalve aquaculture production dynamics in Chile, (ii) to

understand how those stressors/drivers affect the production, commercialization, and consumption

of aquaculture resources, and (iii) to develop strategies that establish adaptive capacities in the

productive processes and help the industry to navigate the sustainability crisis that is facing.

During the first year of MUSELS we have signed collaboration agreements of mutual benefit with

two institutions representative of the private sector, the Instituto Tecnológico para la Mitilicultura

(INTEMIT) and Fundación Chinquihue, both non-profits dedicated to support R&D processes in the

mussel aquaculture industry. These agreements specify the commitment from MUSELS to provide

scientific knowledge related to the impacts of environmental and socio-economical drivers, and to

provide human resources that will work directly with industry partners by providing cutting-edge

research skills, as well as generating instances for the exchange of information and outreach - such

as participatory education activities. Accordingly, MUSELS appointed a postdoctoral researcher that

is actively engaged in the analysis of historical time series, the deployment of state-of-the-art

oceanographic equipment within the areas of production and the identification of sampling sites

around the main areas of mussel aquaculture in southern Chile. Laboratory and technical staff from

MUSELS, students and personnel from the industry have also provided support in these field

campaigns.

We have carried out several field campaigns in the two geographical areas where the Chilean

bivalve aquiculture concentrates: the island of Chiloe (mussel aquaculture) and Tongoy Bay (scallop

aquaculture). Each of these campaigns has focused on characterizing the spatial variability of

different parameters and environmental variables relevant to the biology of these two species,

namely temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, nutrients, pH, dissolved inorganic

carbon (DIC), dissolved metals, pyrethroid pesticides and information of the state of CaCO3 () saturation. MUSELS has acquired a complete and advanced oceanographic system to be deployed in

two of the mussel aquaculture areas around Chiloe Island, which will also be used to supplement an

oceanographic buoy moored in Tongoy Bay. These measurements will allow us to determine

biological responses to the short-term environmental variability that the two species of bivalves are

exposed during farming conditions.

The MUSELS team, including associate and assistant researchers, research assistants and students,

participated in a field campaign that took place in Estación Costera de Calfuco, Valdivia, where


experiments of multiple stressors (temperature and acidification; pH/pCO2) using early juvenile

stages of the northern scallop, Argopecten purpuratus. The individuals used in these experiments

were provided by INVERTEC S.A., who also granted access to environmental time series that will

be analyzed by a PhD student. These experiments have shown results of great relevance for the

scallop aquaculture industry and the international research community and will be available as a

manuscript to be submitted to an ISI journal. Additionally, the socio-ecological group has developed

a series of surveys in the mussel aquaculture sector that was designed to identify the behavior of

farmers when faced with different environmental and socio-economical forcing factors affecting the

industry. This survey has allowed us to characterize the sector and begin an evaluation of its

adaptive capacity. The socio-ecological group is also working in evaluating social perceptions of

anthropogenic forcing in collaboration with European researchers, which has already resulted in a

high impact scientific publication (PNAS).

One of the major scientific achievements, one that will have great impact during the next years, is

the rigorous implementation of an interdisciplinary ethic among investigators, postdocs, technicians

and students. This includes the straightforward communication of scientific results among members

of the MUSELS team, which allows us to constantly feed each other with information relevant to

accomplish the scientific goals proposed in the different research lines participating in the project. In

this way, for instance, we have learned how to differentiate the biological response (RL2) to

multiple environmental stressors (RL1) that are relevant for the commercialization and resource

consumption (RL3). With this interdisciplinary approach on the forefront, the results of MUSELS

will have a higher impact on adaptive capacity, helping us to demonstrate the need to install solid

R&D capabilities within the industry.

During 2014, the first year of MUSELS, its researchers generated a total of nine scientific

manuscripts in reputed ISI journals, from which four have two or more co-authors from this

Millennium Nucleus, including students and postdocs. Other manuscripts are being submitted during

March/April 2015. The collaborative aspect among researchers is an important element to take in

consideration when selecting undergraduate and postgraduate students that will later develop their

thesis in topics related to the center. During 2014, MUSELS incorporated ten students, four

undergrads, two MSc's and four PhD's, who have followed a research path and joined study

programs at the Universities related to MUSELS researchers. Additionally, three postdocs have

joined the MUSELS team, one working directly with the relationship between MUSELS and the

industry research body (INTEMIT) and the other two postdocs are being co-funded through national

fellowships (e.g. FONDECYT- CONICYT).

The researchers, students and technical staff have worked a great deal on the scientific activities and

dissemination of knowledge by participating in conferences, symposiums, talks, and workshops

many of them, streamed online to other countries in Latin America and Europe, allowing MUSELS

national and international exposure. From this effort we can mention the participation in more than

12 national and international events with participation of media broadcasts to the public and

involvement from the industry, scientific community, teachers and general public. Moreover,

MUSELS and its research team have appeared in more than 34 news articles, including printed press

and interviews, websites related to science, aquaculture industry and general news. Therefore,

MUSELS is being recognized as one of the nation’s scientific leaders in the research of aquaculture

of bivalve species, gaining recognition within the international community.


1.2 Resumen Ejecutivo

El Centro para el Estudio de Forzantes Múltiples en Sistemas Socio-Ecológicos Marinos (MUSELS)

corresponde a un núcleo de investigación interdisciplinario dedicado a entender el impacto que

diversos agentes de estrés ambiental, ecológico, económico y social tienen sobre la acuicultura de

bivalvos en Chile. La integración de diversas disciplinas, las cuales derivan tanto de las ciencias

naturales como de las ciencias sociales, permite que la acuicultura de bivalvos en Chile sea

analizada como un sistema socio-ecológico complejo y sujeto a la influencia de los agentes de

cambio ambiental que caracterizan al Antropoceno y las diferentes contingencias socio-económicas

que actúan a escala global, regional y local. MUSELS involucra la activa interacción de un equipo

multidisciplinario de investigadores chilenos y extranjeros con amplia experiencia en Oceanografía,

Biogeoquímica, Ecología, Biología Experimental, Genómica, Socio-ecología, Economía Ambiental

y en el apoyo en la toma de decisiones. Bajo este escenario, MUSELS propone: (i) evaluar la

interacción entre los principales forzantes ambientales que afectan actualmente los sistemas marinos

del mundo, así como los agentes económicos que influyen sobre la dinámica de producción acuícola

de bivalvos de Chile, (ii) entender como tales agentes estresores afectan la producción,

comercialización y consumo de estos recursos acuícolas, (iii) desarrollar estrategias que mejoren la

capacidad de adaptación de los procesos productivos frente a la crisis de sustentabilidad que

enfrenta la industria.

Durante este primer año de ejecución, MUSELS firmó convenios de cooperación mutua con dos

instituciones representantes del sector productivo privado, el Instituto Tecnológico para la

Mitilicultura (INTEMIT) y la Fundación Chinquihue, ambas organizaciones sin fines de lucro

dedicadas al proceso de I+D en la industria de acuicultura de mitílidos. En estos convenios se

especifican los compromisos por parte de MUSELS de aportar en la generación de conocimiento

científico relacionado con el impacto de forzantes ambientales y socio-económicas sobre la

mitilicultura, y aportar con capital humano calificado que se inserte directamente en la industria,

proveyendo de investigación de excelencia in situ, así como generar instancias de intercambio de

información, y actividades de extensión y educación en las cuales estas instituciones puedan

participar activamente. De esta forma, MUSELS dispuso la participación de un investigador post-

doctoral, quien ha comenzado a trabajar activamente en el análisis de series de tiempo de datos

históricos de la industria, instalación de equipos oceanográficos en áreas productivas y

reconocimiento de sitios de muestreo en una de las principales áreas de mitilicultura en la Isla

Grande de Chiloé. Estas tareas fueron también apoyadas por personal técnico de MUSELS,

estudiantes en formación, y la activa participación de equipos de la propia industria.

