Field trip to the Regions of Valparaiso and O’Higgins
Between the 30th of November and the 3rd of December we sampled the 5th and 6th regions. I was familiar with the majority of the sites visited after spending most of the last 10 years living and working at the marine station in Las Cruces. The first site was Pichilemu (PIC, 34°25′36.0″S, 072°02′24.9″W), specifically the sampling was conducted at the Punta del Lobos to the south of the town. The beach is intermedate to dissapative in character and of dark medium coarse sand. The platform on the point is extremely exposed, but is also wide and resonably level. It displays a high degree of diversity of algal types, mussel bed, puyra and polychaete reefs are also present.
The rocky platform at Punta del Lobos, Pichilemu (PIC)
The second site visited was Bucalemu (BUA, 34°38′24.3″S, 072°02′47.3″W), to the south of Pichilemu. The beach was long and generally reflective in character, there was also a river fed lagoon at the rear of the beach. This is probably one of those rivers, common in central Chile, where the water only feeds directly into the sea during periods of high flow, for the rest of the year the water flows through the beach. The effects of this through beach flow of freshwater on the meiofaunal assemblages would be an interesting theme for further research. The rocky-shore at Bucalemu was narrow and almost vertical, but I was able to sample within a channel and an area of very coarse sand/shell hash.
The sandy beach at Bucalemu (BUA)
The next site, Matanzas (MAT, 33°57′53.5″S, 071°53′02.7″W), was sampled on the 1st of December. This is a site with which I am very familiar, it was the first site I ever sampled for meiofauna in Chile, back in 1996. The rocky platform is to the south of the point and has a diverse covering of algae, and Lessonia nigresens exposed at low tide. This platform is heavily exploited for scientific research. The sandy beach sampled was at the south end of the long beach where it is more protected and the beach has flatter profile.
The rocky platform at Matanzas (MAT)
The next site was Las Cruces (CRU, 33°29′49.7″S, 071°38′08.1″W). The sampling sites were the beach Las Salinas and the rocky-shore on the north side of the Punta del Lacho, I also sampled the small very coarse sand beach on the Punta del Lacho and the Shell hash beach on the south side of the point. I am very familiar with all these sites as they are adjacent to the Universidad Catolica’s marine station, ECIM, on the point. The beach at Las Salinas is reflective in character and there is also a small lagoon at the back of the beach. The rocky-shore was dominated by mussel beds (Perumytilis purpuratus).
The beach Las Salinas in Las Cruces (CRU)
On the 2nd of December we sampled at Laguna Verde (VER, 33°05′44.4″S, 071°39′52.2″W). The sampling site was located at the north end of the beach which was reflective in character. Unfortunately the rocky-shore at the north end of the beach was vertical and impossible to sample. There wasn’t time to drive around looking for an alternate site. At some point I will go and sample on Punta Curamilla, to the south of Laguna Verde, where I’ve sampled before.
The reflective beach at Laguna Verde (VER)
The second site sampled on the 2nd was at Los Molles (MOL, 32°14′16.4″S, 071°30′40.6″W). The sandy beach sampling site was located in the protected part of the bay at the north end of the beach and consisted of pale almost white sand with a flat profile. The rocky-shore site was located on the south side of the point in an area consisting mainly of boulders.
The sandy beach at Los Molles (MOL)
On the morning of the final day of sampling (03/12/2008) we visited Papudo (PAP, 32°30′19.9″S, 071°26′49.7″W). The site lies within a semi-exposed bay with a north-westerly aspect. The sandy beach is intermediate with reflective characteristics. The back of the beach is bounded by a concrete seawall and promenade. The rocky-shore consists of a series of platforms arising from the beach.
The site at Papudo (PAP)
The final site sampled on this trip was at Ritoque (RIT, 32°49′46.7″S, 071°31′44.9″W). The site was located at the north end of a intermediate-dissapative beach. This is a beach I have sampled previously and found abundant Mystacocarida (see Wikipedia entry for Mystacocarida). The rocky-shore site was the area of large boulders located at the protected north end of the beach
The protected north-end at Ritoque (RIT)
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