History of the Exploration

The history of the exploration of the microcosm and macrocosm in Chile is grounded in two factors: (1) the special attributes of unique territories at the southern and northern extremes of Chile (i.e., the subantarctic archipelagoes in the region of Cape Horn, and the Atacama Desert), and (2) the vision and determination of individual researchers and their institutions to discover and implement natural laboratories in these regions.

Switch between the microcosm and macrocosm perspectives by clicking on the circles below.

The original virtual exhibition includes the option to switch between the microcosm and the macrocosm within the individual chapters (see screenshot below).

Here we present the subchapters one after the other.

Serendipity in the Origin of “Ecotourism with a Hand Lens”

In March 2000, Chilean conservation biologist and philosopher Ricardo Rozzi embarked on an expedition to the Cape Horn Islands at the southern end of the Americas, guiding a group of bryologists led by Bernard Goffinet in the search of Splachnaceae or “dung mosses” that Goffinet thought might grow on the bones of whales beached on the southern shores of the island. The team experienced several storms while navigating on the Maroba, a tiny fishing boat.

Figure 1. Watershed of the Róbalo River, protected by Omora Park, Puerto Williams, Chile. Photograph by Ricardo Rozzi, n.d.

Researchers were determined to find these dung mosses and began a long hike across a vast peatland, and in their excitement, Ricardo Rozzi became separated from the group and fell into one of the numerous scattered pools. He started to sink. Rozzi felt that this would lead to a natural death. While going down he became fascinated by the astonishing diversity of mosses around the pond. Rozzi thought, “If as a biologist I have not paid proper attention to the magnitude of the diversity of these tiny plants before this moment, I wonder whether decision-makers or teachers in Chile had appreciated this miniature biodiversity.”

Figure 2. Subantarctic Magellanic forests grow from the sea level to the treeline on the mountains in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve. Photograph by Paola Vezzani, n.d.

Fortunately, Bernard Goffinet and the team found Ricardo Rozzi in the swamp after a couple of hours, just before he completely disappeared. He survived! However, the image of the exuberant diversity of mosses became fixed in Rozzi’s mind, and upon returning to his lab, he systematically began a bibliographic review of bryophytes in Chile. Additionally, with Goffinet, William Buck, and other bryologists associated with Omora Park, a series of floristic inventories was initiated in the Cape Horn archipelagoes (Figures 1 and 2). And it hit them, because they discovered that the subantarctic Magellanic ecoregion constitutes a world hotspot of moss and liverwort (bryophytes or non-vascular plants) diversity.

Figure 3a. Map used in discussions with the Chilean Environmental Agency (CONAMA), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and other organizations to define biodiversity conservation priorities of ecoregions in South America and Chile during the 1990s. The red square highlights the subantarctic Magellanic ecoregion, which was initially categorized as “unclassified.” This map was published with modifications in Dinerstein et al. (1995).

Several years earlier, Ricardo Rozzi, who is now the director of the Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), had participated in committees charged with identifying priority sites for conservation in Chile and Latin America. The criteria used at the time and still used today are exclusively based on vertebrate and vascular plant diversity. Looking back now, Rozzi realized that following these criteria, non-vascular plants had been systematically overlooked in this decision-making process. Consequently, at the end of the 1990s, the subantarctic Magellanic ecoregion was classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as unknown and of low priority for biodiversity conservation (Figure 3a).

With the epiphany gained as Rozzi thought he was meeting his swampy death, he and other researchers worked frantically to quantify this overlooked diversity of mosses. They quickly found that over 5 percent of the bryophyte species known to science grow in the archipelagoes of Cape Horn, on less than 0.01 percent of the planet’s terrestrial surface. The austral region contains the highest number of species of mosses and liverworts recorded in Chile (Figure 3b). Moreover, in Cape Horn there are more species of non-vascular plants than of vascular plants, sharply contrasting with the ratios of vascular/non-vascular plants found in lower latitude regions (Figure 3b). This discovery stimulated their proposal to “change our lenses” for assessing biodiversity.