Este año MUSELS ha desarrollado diferentes campañas de terreno en las dos áreas geográficas

donde se concentran los clusters de la acuicultura de bivalvos en Chile, la Isla Grande de Chiloé

(mitilicultura), y la Bahía de Tongoy (cultivo de ostiones). En cada una de estas campañas se ha

caracterizado la variabilidad espacial de diferentes parámetros y variables ambientales de relevancia

en la biología de las especies en cultivo, incluyendo, temperatura, salinidad, oxígeno disuelto,

clorofila, nutrientes, pH, carbono inorgánico disuelto (DIC), metales disueltos, piretroides, así como

estimaciones a partir de esta información del estado de saturación de CaCO3 (). MUSELS también

ha logrado adquirir un sistema completo y avanzado de monitoreo oceanográfico, el cual será

instalado en dos sitios donde se desarrollan cultivos de mitílidos en la Isla de Chiloé, y

complementar una boya oceanográfica que se mantiene en la Bahía de Tongoy, lo cual nos permitirá

conocer la variabilidad ambiental de corto plazo a la cual se ven expuestas estas especies de

bivalvos en condiciones de cultivo.


Junto con lo anterior, el equipo de MUSELS, incluyendo investigadores asociados, adjuntos,

asistentes y estudiantes, participaron de una campaña experimental llevada a cabo en la Estación

Costera de Calfuco, en la cual se ha llevado a cabo experimentos de estresores múltiples

(temperatura y acidificación; pH/pCO2), en estadíos juveniles del ostión del norte, Argopecten

purpuratus, que han sido obtenidos con la colaboración de la empresa INVERTEC S.A., la que

además ha facilitado sus series de tiempo ambientales para el análisis por una estudiante doctoral

Estos experimentos han arrojado resultados de gran relevancia para la industria del cultivo de

ostiones y la comunidad científica internacional, resultados que ya se encuentran en la forma de un

manuscrito a enviar durante este mes a una revista ISI. En forma paralela, el grupo de trabajo socio-

ecológico, ha desarrollado una serie de encuestas en el sector mitilicultor, tendiente a conocer las

actitudes de los cultivadores frente a los diferentes forzantes ambientales y socio-económicas que

afectan a este sector. Las encuestas han permitido caracterizar el sector y comenzar a evaluar su

capacidad adaptativa. Adicionalmente el grupo de trabajo socio-ecológico ha trabajado en evaluar la

percepción de la sociedad civil frente a forzantes antropogénicos lo que resulto en una cooperación

con investigadores europeos y una publicación de alto impacto (PNAS).

Uno de los logros científicos más importantes, y que va a tener un impacto importante durante los

próximos años, ha sido la rigurosa implementación de una ética interdisciplinaria en el equipo de

investigadores, postdocs, técnicos y estudiantes, donde mediante la difusión interna de los resultados

de investigación, hemos podido retroalimentar constantemente la labor de cada línea de

investigación con los resultados las otras líneas y, por ejemplo, discernir cuales respuestas biológicas

(RL2) a estresores múltiples del ambiente (RL1) son relevantes para la comercialización y consumo

de los productos (RL3). De este modo, el aspecto interdisciplinario está firmemente instalado en

MUSELS, sus resultados son de mayor impacto para la capacidad adaptativa de la industria y la

necesidad de instalar capacidades I+D al interior de esta son más transparentes.

Durante este año 2014, los investigadores vinculados a MUSELS generaron un total de ueve

artículos científicos en revistas ISI, de las cuales 4 tienen como co-autores a 2 o más investigadores

de este núcleo milenio, incluyendo a estudiantes de postgrado. La colaboración entre los

investigadores del núcleo es un importante elemento a considerar a la hora de seleccionar a los

estudiantes de pre y post grado que realizarán su trabajo de tesis en las temáticas del centro. De esta

forma, durante este primer año 2014, MUSELS acogió a 10 estudiantes, 4 de pregrado, 2 de

magíster y 4 de doctorado, quienes han seguido carreras y programas en universidades vinculadas a

los investigadores de MUSELS. De una misma forma, se ha incorporado a nuestro equipo humano,

a 3 post-doctorantes, 1 de los cuales se encuentra trabajando en directa relación con la industria

(INTEMIT), y otros dos postdoctorantes que son co-financiados mediante concursos nacionales

competitivos (e.g. FONDECYT- CONICYT).

Los investigadores, estudiantes y personal técnico han realizado una gran cantidad de actividades

científicas de difusión y externalización de los conocimientos, participando en conferencia,

simposios, charlas y talleres, varias de ellas transmitidas vía streaming, incrementando nuestra

cobertura a varios países de Latinoamérica y Europa, con el fin de posicionar a MUSELS en la

contingencia científica nacional e internacional. De este esfuerzo podemos mencionar más de 12

participaciones en eventos nacionales e internacionales de gran difusión mediática y participación de

público ligado a la industria, ciencia, docencia y público en general. Además, MUSELS y sus

investigadores han sido mencionados en a lo menos 34 artículos de prensa oral, escrita y sitios web,

en medios relacionados con ciencia, la industria acuícola, y noticias en general, posicionando a

nuestro Núcleo Milenio como uno de los grupos científicos líderes en nuestro país en estas temáticas

científicas, y logrando ya a la fecha un reconocimiento dentro de la comunidad científica

internacional.


2. Introduction

a) Description of the Nucleus:

There is growing global concern regarding the effects and possible interactions, both synergistic and

antagonistic, of the multiple and new factors of environmental stress (e.g. ocean acidification, global

warming, deoxygenation or pollution) that marine biota faces today. In this context, there is no point

in understanding how the environment affects marine species without considering the interactions

with social and economic agents; there is a need to incorporate environmental forcing with the

socio-economic forcing when managing marine resources. MUSELS aims to generate pioneer

scientific information of the environmental and ecosystem services from which the industry depends

and also to employ interdisciplinary research approaches to test hypotheses associated to how

multiple stressors could alter coastal resources, society and farmed species. MUSELS main

challenge is to develop a frontier scientific process in close proximity with the industry,

transmitting, and installing scientific capabilities through the establishment of scientists and R&D

networks within. The scientific and management achievements of the first year provide a basis to

map out the impact of MUSELS in the aquaculture industry. We have generated pioneer information

regarding regimes of environmental variability in areas where the Chilean industry develops,

implementing experimental methodologies to test the biological response of the farmed species and

we have been working to identify the main agents of the socio-economic system including their

capabilities and preferences. This last activity is key because our scientific approach is shaped and

oriented to implement an interdisciplinary approach as the key for adaptation. In this way, we are

aiming to increase the expected impact of results by keeping in mind that one of the overall

objectives is the installment of R&D capability within the industry.

b) Research Lines: MUSELS has three scientific lines dedicated to characterize the environmental

variability around the bivalve’s farmed areas (RL1), to perform experiments that allows us to

understand biological responses to multiple environmental forcing’s (RL2) and to study the human

dimension and the socio-ecological system that gives existence to the aquaculture industry (RL3).

RL1-Environmental variability, which includes physical, biological and chemical oceanography,

toxicology and biogeochemistry, has the main goal of characterizing the spatial and temporal

heterogeneity of environmental conditions (such as temperature, pH, pCO2 or salinity) that

aquaculture farms are exposed to. This research line is in full development and includes the

collection of observations through specific field campaigns, installing sensors and compiling and

validating the environmental information generated by the industry. The field campaigns happen in

collaboration with farmers and/or companies allowing us to evaluate their capabilities and the

quality of the available information. For the first time, we have been able to establish a baseline of

the environmental conditions where the bivalve farming in Chile takes place and estimate realistic

ranges of environmental variability (or different scenarios). These results will clarify and define

what will be the main forcing’s or environmental stressors that will be used to carry out experiments

during year 2 of MUSELS, to establish biological responses of these species (RL2) and examine the

adaptive measures of the socio-economic system such scenarios (RL3).

