Cape Horn Field Station

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Research, Education and Conservation

Invasive species

An important aspect of global ecological change involves the loss and homogenization of biological and cultural diversity, driven in large part by invasion of introduced species and dominant cultures. At the southern tip of the Americas, encompassing nearly 5 million hectares of islands, fjords, lakes, glaciers, peat bogs and Nothofagus-dominated forests, the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (CHBR) hosts one of the world’s most pristine remaining wilderness areas. Its remoteness and singularity, however, are presently threatened by forces of global connectivity that are leading to rapid biological and cultural homogenization across distant territories. In CHBR, this process is documented by a biotic assemblage, which is composed by a high proportion of introduced species. Also, the indigenous Yaghan community, the world’s southernmost native culture, retains only one fluent speaker of its language. The patterns and processes of invasion by exotic taxa, and subsequent biocultural homogenization, are driven by linked social and ecological factors. For example, humans have replicated a colonization model with cosmopolitan animal and plant species for productive and development purposes, which, upon release can follow their own natural population dynamics. The CHBR provides an ideal natural-human laboratory to study the global phenomenon of biotic and cultural homogenization from its initial steps; the archipelago’s diverse mosaic of human colonization and land use histories permits a patch dynamics analysis that allows us to understand the relationships between coupled social and ecological patterns and processes of invasion.

While the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve is in many ways considered a highly pristine wilderness area, it is also replete with introduced and often invasive species. A special emphasis of research in the archipelago has taken into account this particular component of global ecological change. The ecological and ethical implications of invasion have been especially studied for two harmful species: the North American beaver (Castor canadensis) and the American mink (Mustela vison).

This research is led in Omora Park by Dr. Christopher Anderson, Post-doctoral fellow, Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Santiago, Chile.

invasive species

An example of the social and ecological impact within Navarino Island.  In picture, Virgin Mary place of worship, a domesticated cow, and invasive plants.

invasive species

An example of the impact of the invasive beaver on the watershed of the Robálo River.