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In a rapidly changing world, to confront biodiversity losses and the lack of appreciation for and knowledge about the most diverse groups of organisms, it is urgently necessary to stimulate cultural shifts that transcend purely scientific and technological domains. This paper addresses this problem by focusing on one of the least known groups of organisms, and in one of the most remote regions of the planet: freshwater insects in the sub-Antarctic Magellanic ecoregion. The research, and its transfer to education, is based on the work conducted by Javier Rendoll Carcamo in his Master thesis. The work of this thesis included scientific-ecological and environmental philosophical research that was integrated into formal and non-formal environmental education practices that value freshwater insects, particularly as indicators of climate change. The integration of science and philosophy was done adapting the Field Environmental Philosophy methodology that includes a four-step cycle. Transdisciplinary research on freshwater insects and their sub-Antarctic ecosystems served as a basis for the composition of metaphors and educational activities with schoolchildren, other members of the local community and visitors to Omora Park, in Puerto Williams, Chile. Based on this work, new outdoor educational activities were designed with the objective of awakening the interest of citizens for insects, and nurturing their perceptions about these organisms, their habitats and life habits. In this way, at a local scale this work aims to contribute to greater knowledge, appreciation and conservation of this unique sub-Antarctic biodiversity, and at a global scale it aims to contribute overcoming the under-appreciation for the most diverse group of organisms: the insects.

The Yendegaia National Park, located to the south of Tierra del Fuego and at the eastern margin of the Darwin Mountain Range, forms part of the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (CHBR) and lies in the Magellanic sub-Antarctic ecoregion. This national park in the extreme south of Chile comprises an extensive valley surrounded by mountain ranges that give rise to glacial and rain or snow-melt streams. The present study provides the first inventory of freshwater macroinvertebrates within the park, further comparing the species composition of three rivers with contrasting riparian vegetation. One river has a riparian vegetation dominated by Coihue de Magallanes (Nothofagus betuloides), an evergreen species. The river with riparian vegetation dominated by lenga presented a significantly higher diversity of macroinvertebrates than in the rivers with riparian vegetation dominated by nirre and coihue. The community composition of macroinvertebrates presents some affinities with that reported for other areas within the reserve with similar vegetational composition, such as Navarino Island or the Alberto de Agostini National Park. The influence of riparian vegetation and other environmental variables must be studied through other approaches. In this way, the need for studies that complement the inventory presented here emerges, contributing to a characterization that allows the evaluation of ecological patterns of aquatic macroinvertebrates. In this way, it will be possible to identify generalities and singularities of the freshwater biological communities and their environmental relationships in the southern tip of Chile.