RL2 - Experiments and biological response, which involves ecophysiology, molecular genetics and

experimental biology; will have its greater development take place during years 2 and 3 using the

information being collected by RL1. The activities during the first year included the development of

protocols in intense factorial experiments, where a large number of researchers and students, using


identified stressors (i.e. temperature and pH/pCO2) in the juvenile and adult life stages of the farmed

species. The individuals used in the experiments were obtained directly from our partners in the

industry, allowing us to work with the natural biological stock. During the second year these

experiments will incorporate younger life stages (i.e. larval and juveniles) and we will use ranges

and scenarios observed in the environment. These experimental and observational results will focus

in detecting relevant effects for the adaptability of the aquaculture industry by the estimation of

parameters that RL3 has established like primary for the socio-ecological system and were not

evident to quantify from a traditional experimental approach.

RL3-Human dimension and social-ecological systems, which integrates ecology, sociology,

psychology, and economy of natural resources, has the aim of understanding how decision-making

and the preferences of people participating of the aquaculture industry, provides opportunities and

barriers to generate adaptive capacity to face the multiple environmental (RL1), physiological

(RL2), economic and social stressors. The scientific activity of the first year consisted of studying

the perception of civil society of different anthropogenic impacts by surveying the key actors of the

industry and the diverse productive sectors united around it. We also started an analysis of

regulatory coherence regarding aquaculture in Chile. This information has been complemented with

secondary data from state institutions, associated civil entities and networking with other national

research institutions. Surveys results were promptly communicated to RL1 and RL2, and the

preliminary results determined a broadening of the range of parameters estimated for RL2 and have

provided local ecological insights to orient the field campaigns from RL1. Thus, the information

flow between research lines operationalized our interdisciplinary character and has caused a

significant impact on how the three research lines generate science.

c) Organization of researcher’s team:

During 2014, MUSELS was integrated by 5 associate researchers, 3 assistant researchers, 2

senior researchers, 1 young researcher, 3 post-doctorate fellows, 4 PhD students, 2 master

students, 4 undergraduate students, 4 research assistants and 1 administrative manager,

consolidating a team of 28 people. Different Associated Researchers organized different activities

for each research line, coordinating the manpower, number of people and funding allocated required

to accomplish each objective. To encourage the interaction, cooperation and transdiscipline, several

meetings involving total or partial participation of core members were organized. Visits and training

courses for students and technicians in different partner laboratories were also organized.

Additionally, each Associated Researcher has been responsible for reviewing and evaluating new

applications from students and postdocs, organizing fieldwork, analyzing databases and promoting

collaborative networks and scientific events together with the administration office. Interacting with

other ICM initiatives, the MUSELS’ Director is also part of IMO as an associate researcher. Other

associate researchers (S. Gelcich, B. Broitman) are also associated to the CMC initiative, which has

produced interesting synergies as joint workshops and use of equipment.


3. Scientific and technological research

a) Current status of research lines:

RL1. Environmental variability. Our results to date have reinforced our understanding and have

generated new information regarding the large spatial/temporal variability in the environment

around the study areas (Chiloé and Tongoy), where the Chilean mussel and scallop aquaculture

industry, respectively, are located. Our preliminary analysis suggests that one of the main

geographical areas of mussel farming, waters are occasionally CaCO3 undersaturated, apparently

associated to the effect of freshwater discharges. This condition was completely unknown to the

aquaculture sector in Chile, as well as the biological implications for the cultivated species. This

finding also means that organisms from these sites have a developmental history of low pH and

exposure levels, which could translate into different biological responses to future scenarios of

ocean acidification (OA). An important result recently published in the journal Estuaries & Coasts

allowed us to report that individuals collected from naturally corrosive environments (low pH) did

not present adverse effects from experimental scenarios of OA. To date, potentially relevant

environmental forcing processes for mussel farms are; salinity, pH/pCO2 (), metals, and food (chlorophyll-a). Through an agreement with INTEMIT, we accessed a database with time series of

environmental variables, which are required by the health authority, extending about 5-6 years. We

are already working on data quality and temporal gaps, but access to this database represents a

valuable starting point for the environmental characterization of the area of Chiloé. In the same way,

we have published several works that provide information regarding patterns of natural variability

for some key environmental variables in Chiloé area (Vargas et al. 2014a, Silva & Vargas 2014). We

conducted two successful hydrographic campaigns, but we have experienced a delay installing our

observational system (mooring) in southern Chile due to the long manufacturing time of the

equipments/sensors, but also because of the need to build a system to keep these equipments safely

in the study area. Currently, with the support of INTEMIT in Chiloé, and INVERTEC and CEAZA

in Tongoy, we are at the final phase for installing all sensors. Our postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Diego

Narvaez is already working with the existing databases of INTEMIT, carrying out specific fieldwork

and processing the information and datasets from existing moorings. One of the main objectives of

Dr. Narvaez is the implementation of an individual-based model (IBM) to study the mussels’

population dynamics. The model will use the new environmental information and will be

parameterized with biological responses to environmental stressors/forcing’s derived from

experiments (RL2) to produce scenarios of changes and impacts on population dynamics of natural

and cultivated mussels (RL3). This knowledge is highly relevant to the scientific community,

decision makers and the private sector. We are carrying out a similar approach in northern Chile, in

Tongoy Bay. We have already carried out fieldwork to characterize the study area using the same

environmental variables as in Chiloé (and adding some new ones). INVERTEC and CEAZA have a

similar dataset as INTEMIT, and a PhD student is already working on it (Avia González). Our

understanding of the spatial and temporal variability of the environmental conditions are also being

studied using satellite data analyzed by another PhD student (Ms. Carlos Lara), who has already

participated in a manuscript to be published on 2015 (Martinez et al. 2015). Under this line of work

we have managed to interact, share existing information, and run collaborative work with different

research groups, public and private institutes working on environmental/biogeochemical

characterization of the study area, such as: (i) Instituto de Fomento Pesquero (IFOP), (ii) Instituto

Tecnológico para la Miticultura (INTEMIT), (iii) Centro Multidisciplinario para la Investigación

Acuícola (INCAR), (iv) academic and research institutes at Universidad Austral de Chile, CEAZA,

etc. All these institutes/research groups have been invited to different instances of dissemination,


seminars, workshops, etc. Recently, Dr. Luis Saavedra has joined our research group, and through a

postdoctoral FONDECYT project we will incorporate an extra study area, the Arauco Gulf at the

VIII region. In this area an emerging mussel industry under the influence of multiple natural and

anthropogenic stressors develops. Thus, the results of the RL1 will allow us to identify the main

stressors and the ranges of the parameters need it to apply during the experimental phase (RL2), and

whether the biological responses are positive, negative and/or antagonistic or synergistic, and also

define realistic environmental scenarios to develop the adaptive capacity of the socio-economical

system (RL3).

RL2. Experiments and biological response. The first year focused on the development of

experimental protocols through the study of the interactions of the environmental effects on the

juvenile and adult stages of shellfish species. These experiments will run during the second year

using the most sensitive stages of the life cycle (larvae and early juveniles) following ranges of

environmental variability derived from observations (RL1) and adding some biological responses

that are key for the socio-ecological system (RL3). This approach requires a major effort on the

understanding of the natural variability (i.e. geographical) across the different cultivable and natural

populations of shellfish species of economic importance in the Chilean coast. One of the keys of

RL2 is the experimental analysis of the combined effects of environmental stressors to discard those

variables that are not relevant for aquaculture species, and to understand whether these stressors

might have interactions (e.g. pH and temperature). The results of our first experimental campaign

using juvenile scallops obtained from the industry (INVERTEC) showed that ocean acidification is

not relevant for calcification rate, growth and metabolism, but temperature caused significant effects

on all these rates and it might exhibit no interaction with the experimental pH levels we assessed.

These findings are supported by a previous experimental campaign, where researchers from

MUSELS and IMEDEA Center (Spain) showed that juvenile scallops exposed to two stressors

simultaneously (pH/pCO2 and food concentration), are only significantly affected by food

concentration, with significant effects on calcification, growth, metabolism and ingestion (Ramajo et

al. Submitted 2015). This is novel, since is possible that ocean acidification has not a relevant effect

on juvenile scallops for farmers and the interaction with the other factors, food and temperature is

zero. However, it is unknown if low pH/high pCO2 conditions might impact earlier life stages. Both

studies are being published and undoubtedly will have a high significance not only for the

aquaculture industry in our country but, also for the scallop industry worldwide. Our research on

bivalves is complemented by studies in different economically important populations off the Chilean

coast, which have shown their genetic diversity (Cea et al. 2014, Fuenzalida et al. 2014) and a large

variability in responses to environmental stressors such as OA. For example, a recent publication in

the Journal of Sea Research (Lardies et al. 2014) highlights that; juveniles of the commercial

gastropod Concholepas concholepas have different reactions in metabolic rates depending on their

origin and environmental history. Similarly, another publication in Estuaries & Coasts (Duarte et al.