Figure 3b. In Chile, the number of species of bryophytes increases with latitude, and reaches a maximum in the subantarctic Magellanic ecoregion, where it outnumbers vascular plants (a; figure modified from Rozzi et al. (2008). The species richness of non-vascular plants (bryophytes) in the subantarctic Magellanic ecoregion contrasts with lower latitude regions, especially in tropical countries, where its proportion is minimal as compared to vascular plants (b).

Taxonomic groups and ecoregions shape the “lenses” through which biodiversity is assessed and conserved. Patterns of species richness and endemism used to identify priority areas for biodiversity conservation are strongly biased by our differential knowledge of taxonomic groups. At the end of the twentieth century, assessments of global priorities for conservation relied on the concentration of diversity and endemism of vertebrates and vascular plants. Plant conservation focused almost exclusively on vascular flora, while diversity patterns of non-vascular flora were poorly documented and marginally considered. For this reason, Ricardo Rozzi and other researchers proposed to “change the lenses,” and invited conservation biologists to consider not only large organisms but also the smallest organisms, particularly in certain types of habitats. For instance, if the aim is to assess the species richness of intertidal zones in the coasts of the austral archipelagoes, it will be necessary to search for algae, and not only for vascular plants. Analogously, if the aim is to assess high-latitude floristic diversity, it will be inappropriate to base inventories merely on vascular plants, but it will be necessary to also include the non-vascular ones. This second analogy is not as obvious, but it is essential for properly appreciating the floristic diversity of the subantarctic and Antarctic regions.

Figure 3c. Satellite image of the Cape Horn Biosphere delimited by the light blue-dotted line. Located south of Tierra del Fuego, it is the southernmost protected area of the Americas, and the largest one in the temperate and subpolar zones of the Southern Hemisphere. Figure modified from Rozzi et al. (2006 a, b).

In 2000, the Omora Park research team began floristic inventories and analyses of diversity patterns of this frequently overlooked taxonomic group in a remote and striking geographical area of evergreen broadleaf forests and tundra, which has led us to novel and challenging theoretical and practical questions. The team demonstrated that non-vascular and vascular plants display opposite latitudinal species-richness gradients, and argued that conservation should focus on regional patterns of biome-specific biodiversity-indicator groups, which are often left out of global assessments. In 2005, the research team succeeded in conserving the high diversity of bryophytes of the subantarctic Magellanic ecoregion, which provided the central argument for the creation of the UNESCO Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (Figure 3c). This is the largest biosphere reserve in southern South America. For the first time in Chile, and the world, a protected area was designated based on the diversity of mosses and liverworts, organisms that up until now have rarely been perceived and valued in the region, country, and conservation community worldwide (Figures 4a and 4b).

Figure 4a. In the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, dung mosses belong to a particular family of non-vascular plants that grow on peatland or in forests. Photograph by Adam Wilson, 2010.

Figure 4b. Dung mosses have colorful sporophytes to attract flies that disperse the spores of the mosses. Photograph by Adam Wilson, 2010.

The success of the first milestone inspired the Omora Park research team to generate two broader applications for the conservation of bryophytes. First, the team invented a novel educational and tourism activity they called “Ecotourism with a Hand Lens” to foster appreciation of the beauty, diversity, and ecological relevance of the “miniature forests” of bryophytes, lichens, and invertebrates. Since 2005, with a magnifying glass in hand, children, teachers, decision-makers, and the general public have gained a new lens to observe, value, and care for the most diverse groups of organisms with whom we coinhabit high-latitude regions (Figures 5a and 5b). Second, beyond the Cape Horn region, the research team has argued that for designing effective conservation strategies, it is essential to broaden the set of groups of organisms that are considered for conservation policies and practices in different regions of the world. To that end, from the extreme southern tip of Chile, Ricardo Rozzi and a team of researchers have proposed a “metaphorical hand-lens” to better investigate, value, and care for the world’s biodiversity.

Figure 5a. A family is led by a graduate student guide at the “miniature forests of Cape Horn” interpretive trail, Omora Park. The activity of “Ecotourism with a Hand Lens” helps visitors to appreciate the diversity, beauty, and ecological relevance of lichens and mosses. Photograph by Adam Wilson, January 2010.

Figure 5b. Close-up of a macro lens used by a visitor during their participation in the activity of “Ecotourism with a Hand Lens.” Photograph by Paola Gonzalez, Omora Park, January 2016.

 

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