Biosphere reserves have among their functions to support scientific research, education, training and monitoring. In the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (RBCH), created in 2005, these functions have been accomplished with the creation of the Omora Ethnobotanical Park in 2000, and its implementation in 2008 as a co-founder site of the Chilean Network of Studies Long-term Socio-Ecological (LTSER-Chile). In 2016, this network has been strengthened with the addition of the new Cape Horn Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research Network (LTSER-Cape Horn). The latter includes the Omora Ethnobotanical Park, and three new sites added to the monitoring of the sub-Antarctic Magellanic ecoregion of South America. From south to north, the four sites are: (1) Gonzalo Island (56°31’S; 68°43’O), at the southern end of the Diego Ramirez archipelago, with sub-Antarctic vegetation dominated by grasses and cryptogams, devoid of woody species; (2) Horn Island (55°58’S; 67°13’O), at the southern end of the Cape Horn Islands archipelago, hosting the southernmost forest ecosystems on the planet, which are dominated by Magellan’s coigue (Nothofagus betuloides); (3) Omora Ethnobotanical Park (54°56’S; 67’40’O), Navarino Island, an ideal site for studies on climate change and its impact on biota and sub-Antarctic ecosystems, since it protects a watershed that includes a representative mosaic of characteristic habitats of the RBCH in an altitudinal gradient with a thermal decrease analogous to that which occurs with increases in latitude; and (4) Caleta 2 de Mayo Site (54°52’S; 68’41’O), Yendegaia Bay, in an ecotonal zone between evergreen and deciduous forests (product of the local climate gradient), at a site that will be central to future connectivity between Continental Chile, Tierra del Fuego, Navarino Island, and the RBCH. In 2015, UNESCO approved the Report of the First Periodic Review of the RBCH that proposed the protection of the Diego Ramirez Archipelago and the creation of the Diego Ramirez Islands Marine Park-Drake Pass (creation decree published in the Diario Oficial of Chile in January 2019). In this context, the new LTSER-Cape Horn network acquires great local, national and global relevance. At the local scale, it covers a representative environmental heterogeneity of the great diversity of landscapes and terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems of the RBCH and the sub-Antarctic Magellanic ecoregion. At the national scale, it incorporates sub-Antarctic monitoring sites, located at the southern end of South America, to LTSER-Chile and to the Monitoring Network of the Ministry of the Environment. On a global scale, the terrestrial ecosystems of the LTSER-Cape Horn network stands out for two main reasons: (1) these sub-Antarctic ecosystems lack a geographical replicate in the southern hemisphere, and (2) high latitude ecosystems are especially sensitive to global climate change. Thus, the LTSER-Cape Horn network helps to overcome critical geographical gaps in the implementation of the International Network for Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER). In order to articulate these four sites and strengthen the training of technical capacities and knowledge transfer to decision makers in the area of special interest tourism and other sustainable economic activities, the LTSER-Cape Horn network will be managed locally from the new Cape Horn Sub-Antarctic Center (Cape Horn Center) that will be inaugurated in Puerto Williams in 2020. The implementation of the LTSER-Cape Horn network is based on a close collaboration with various actors: Ministry of National Assets, Ministry of Environment, Subsecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Ministry of Economy Development and Tourism, National Forestry Corporation (CONAF), General Water Directorate of the Ministry of Public Works, Navy of Chile, Chilean Police (Carabineros), Municipality of Cape Horn, Provincial Government of Chilean Antarctica, and the Regional Government of Magallanes and Chilean Antarctica. In the following phases, the LTSER-Cape Horn network and the Cape Horn Center aim to strengthen the participation of the local community, especially the Yahgan Indigenous Community of Bahia Mejillones, artisanal fisheries, tour operators, and the educational community, including private actors. Located at the “southern summit” of the Americas, Puerto Williams, capital of the Chilean Antarctic Province emerges as a global hub for transdisciplinary sub-Antarctic research, equipped with a new center and network of long-term socio-ecological studies. Collaboration with regional, national and international actors will allow the LTSER-Cape Horn network and the Cape Horn Center to: (i) provide critical data, which will open up new opportunities for monitoring climate change and its impact on biodiversity and ecosystems in sub-Antarctic latitudes; (ii) consolidate long-term monitoring, which is an essential component to effectively design mitigation and adaptation actions; (iii) strengthen a local sustainable development model that, associated with the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve, contributes from the south of the world, to a biocultural conservation model that meets the needs of socio-economic well-being and environmental sustainability at multiple regional and planetary scales.

Invasive alien species may cause substantial changes and damaging impacts in the ecosystems they invade. Here, we document the current distribution and ecological interactions with native biota of the relatively recently introduced wasp, Vespula vulgaris, in the southern part of the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve. We conducted surveys and field studies in four different habitats on Navarino Island: evergreen, deciduous and mixed forests, and shrublands. The spread of V. vulgaris through the island since its first detection has led to it occupying suitable habitats for nesting and foraging, both in urban and rural settings. The presence of V. vulgaris on islands and remote areas of the CHBR is likely the result of marine human movement through the channels withing the reserve. Wasp foraging composition was different on each of the four studied habitats, yet strongly linked to each habitat’s resources, indicating the inherent ability of V. vulgaris of exploiting surrounding resources efficiently. The lack of natural competitors and availability of multiple resources as allowed V. vulgaris to rapidly become a common pest in urban and rural settings in the southern extreme of South America. In this context, we believe that eradication would be impossible, although it would be possible to control populations at localized scales with proper planning and long-term management. Our results can act as a base for management planning, and we strongly recommend social engagement and dialog with pertinent governmental institutions to achieve this challenging task.

The habitat of the intertidal flightless midge Telmatogeton magellanicus (Jacobs, 1900) is described for the first time from the northern coast of Navarino Island, Tierra del Fuego, Chile. Additionally, we report the first observations of adult behaviour in the wild. We delineate the species’ distribution across three tidal zones (high, mid and low), and identify substrate characteristics that favour the presence of the midge. The mid-tide zone was the key habitat utilized by T. magellanicus, with lower densities in the low-tide zone and no presence in the high-tide zone. There was a strong association between the presence of larvae and filamentous algae, especially Bostrychia spp. and, to a lesser extent, Ulva spp., as well as between larvae and the presence of larger, more stable boulders. As a result, the species’ overall distribution was widespread but patchy. We suggest that the main limiting factor is the relative humidity experienced in different habitats. One of the most striking features of the behavioural observations during data collection was the extremely active adults, which suggests high energy expenditure over a very short period of time. This may be due to the limited time available to find mates in a single low-tide period, when adults have about three hours after emerging from the pupa to complete mating and oviposition before inundation by the tide. The data presented here provide a baseline for future studies on this species’ ecology, phenology, physiology and general biology.