2014) shows that mussels from two different farming areas with contrasting pH conditions (RL1),

differ in their experimental field responses to OA scenarios (RL2). To understand the morphological

and physiological responses to contrasting environments, we performed a reciprocal transplant

experiment of juveniles between two natural beds, thus it was possible to assess their responses on

the natural environment. The results of this experiment show that there are traits of individuals that

show phenotypic plasticity, and other features that do not, regardless the environment they are, and

that the magnitudes and directions of individual traits response to new environments vary

significantly between populations. Thus, is key for the industry to know the intraspecific variability

of the species under cultivation to understand adaptation to OA or other stressors that affect the

production areas (RL3). The results of the experimental campaigns already carried out and the


environmental characterization study sites (RL1) will guide us to manipulate the relevant

environmental stressors on the scales of the farmers and natural banks, and also to incorporate

measurements of phenotypic traits, which were not incorporated into the original protocols, but that

are key to the current patterns of production, marketing and consumption of seafood (RL3). This

work will include experimental work in dependencies of our industry partners (e.g. INVERTEC) and

the participation of PhD students, postdocs and at least 4 associate/adjunct or postdoc researchers

from MUSELS.

RL3. Human dimension and socio-economic system. This first year has been used to characterize

the mussel industry and assessing their adaptive capacity by carrying out specific sampling

campaigns, based on surveys in the main mussel farming areas in Chiloe Island and in the Reloncaví

fjord. The survey looked at various actors associated to different stages in the production chain (e.g.

seed collection, growth, harvest, etc) and placed a special emphasis on the producer’s behavior when

faced with different challenges and socio-ecologic stressors. 85 surveys were conducted with key

stakeholders to characterize the industry, its main challenges, and strategies for adaptation. Our

preliminary results show that the industry size is a significant factor to explain adaptation strategies.

The industry size also determines the willingness of producers to participate in different strategies to

mitigate effects of stressors, such as to keep a standardized supply of larvae adapted to different

environmental conditions (RL2). The results of the survey show the need for the industry to

establish standardized quality criteria as a platform for innovation by creating different market

strategies related to different target audiences. During the second year of MUSELS the results of the

survey will be summarized in the form of publications and presentations. In addition, a study on the

adaptive capacity of the scallop industry in the northern part of the country will take place. Along

with the evaluation of the adaptive capacity of the mussel industry, MUSELS assessed the

perception of the civil society from different anthropogenic impacts at the ocean (RL1). The results

of this evaluation show how civil society is able to prioritize and understand the synergies between

different impacts and the trust they have on different stakeholders to communicate information

about sustainability of the coastal ocean (Gelcich et al 2014, PNAS). During this first year, we also

analyzed the potential to find ways to manage the small-scale aquaculture in the hands of fishermen,

under the current law that that created management plans for them (Article 8 of Law No. 20,657;

Gelcich 2014, Aquatic Conservation). Results of this analysis evidence the opportunities and gaps to

resolve and generate comprehensive management plans for the Chilean coast. During the second

year, MUSELS project will continue working with the civil society, to understand what are the

attributes of the products that farmers value the most, and how they can be guaranteed. This

information will be used by RL2 to guide the search of response variables relevant to the industry

and to understand the effects of different stressors (RL1) on the market. During the first year,

MUSELS also seeked to influence public policy. Thus, the project began conducting a study of

policy coherence around the aquaculture activity in Chile, with special emphasis on the coherence

between international politics, speeches and policy responses. Furthermore, Dr. Rodrigo Estevez has

been incorporated to the MUSELS team through a FONDECYT postdoctoral project. His research

will use multi-criteria analysis tools to examine the process of decision-making in aquaculture.

b) Publications: During 2014, MUSELS has succeeded in publishing eight scientific manuscripts and we have

submitted three other manuscripts, making a total of eleven scientific papers produced during the

first year. Now we describe those scientific papers:


1. S. Gelcich et.al. 2014: This article shows the perception of civil society to multiple human

impacts on marine environments. The study of stressors on the ocean is usually based on expert

opinion, this is the first time that society perception is evaluated as a way to understand their

concerns, information sources and priorities to face the multiple anthropogenic impacts. The study

analyzed more than 11,000 surveys in Europe, using collaborative work between MUSELS and

European universities, understanding the priorities in one of the most important markets for Chilean

bivalves.

2. S. Gelcich. 2014: This article analyzes the Fisheries Law 20,657 article Nº 8 to propose

management measures that could facilitate a system of polycentric governance on the coast of Chile,

where small-scale aquaculture is included within artisanal fisheries.

3. C. Duarte et.al. 2014: Duarte et al. analyzes the geographic variability of Mytilus chilensis and

its different responses to ocean acidification. An experiment with individuals from two major areas

of mussel’s farming highlights that OA impacts more severely individuals from the site with more

marine (Reloncavi) influence as opposed to individuals from the low pH estuarine environment

(Yaldad), where no significant changes in their calcification and growth rates were detected.

4. M. Lardies et.al. 2014: This article shows how economical important shellfish species differ in

their response to ocean stressors. Conducting studies on populations of the gastropod Concholepas

concholepas from different localities, they show that ocean acidification might affect the

physiological traits of populations from northern Chile, being the southern Chile populations less

affected due to the presence of phenotypic plasticity in the studied physiological traits.

5. C. Vargas et.al. 2014: This article reports the first evidence regarding the phenotypic plasticity of

a species of mussel, Perumytilus purpuratus collected from different locations in Chile, which

provide different OA scenarios. This study demonstrated the importance of environmental history of

exposure to low pH and high pCO2 naturally observed in some geographical areas along the Chilean

coast, on the response of these individuals to OA.

6. N. Silva, C.A. Vargas. 2014: By analyzing a historical dataset of oxygen concentrations for the

entire Chilean Patagonia, the authors show that in Northern Patagonia and Interior Sea of Chiloé, it

suboxic or anoxic levels are not observed both in surface and subsurface waters. These results

evidence that oxygen is not a major stressor for mussel farming industry and makes a

comprehensive review of the biogeochemical processes that may determine oxygen variability in the

main mussel-farming region.

7. G. Fuenzalida et.al. 2014: In this publication the transcriptome (total set of mRNAs) of three

species of patellograstropodos present in the intertidal zone throughout of the Eastern South Pacific

coast to the Antarctic were described. Genetic characterization of marine species is a key step to

advance towards the understanding of processes and mechanisms associated with vulnerability and

adaptability of species to global change. The results of this publication will be useful to evaluate and

rank the main molecular adaptation strategies of marine species cohabiting with M. chilensis.

8. G. Cea et.al. 2014: describes the complete mitochondrial genome of the sea urchin Loxechinus

albus, one of the most important artisanal fisheries in Chile. In collaboration with MUSELS, this

work has advanced the characterization of the genetic diversity of this species, generating genetic

markers that allow us to quantify their responses to multiple environmental forcing’s and generate a

comparative approach to identify the molecular mechanisms of biological responses to stress in

marine organisms with complex life cycles.

9. J.D. Gaitán-Espinia et.al. 2014: Global environmental drivers, such as ocean warming, ocean

acidification, and deoxygenation constitute some of the many drivers undergoing pronounced

change in the world’s coastal oceans today. There is growing concern respect of the interplay of

these environmental stressors or enhancers with both synergistic and antagonistic effects on coastal

marine biota. For ectotherms, environmental temperature (Ta) is perhaps the most important abiotic


factor that affects their body temperature influencing a variety of organismal processes with

profound implications on their performance, physiology and fitness. Here, in this study authors

reported that populations of an ectotherm crustacean, P. violaceus, show no differences in the limits

of their thermal performance curves and demonstrate a negative correlation of their optimal

temperatures with latitude. Additionally, our findings show that high-latitude populations of P.

violaceus exhibit broader thermal tolerances, which is consistent with the climatic variability

hypothesis. Interestingly, under a future scenario of warming oceans, the thermal safety margins of

P. violaceus indicate that lower latitude populations can physiologically tolerate the ocean-warming

scenarios projected by the IPCC for the end of the twenty-first century.

