Browsing by Author "Flores-Benner, Gabriela"
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Publication History, control, epidemiology, ecology, and economy of the invasion of European rabbits in Chile: a comparison with Australia(2023) Correa‐Cuadros, Jennifer Paola; Flores-Benner, Gabriela; Muñoz-Rodríguez, Manuel Andrés; Briceño, Cristóbal; Díaz, Miguel; Strive, Tanja; Vásquez, Felipe; Jaksic, Fabián M.We reviewed existing studies on the European rabbit in Chile regarding history, control, epidemiology, ecology, and economic impacts, comparing them with Australia’s accumulated knowledge about the same topics. We focused especially on the resulting gaps and challenges to orient efforts toward controlling and managing rabbits in Chile. The European rabbit was first introduced to central Chile in the mideighteenth century and was reported as naturalized by 1884. It is among the seven invasive species that most afect Chilean ecosystems and their productive uses. The strongest rabbit impacts have been reported on Chilean islands and in the mainland’s sclerophyllous forest biome. Released rabbits colonized both Juan Fernández Archipelago in 1935, becoming a harmful species damaging endemic vegetation and nesting bird populations, and Tierra del Fuego Island in 1936, becoming competitors for forage with sheep. The sclerophyllous forest in continental Chile is one of the five Mediterranean ecosystems of the world and one of the 34 critical “hotspots” for conserving the planet’s biodiversity. Here, released rabbits and escapees have changed the spatial distribution of native shrubs and herbs, impeding the regeneration of the native matorral. Overall, the impacts of this species during the last 70 years in Chile have been addressed chiefy from a community-ecological perspective, and applied research is lacking for improving public policies and efficient management of this invader. It is urgent to determine the geographical distribution, population size, and drivers of rabbit dynamics to predict their spread and outbreaks. Also, it is necessary to better understand their effects on Chilean natural ecosystems and agroecosystems to assess their economic impacts on biodiversity and production. In addition, it is essential to research pathogens such as Myxoma virus or Lagovirus in Chile, toward determining their prevalence, virulence, and corresponding rabbit immunity, to estimate and potentially harness any contributions such pathogens could make towards controlling popu-lations through biological agents.Publication Out of sight, not out of mind:(2024) Henríquez, Makarena; Vásquez Lavín, Felipe; Barrientos, Manuel; Ponce, Roberto D.; Lara, Antonio; Flores-Benner, Gabriela; Riquelme, CarlosAccording to the latest global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services, nature and biodiversity have experienced a global decline, making the development of conservation policies urgent. Herein, we used a contingent valuation survey to estimate the economic value of a reintroduction program for the huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus), an endangered charismatic species in Chile. Our novel approach exploits changes in the access to the site to disentangle nonuse value from use value. We use parametric and nonparametric models to estimate the willingness to pay for the program. Our findings consistently indicate that the conservation of the huemul is valued more when tourist access is restricted, as opposed to allowing visitors access to reintroduction areas. We also analyze the sensitivity of this main finding to different cut-off points of a certainty scale, showing that the results are robust. We hypothesize that people are willing to pay a “premium” to keep the conservation site “out of sight” from tourist activities. This could also be related to the belief that a reintroduction program would be more effective if access was not allowed. A cost-benefit analysis using the most conservative assumptions suggests that social benefit significantly outperforms cost.