As the volume of global trade expands, so does the risk of alien species reaching new regions. Bombus (Bombus) terrestris (Linnaeus) (Hymenoptera: Apidae) is a bumble bee traded internationally for crop pollination and is now considered an invasive species in New Zealand, Japan, and throughout South America. We newly document its presence on Navarino Island, Cape Horn, Biosphere Reserve, Chile (55°S), the southernmost locality reached by this species to date.

Background The study of altitudinal gradients provides insights about species diversity, distribution patterns and related drivers. The Magellanic sub-Antarctic ecoregion has a steep elevational gradient, peaking at around 1,000 m a.s.l., and marked changes in temperature and landscape composition can be observed over relatively short distances. Methods This study assessed freshwater macroinvertebrate diversity associated with lakes and ponds along the altitudinal gradient of a Magellanic sub-Antarctic watershed. Results A monotonic decline in species richness was observed with increasing elevation, with simpler and more even community composition at higher altitude. This pattern differs from the mid-peak trend found in streams of the same watershed. Functional feeding group structure also diminished with increasing elevation. Discussion The study provides a descriptive baseline of macroinvertebrate community structure associated with lentic freshwater ecosystems in the Magellanic sub-Antarctic ecoregion, and confirms that elevation has substantial effects on community structure, function and environmental features, even in these relatively low elevation mountain ranges. The harsh environmental conditions of this ecoregion increase freshwater macroinvertebrate development time, as well as decreasing habitat availability and food supply, supporting simple but well adapted communities. In conjunction with previous research, this study provides a watershed-scale platform of information underpinning future long-term research in the region.

La avispa comun Vespula vulgaris (Linnaeus 1758) es una especie introducida en el Hemisferio Sur que ha sido registrada en Australia, Nueva Zelanda, Tasmania, Argentina y Chile central. Este trabajo documenta la presencia de V. vulgaris en la isla Navarino, Reserva de la Biosfera Cabo de Hornos, sur de Chile.

The habitat of the intertidal flightless midge Telmatogeton magellanicus (Jacobs, 1900) is described for the first time from the northern coast of Navarino Island, Tierra del Fuego, Chile. Additionally, we report the first observations of adult behaviour in the wild. We delineate the species&rsquo, distribution across three tidal zones (high, mid and low), and identify substrate characteristics that favour the presence of the midge. The mid-tide zone was the key habitat utilized by T. magellanicus, with lower densities in the low-tide zone and no presence in the high-tide zone. There was a strong association between the presence of larvae and filamentous algae, especially Bostrychia spp. and, to a lesser extent, Ulva spp., as well as between larvae and the presence of larger, more stable boulders. As a result, the species&rsquo, overall distribution was widespread but patchy. We suggest that the main limiting factor is the relative humidity experienced in different habitats. One of the most striking features of the behavioural observations during data collection was the extremely active adults, which suggests high energy expenditure over a very short period of time. This may be due to the limited time available to find mates in a single low-tide period, when adults have about three hours after emerging from the pupa to complete mating and oviposition before inundation by the tide. The data presented here provide a baseline for future studies on this species&rsquo, ecology, phenology, physiology and general biology.

Physiological thermal limits of organisms are linked to their geographic distribution. The assessment of such limits can provide valuable insights when monitoring for environmental thermal alterations. Using the dynamic critical thermal method (CTM), we assessed the upper (CTmax) and lower (CTmin) thermal limits of three freshwater macroinvertebrate taxa with restricted low elevation distribution (20 m a.s.l.) and three taxa restricted to upper elevations (480 and 700 m a.s.l.) in the Magellanic sub-Antarctic ecoregion of southern Chile. In general terms, macroinvertebrates restricted to lower altitudinal ranges possess a broader thermal tolerance than those restricted to higher elevations. Upper and lower thermal limits are significantly different between taxa throughout the altitudinal gradient. Data presented here suggest that freshwater macroinvertebrates restricted to upper altitudinal ranges may be useful indicators of thermal alteration in their habitats, due to their relatively low tolerance to increasing temperatures and the ease with which behavioral responses can be detected.