Summary table

Category of Publication MSI Center

Members

Number of Publications

coauthored by students

Total Number

of Publications

ISI Publications or Similar to

ISI Standard

Associate Researchers 7 7

Other Researchers 2 2

SCIELO Publications or

Similar to SCIELO Standard

Associate Researchers - -

Other Researchers - -

Scientific Books and

chapters

Associate Researchers - -


Other Scientific Publications Associate Researchers - -


Total of Publications 9

c) Other achievements:

Congress Presentations: During 2014, MUSELS participated in many activities of national and international importance.

Researchers, assistants and postdocs have participated actively in all those activities, which have

covered a wide range of academics, policy makers and the general community interest group, e.g.

1. Symposium “Sustainable Aquaculture in an Age of Global Change: MUSELS a new initiative

for the generation of adaptive capacity upon environmental and socio-economic drivers” V

Aquaculture Congress, Coquimbo, 10 to 12 of December. In this activity 7 MUSELS members

participated: Dr. C. Vargas, Director, Dr. L. Cardenas and Dr. R. Barra, assistant researchers, Dr.

Cristian Duarte, Young Researcher, Carlos Lara, PhD student and X. Paz research assistant. We

participated with more than 20 attendees representing not only academics but also local business

industry (e.g. INVERTEC).

2. Symposium “Multiple-stressors in the Ocean: Scaling from the biology to the socio-economimc

impact”, Presented at the XXI Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of Chile, Puerto Varas, 25

to 27 of November. Three MUSELS associate researchers, Drs. B. Broitman, M. Lardies and F.

Vasquez, and Assistant researcher, Dr. N. Lagos, presented an overview of the biological, ecological

and socio-ecological bivalve aquaculture in Chile state. Over 40 participants attended this event.

During the first year, MUSELS researchers have been invited to different instances in which unveiled its activities in other countries, especially focused on collaborative work with Peruvian

colleagues interested in similar issues associated with scallops farmers, which has been seriously

threatened by environmental and economic stressors.


3. 20th Conference of the Parties COP20. During this global event, MUSELS, in collaboration with

30 other research centers from Europe and America, presented a stand called "Warm, acid and

asphyxiated: the Stressed Ocean". The activity that took place in Lima, Peru, between 1st and 12th

of

December and in which they presented to the audience the implications of chemical and

oceanographic changes we are witnessing in the oceans due to the effects of global change.

Simultaneously, Dr. M. Lardies and Dr. N. Lagos were speakers at the seminar "Ocean

Acidification: Interaction with Multiple Stressors and Impacts on Marine Organisms" where global

and regional impacts of the OA were summarized and its interaction with other stressors in

upwelling regions ecosystems in the world.

4. Workshop “Ocean Acidification: Studies in the Chile-Peru upwelling system”. Held at the

Instituto del Mar del Perú (IMARPE) in Callao, Lima, Peru between October 8th

and 9th

. This

activity was attended by the MUSELS Director, Dr. C. Vargas, the Deputy Director, Dr. B.

Broitman, and associate researcher Dr. S. Gelcich. During the event, attendees could discuss

international cooperation opportunities through workshops and activities such as LAOCA event and

possible applications for joint projects that promote the transfer of scientific information and

outsourcing strategies of science from the academic and productive sectors.

Organization of Scientific Events: Between November 9 and 16

th, MUSELS, in collaboration with the Millennium Institute of

Oceanography (IMO), organized the First Latin American School of Ocean Acidification (LAOCA),

2014. This event brought together 16 researchers and Latin American students, who were received at

the Marine Biology Station in Dichato, Bio Bio region. This event brought together 16 researchers

and Latin American students, who were received at the Marine Biology Station in Dichato, Bio Bio

region. For a week, students were trained in theory and practice by researchers and world-renowned

faculty, as Dr. Andrew Dickson, Dr. Sam Dupont, Dr. José Martín Hernández-Ayon and Dr. Lisa

Robbins, who joined Chilean scientists Dr. Cristian Vargas and Dr. Nelson Lagos. The event wanted

to improve Latin American investigative skills allowing scientists, students and future researchers to

keep pace with the research conducted in other parts of the world. It gathered a total of 30 people

including students, teachers and technicians and finished its activities with an open symposium

entitled "Ocean Acidification: The new threat to marine ecosystems", held at the University of

Concepción. This event was attended by about 30 people and was broadcast via streaming, thus

increasing the range of distribution of scientific information to more than 20 countries and over 100

attendees from around the world. In addition, MUSELS organized public conferences and seminars,

where guest researchers and MUSELS researchers participated. Additionally, as a core group, we

organized open-to-the-public conferences with MUSELS and guest scientists. Some of the most

important conferences were:

1. Poster: Interannual variability in temporal patterns of Chlorophyll-a and their potential

influence on the supply of mussel larvae to inner waters in northern Patagonia (41-44°S). Presented by Carlos Lara, student of UCN doctoral program. January 13th, Coquimbo, Chile

2. Video Conference “Propuesta de un Plan de Gestión Integrado para un mitilicultor de

pequeña escala de la Isla de Chiloé” presented by Yerko Yutronich, student of magister proram,

UdeC. December 15, UdeC (Concepción) to Uppsala University, Sweden.

3. Simposio “Mar de Chile: Necesidad de Acción, Innovación y Negociación frente a la

Acidificación del Océano. Presentation: “Programas de Investigación en Acidificación del Océano

y su Interacción con Estresores Múltiples: Implicancias Socio-Económicas”, presented by Dr

Cristian Vargas, Principal Researcher of MUSELS. October 28th. UST, Santiago, Chile.


4. WorkShop “All-Scientists Meeting of the Americas”, Presentation: "Implementando,

financiando y manteniendo un sistema distribuido de informacion ambiental en la costa de Chile

Central” and "Biological, physical and chemical monitoring for the industry of mussels in Chiloe",

presented by Dr. Bernardo Broitman, Deputy Researcher and Dr. Diego Narváez, MUSELS post-

doctoral researcher. December 1th, UACh, Valdivia, Chile.

5. Mini-Symposium “Ocean Acidification: The New Threat for Marine Ecosystems”. Presented

by Dr. Cristian Vargas, Principal Researcher of MUSELS and Nelson Lagos, MUSELS associate

researcher. November 14th, UdeC, Concepción, Chile.

6. Conference “Satellite chlorophyll in the Inner Sea of Chiloe, Chilean Patagonia: Algorithm

assessment”, presented by Carlos Lara, student of UCN doctoral program. September 21th, Río de

Janeiro, Brazil.

7. Conference “Aplicación de modelos numéricos físicos y fisiológicos para evaluar efectos de

variabilidad ambiental en acuicultura”, Presented by Dr. Diego Narváez, MUSELS post-doctoral

researcher. September 8th. Universidad de Concepción.

8. Conference “Acidificación del Océano: Coordinación en I+D+ia escala local, regional y

global”, Presented by Dr. Nelson Lagos, MUSELS associate researcher. July 9th. Universidad de

Concepción

9. Conference “Nuestro Clima Cambiante: Observaciones, Proyecciones e Incertidumbres”,

Presented by Dr. René Garreaud, Department of Geophysics, Center for Climate and Resilience

Research (CR)2 Universidad de Chile. July 4th. Universidad de Concepción.

10. Conference “Pyrethroids in the environment: bioaccumulative pollutants?”, Presented by Dr.

Cayo Corcellas, researcher at the Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research,

Barcelona, Spain. March 11th. Universidad de Concepción.

Scientific Editorial Boards:

1. Bernardo Broitman, Deputy researcher, is editor of Revista Chilena de Historia Natural and

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

2. Marco Lardies, Associate researcher, is editor of Revista Chilena de Historia Natural.

3. Stefan Gelcich, Associate researcher, is editor of “Ecology and Society” and “Aquatic

Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems”. Both journals are interdisciplinary platforms

important for the dissemination of adaptation studies, management and conservation of marine

environments.

Awards: During 2014, some of our MUSELS researchers were awarded with the following nominations:

1. Dr. Stefan Gelcich / During 2014, Dr. Gelcich won the prestigious Pew Fellowship in Marine

Conservation Research 2014. The PEW in Marine Conservation Scholarships are awarded through a

nomination process and rigorous review, where every year just five marine scholars worldwide are

selected based on the strengths of their proposed projects, considering its potential to protect the

oceans. During 2014 Dr. Gelcich also won the prize awarded by the prestigious "Australian

Agricultural and Resource Economics Society" called "quality of scientific communication". During

2014 Dr. Gelcich also was nominated as a member of the parliamentary advisory group for the

analysis of the biodiversity law and protected areas of Chile.

2. Dr. Cristian Vargas / Dr. Nelson Lagos / Dr. Bernardo Broitman were nominated during this

first year as members of the Technical Advisory Group on Climate Change, from the Subsecretaría

de Pesca y Acuicultura (GTA). The challenge is to create an Adaptation Plan to contribute to


mitigating the effects of climate change on resources, fishing communities and aquaculture, which

contribute to the local policy.

3. Dr. Ricardo Barra / Dr. Barra has been nominated as a member of the Scientific Advisory Panel

for the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

All these nominations recognize the scientific quality, and national and international recognition of

the members of our Millennium Nucleus MUSELS.

MUSELS’s team. Researchers, post-doctoral and graduate student.

Below left hand to right hand: Dr. Luisa Saavedra, Rosario Díaz (Msci student), Dr. Felipe Vásquez, Dr. Stefan Gelcich, Dr. Nelson

Lagos. Above left hand to right hand:Dr. Diego Narvaez, Dr. Marco Lardies, Dr. Stephen Widdicombe, Dr. Cristian Vargas, Avia

González (PhD student), Dr. José Zenteno, Dr. Cristian Vargas, Valeska San Martín (PhD student), Dr. Leyla Cárdenas, Dr. Bernardo Broitman and Dr. Benjamin Halpern.


4. Education and Capacity Building

a) Education and Capacity Building: During 2014, MUSELS spent 8 million chilean pesos approx. on scholarships and benefits directly

aimed at undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral fellows. These benefits include monthly or

annual scholarships; use of laboratories, and financial support for participation in conferences and

workshops of interest for the students, in addition to meetings at which members of the research

team request the participation of the trainee. In addition, the MUSELS team contributes to student’s

thesis, guiding research related to our core issues, but funded by other sources. Selected students

have to conduct their theses under the guidance of at least two MUSELS researchers, promoting

instances of assembly and advice from scientists and co-authorship of papers and manuscripts. Each

student is embedded in undergraduate and postgraduate programs related to MUSELS research

lines. MUSELS is supporting the development of four undergraduate thesis: 2 marine biologist

(UACh and UAI) and 2 engineer in marine biotechnology and aquaculture (UdeC); 4 MSci thesis, 1

in the MSci Program “Integrated Management: Environment, Corporate Social Responsibility and

Labor Risks (UdeC)”, one in the Msci Program in Oceanography (UdeC), one in MSci Progrma

“Sustainability Management (UDD)”, and another one in the MSci Program “Economy of Natural

Resources and Environment (UdeC)”; and 4 PhD thesis, two students in “Biology and Applied

Ecology (UCN-CEAZA)”, one student in the PhD Program in Environmental Sciences (UdeC)”, and

another one in the “PhD Program of Complex Systems Engineering (UAI)”. The interesting

advantage of our model, is that each of these undergraduate master’s and PhD thesis, are co-guided

by different associates and/or assistants, or postdocs from our Millennium Nucleus, which allows

our students have a multidisciplinary approach in their respective specific research, which gives

them comparative advantages compared to their peers, and enable them to address scientific issues

with holistic approach, integrating different disciplines involving MUSELS. In addition, Dr. Cristian

Duarte (Universidad Andrés Bello) has joined our team as young researcher, by supporting the

research line of experimental work on effects of multiple stressors on larval stages of scallops and

mussels. Three postdoctoral fellows have been incorporated into our team. Dr. Diego Narvaez, a

physical oceanographer who develops physical-biological modeling through IBM models to model

the population dynamic of mussels upon global change scenarios (e.g. acidification, warming). Dra.

Luisa Saavedra, who evaluated the synergistic or antagonistic effect of global and local multiple

stressors (e.g. acidification and pollution) on the new mussel farming area of Gulf of Arauco, which

is influenced by both freshwater discharges and coastal upwelling processes that modify

biogeochemical environment (i.e. pH, salinity, temperature, oxygen, etc.). Furthermore, this area is

also strongly affected by local stressors, such as those associated with the pulp industry, with

significant implications for the biology of the organisms cultivated. Dr. Rodrigo Estevez, is a

sociologist, doing a PostDoc and supporting the socio-ecological research line. Dr. Estevez is

evaluating the use of tools of participatory multi-criteria analysis as input for integrated planning of

adaptation strategies for the Chilean coastal areas. A new postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Tatiana Manzur

support from 2015 the RL1 in environmental monitoring in northern Chile, that complement her

Fondecyt postdoctoral project that seeks to understand how the contrasting environmental conditions

may affect the indirect ecological interactions.

b) Achievements and results: In the area of education MUSELS has been actively involved in teaching undergraduate and

postgraduate training and advanced human capital. The team members take part in the following

doctoral programs:


PhD program University Researcher Environmental Sciences Universidad de Concepcion Cristian Vargas & R. Barra

Oceanography Universidad de Concepción Cristian Vargas

Biology and Applied Ecology Cooperative program between Universidad Católica

del Norte y la Universidad de La Serena

Bernardo Broitman

Ecology Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Stefan Gelcich Complex System Engineering Uniersidad Adolfo Ibáñez Marco A. Lardies Ecology and Evolution Universidad Austral de Chile Marco A. Lardies

Leyla Cárdenas Marine Biology Universidad Austral de Chile Leyla Cárdenas

And in the following Master programs:

Master program University Researcher

Global Change Universidad de Concepción Cristian Vargas & R. Barra

Oceanography Universidad de Concepción Cristian Vargas Engineering Sciences Universidad Adolfo Ibañez Marco A. Lardies

Stefan Gelcich Marine Conservation Universidad de Oviedo, España

Natural Resource Management Universidad de California, Santa Bárbara

Science major in Genetics Universidad Austral de Chile Leyla Cárdenas Management and Environmental Management

Universidad Santo Tomás Nelson Lagos

During this first year, MUSELS have incorporated a number of undergraduate and postgraduate

students from different national universities to our Millennium Nucleus:

Undergraduate students:

1. Matías Gaete – Environmental Engineering student at the University of Concepción, who

develops his thesis under the guidance of our adjunct researcher Dr. Ricardo Barra, and co-guidance

by the Director, Dr. Cristian A. Vargas and Dr. Diego Narvaez, PostDoc MUSELS. His thesis

focuses on studying the dispersion of pyrethroids in the area of mussel farming in Chiloé through

the use of modeling tools.

2. Nicole Castillo – Aquaculture and Marine Biotechnology Engineering student at the University

of Concepción, who develops her undergraduate thesis under the guidance of Dr. Cristian A. Vargas

and in cooperation with Dr. Cristian Gallardo from the FONDAP INCAR Center (Interdisciplinary

Center for Aquaculture Research). Her thesis focuses on the study of the expression of stress

proteins (HSP70) and gene expression associated with stressors such as acidification in mussels

from shellfish farming area in Chiloé,southern Chile.

3. Carolina Fernández - Marine Biology student at the University of Valparaíso, who develops her

thesis under the guidance of Dr. Marco A. Lardies. Her thesis focuses on the effect of multiple

stressors (i.e. temperature and ocean acidification) in shaping the physiological and morphological

variability of different shellfish populations in northern Chile.

4. Valeria Prieto – Marine Biology student from Universidad Austral de Chile, who is guided in her

undergraduate dissertation by Dr. Leyla Cárdenas. Her work is focused on the spatial and temporal

variation of the genetic diversity of Mytilus chilensis in natural and cultivated population in central

and southern Chile.


Postgraduate Students

5. Yerko Yutronic – Engineer in Marine Biotechnology and Aquaculture. Currently is studying a

Master in Integrated Management at the University of Concepción. His Master thesis focuses on

describing the socio-environmental aspects associated with small scale mussel farming on the

Chiloé Island, which contribute to the generation of guidelines for sustainability of the sector.

6. Rosario Díaz – Aquaculture Engineer from the Universidad Católica del Norte. She started in

2014 the MSci Program in Oceanography at the University of Concepción. She is under the

guidance of Dr. Cristian A. Vargas. Rosario examines the potential combined effect of cadmium and

carbonate saturation in calcification of mussels of commercial interest and their adaptability to

different conditions of global change.

7. Avia González – She has a degree in Biological Sciences from the Universidad Austral de Chile,

and is currently part of the PhD Program in Biology and Applied Ecology at the the Universidad

Católica del Norte under the supervision of Dr. B. Broitman. Avia develop her doctoral thesis

studying the ecophysiology of bivalves, particularly on effect of environmental stressors on the

persistence of populations in farming conditions and strategies of individuals to enable them to cope

with these changes.

8. Valeska San Martin – Marine Biologist from the University of Concepción, and is currently part

of the PhD Program in Environmental Sciences at the University of Concepción, under the

supervision of Dr. CA Vargas, S. Gelcich and F. Vásquez. Her thesis focuses on properties to

determine market on mussels, such as color, texture, flavor, and fatty acid content and how multiple

stressors, such as temperature and acidification, and their subsequent socio-economic implications,

can impact them.

9. Carlos Lara – Marine Biologist and Master of Science in Agriculture from the Pontificia

Universidad Católica. He is currently part of the PhD Program in Biology and Applied Ecology at

the Universidad Católica del Norte, under Dr. Bernardo Broitman guidance. His research interestsare

focused in determining the effects of environmental variables on patterns of spatio-temporal

synchrony in coastal communities, by analyzing wavelet from Chl-a satellite data.

10. Sebastian Osores – Marine biologist and PhD candidate at the PhD program in Complex

Systems Engineering, under the guidance of Dr. Marco A. Lardies. His PhD thesis project entitle

"Partnership Models Using Predictive effects of Climate Change on Ectotherms Animals:

Physiology and Evolution", where he uses different marine ectotherms as models to evaluates the

effect of changes in distribution and species traits along the Chilean coast.

Additionally, there are postgraduate students not formally incorporated into MUSELS, but working

with researchers from the project team in related issues, these are:

11. Felipe Montealegre. Economist and student of the Master program in Natural Resources

Economics and Environment. He is developing his thesis guided by S. Gelcich and F. Vásquez on

behavioral responses of civil society to information on environmental impacts.

12. Carolina Hidalgo. Marine biologist and student of the Master program in Sustainability

Management (UDD). She develops her thesis on economic valuation of ecosystem services of

AMERB supervised by Felipe Vásquez.


5. Networking and other collaborative work

a) Networking: During 2014, the Millennium Nucleus MUSELS actively participated in international collaboration

networks for studying the impacts of climate change on oceans and marine resources. A main

activity is related to the global coordination between research institutions interested in ocean

acidification studies coordinated by the OA-ICC (Ocean Acidification International Coordination

Centre), where Dr. Nelson Lagos (MUSELS research associate) participates as a member of the

scientific board. The OA-ICC was created in 2013 and is based at the IAEA Environmental

Laboratories (Monaco). This center is running by the Working Group SIOA (SOLAS-IMBER

Working Group on Ocean Acidification). The OA-ICC brings together scientists, politicians, and

decision makers, representatives of the media, education and other social actors in order to promote,

facilitate and communicate research on the topic of ocean acidification. For that it tries to influence

and support the implementation of key activities to be developed globally to make an effective use

of investment in marine sciences. Researchers at the Millennium Nucleus MUSELS, Drs. Cristian

Vargas, Marco Lardies, and Nelson Lagos participated in this network through different activities as

the international course LAOCA. The OA-ICC also aims to ensure that information on the impact of

ocean acidification are effectively communicated to end users, for this coordinated an international

collaborative network that included researchers from Plymouth Marine Laboratories (UK), Scripps

Institution of Oceanography (USA), OCEANA, the major European programs on Ocean

Acidification (EPOCA, MedSeA, BIOACID) and CiiCC / MUSELS (Chile). This network

organized three events and an exhibition stand at the Conference of Parties (20th Conference of

Parties of the UNFCCC, United Nation Framework Convention for Climate Change, COP20,

December 1 to 14, 2014). This activity was partially funded by the OAICC (ca. € 3,600 to support

the attendance of two young researchers, Laura Ramajo, MUSELS PhD student, Victor Aguilera,

young researcher IMO) and other organizations from Chile (Barbara Jacob, postdoctoral fellow

IMO, ca. € 1,600), CiiCC-UST (Nelson Lagos contribute € 1,300) and Universidad Adolfo Ibañez

(Marco Lardies, contribution € 1,300). They participated in the following events: a) Symposium

"Global and regional Interactions of multiple stressors with Ocean Acidification and Their Impacts

on marine organisms". Pabellón de Perú (December 5, 2014) and included presenters from OAICC

(IAEA, Monaco), PML (UK), NOAA acidification Programm (USA), IMARPE (Perú) and

MUSELS (Chile); b) Symposium "What goes into the air, goes into the ocean: rapids talks about

ocean acidification", State Department Pavillion, USA (December 3, 2014); Symposium Feria

Voces del Clima, Pabellón Océanos del Perú (6 December 2014). Finally, all partners and

organizations participated in the exhibition stand: "Hot, sour and breathless: the ocean under stress"

coordinated by Dr. Carol Turley (PML-UK), Lisa Levin (SIO-UCSD-USA) and Nelson Lagos,

(CiiCC / MUSELS-Chile).

Within the action line of capacity building and focused on the objectives of MUSELS we have

invited to Chile, foreign researchers working on the impact of acidification on the shellfish farming

industry in Oregon (USA), establishing links with Drs. G. Waldbusser and Burke Hales from Oregon

State University (USA) and Dr. Todd Capson (Global Ocean Health, USA). Furthermore, adjunct

researcher, Dr. Nelson Lagos, organized the event “Chilean Sea: Needed for action, innovation, and

negotiation upon ocean acidification scenarios” (October 28, 2014),

Among the participants we have invited to representatives from the academia (Drs. B. Hales, T.

Capson and C.A. Vargas) and from the aquaculture sector such as the manager of the Chilean

Association of Mussel Farmers (AmiChile) Yohana Gonzalez, the Executive Director of the

Technological Institute of Mussel Farming Industry (INTEMIT), and the Production Manager of

INVERTEC-Ostimar, a scallop industry in northern Chile. This meeting allowed to expand the links


between MUSELS and scallops farmers, with whom we have worked on the development of two

experiments about the effect of multiple stressors on juvenile and adult scallops, and the

development of an international cooperation proposal entitled "Optimising Science, Technology and

Innovation for studying Ocean acidification effects on commercial species (Scallops)” (Drs. B.

Broitman, Marco Lardies, and Nelson Lagos), Dra. Silvana Birchenough (Centre for Environment,

Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, CEFAS, UK) and INVERTEC-Ostimar Industry (Tongoy,

Coquimbo) producers. The links with the mussel farmers produced during the period 2014 are

described in section 6b of this report.

b) Other collaborative activities. During 2014, MUSELS worked in close connection with the Millennium Institute of Oceanography

(IMO) (in which our Director, Dr. Cristian A. Vargas participates as a research associate), the Centre

for Research and Innovation for Climate Change CIICC, and the Center of Advanced Studies in Arid

Zones CEAZA, all important research centers closely related to the research issues and objectives of

MUSELS. All activities organized with the other centers focused mostly on the dissemination of

science, through seminars, open workshops, and the delivery of educational products. Among the

most important activities organized in collaboration with both centers was the 1rst

Latin American

School of Ocean Acidification and the final mini-symposium “Ocean Acidification: The new threat

for Marine Ecosystems”, activity with an active participation of Dr. Cristian Vargas (Director), Dr.

Nelson Lagos (Adjunct Researcher), Rosario Diaz (MSci student linked to IMO and MUSELS) and

Samanta Benitez (Research Assistant). The collaborative work between the three centers result in a

successful theoretical and practical activity that called the interest of Latin American students and

researchers. MUSELS also worked as sponsor and distributor at the regional level in the Biobío

Region of the book "Cuentos Infantiles del Mar" produced by CEAZA, and focused in the

dissemination of basic knowledge regarding ocean life along the Humboldt Current System off

Chile to children at primary level schools.

Finally, it should be noted that the centers previously named also support the training of

undergraduate and graduate students, in order to co-sponsor thesis, manuscripts and publications.

First Latin American School of Ocean Acidification LAOCA 2014. Collaborative activity in cooperation with the CiiCC


6. Outreach and connections with other sectors

a) Outreach: During 2014 MUSELS proposed disseminate scientific work related to the center, bringing science

to the wider community and those who are directly related to bivalve aquaculture industry. During

this year we have achieved an important link between companies, producers and scientific activities,

contributing to the knowledge of the factors affecting the socio-ecological systems of the Chilean

coastal areas and transferring this knowledge in a simple and pleasant way to the community.

As one of the first outreach activities, we have implemented a MUSELS website in both spanish and

english language; http://www.eula.cl/musels/, Our website aimed to provide information about the

main activities carried out by the MUSELS team, as well as presenting relevant information about of

the members, objectives, scientific publications, and other relevant issues. Our website has

accumulated more than 100,000 foreign visitors since it was open to the internet comunity. We have

also implemented a social network page in Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/pages/N%C3%BAcleoMilenioMUSELS/459030377542489?ref=bookm

arks , from where future events, symposiums, meetings, thesis calls and other rlevant information

are reported and shared frequently (once a week). Using this page, we have reached about 900

supporters in Chile and other countries.

During 2014 MUSELS was mentioned in at least 34 news articles, including; online news,

newspapers, TV channels, and print media. These activities include:

1. Radio interview "Voces de la Ciencia", September 2014. Dr. Cristian Vargas gave an interview

to the program "Voces de la Ciencia", radial space dedicated to the dissemination of science and

advanced technology carried out at the University of Concepcion and in different regional and

national research centers.

2. NOS Magazine Interview, June 2014. Dr. Cristian Vargas presented the objectives of the

Millennium Nucleus, its implications for science and its relationship with bivalve aquaculture sector

in the country. In addition to its worldwide digital version, the printed version of NOS magazine

covers four regions of central-southern Chile.

3. Concepción Newspaper, May 2014. Our Director, Dr. Cristian Vargas and Dr. Ricardo Barra

(adjunct researcher) were interviewed by the newspaper section “Tendencias”. They unveiled the

main objectives of MUSELS and the current state of bivalve aquaculture in Chile.

In addition, different MUSELS activities has been broadcasted on scientific websites as RedCiencia;

business ones as Aqua.cl, Mundo Acuícola, Clima y Pesca en Chile; Universities and research

centers websites and on-line journals such as Panorama UdeC, CEAZA.cl, Santo Tomás.cl,

INCAR.cl, Diario Osorno and others.

MUSELS, in its first year, began promoting the participation of pre-primary, primary and secondary

school education conducting outreach activities such as:

1. Distribution of the book “Cuentos Infantiles del Mar”, November 2014. The children's book

produced by the Center for Advanced Studies in Arid Zones (CEAZA) in collaboration with

MUSELS was distributed in 40 kindergartens and basic rural and urban schools, in different districts

of the region of Bio-Bio. The book is a contribution to the education of our children in preschool

and elementary cycle education as it seeks to teach thematic as relevant as marine biodiversity,

biological / environmental cycles and oceanography as a way into our neighbor, the Pacific Ocean.

2. Stand “Ocean Acidification: The other CO2 problem”, October 2014. During the VIII Festival

of Science and Technology - Explore - CONICYT, Ms. Samanta Benitez (Research Assistant),

showed to the visitors the effects of acidification on calcareous structures of some marine species

such as mussels and scallops, inviting them to make in situ pH measurements in some substances of

daily use. About 23,000 people attended this event during its 4 days.

http://www.eula.cl/musels/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/N˙cleo-MilenioMUSELS/459030377542489?ref=bookmarks

https://www.facebook.com/pages/N˙cleo-MilenioMUSELS/459030377542489?ref=bookmarks


3. Talk to Andalien College, October 2014. Under the framework of the "Mil científicos, Mil

aulas”, a Program from CONICYT, Ms. Rosario Diaz (MSci student) from MUSELS and IMO,

presented the lecture "What is acidification?" to high school students. During the presentation, the

students reinforced concepts as acidification, global change, ecology and environmental protection,

strengthening their experience conducting an experiment in which they could manipulate laboratory

instruments.

4. Talk to Concepción College, September 2014. Dr. Cristian A. Vargas (Director) and Francisco

Mendoza (Research Assistant), handed basics concepts on global change and ocean acidification to

5th

grade students, finishing the experience with an experiment where students were able to make pH

measurements and use some scientific instruments.

It should be noted that during 2014, MUSELS applied to the PME funds from the ICM, winning

100% of the proposed activities, equivalent to five activities to be implemented during 2015.

b) Connections with other sectors: During 2014, MUSELS aimed to establish formal collaboration links with aquaculture industry and

bivalve producers to bridge the communication gaps between the productive and the scientific sector

and promote the development of high-impact research with the industry, generating instances of co-

learning where scientists and producers are constantly involved in knowledge generation. According

to this goal, MUSELS signed a mutual cooperation agreement with the Instituto Tecnológico de la

Miticultura, INTEMIT and Fundación Chinquihue, both representatives of the mussels productive

sector in the Los Lagos Region. The contract ceremonies were held in the cities of Castro and Puerto

Montt, on June 18 and August 11, respectively. The cooperation agreements, in both cases, are to

obtain and share biological and oceanographic data to advance in the development of adaptive

capacity of the socio-ecological system in connection with the bivalve aquaculture. Furthermore,

this agreement will also support the formation of human capital, new technologies, scientific

projects and outsourcing activities. In order to promote the synergy science-industry, MUSELS

committed the active participation of one of his post-doctoral researchers (Dr. Diego Narvaez) in

INTEMIT, who has developed scientific activities in the field, collecting and analyzing data

delivered by the private sector as part of the agreement cooperation. We have generated instances of

cooperative work under the RL3, where researchers and their team, jointed the small producers to

make significant progress obtaining data regarding the research line. Both cooperation agreements

have pecuniary and non-pecuniary contributions: INTEMIT: $12,000,000 annually for infrastructure

for the post-doctoral researcher in the city of Castro. Fundación Chinquihue: $ 3,000,000 in the first

year of operation, corresponding to $ 2,000,000 co-financing the socio-ecological data collection

from small local producers, and $ 1 million in logistical support for data collection. Both agreements

extend for a period of three years.


7. Administration and Financial Status

a) Organization and administration:

During 2014, the administration office worked in direct relationship with MUSELS Director, Dr.

Cristian Vargas. Ms. Haydée Müller Agram served as administrator during 2014. Some of her main

activities were monthly financial reports to the Ministry of Economy, management, logistics and

diffusion of internal and external activities, as well as proposal preparation and diffusion to Explora

CONICYT and PME funds, which concluded with six approved activities, which five will be

executed. She has also been responsible for updating social networks and the website of our

Millennium Nucleus.

Category Female Male TOTAL

Assistant & Technicians 2 1 3

Administrative Staff 1 - 1

TOTAL 3 1 4

MUSELS Annual Report 2014 - EULA · mitilicultura, y aportar con capital humano calificado que se...

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