Dr Pablo Saenz-Agudelo1,2, Dr Ricardo Beldade2,3, Ms Valentina Correa2,3, Dr Miriam Fernández2,3, Dr Mauricio F. Landaeta2,4, Dr Sergio A. Navarrete2,3, Ms Javiera Sánchez2,3, Dr Evie A. Wieters2,3, Dr. Mauricio Zucconi2,3, Dr Alejandro Pérez-Matus2,3
1Cawthron Institute, Nelson, New Zealand, 2Millennium Nucleus for Ecology and Conservation of Temperate Mesophotic Reef Ecosystems (NUTME), Las Cruces, Chile, 3Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Las Cruces , Chile, 4Laboratorio de Ictiología e Interacciones Biofísicas (LABITI), Instituto de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso,, Valparaiso, Chile
Biography:
Pablo is a molecular ecologist in the Biosecurity group at Cawthron. As part of the Molecular Surveillance Team, he focuses on developing and applying diverse molecular tools for marine biodiversity and invasive species monitoring. His research interests lie at the intersection of ecology and evolution, utilising advanced molecular tools to address both fundamental and applied questions about the functioning and evolution of coastal marine ecosystems. Pablo’s career, including nine years in the university sector, has taken him across Europe, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Chile, where he collaborated with diverse researchers, agencies, and students. His expertise encompasses marine population genomics, bioinformatics, metabarcoding, environmental DNA, science communication and education.
Abstract:
Temperate mesophotic reef ecosystems (TMREs) are amongst the least understood coastal ecosystems, yet they likely play a fundamental role as habitat providers and biodiversity reservoirs. These ecosystems are found between 30 and 150 m deep, making biodiversity assessment a technical challenge. Here, we present the findings of a three-year program that used complementary methodologies (autonomous reef monitoring structures -ARMS- to characterise benthic biodiversity, baited remote underwater video -BRUVs- to monitor fish and mobile organisms, and water eDNA metabarcoding that is expected to integrate across all taxa) to assess patterns of biodiversity of TMREs of the central Chilean coast at different depths (30 and 60 m), geographic locations (two sites 16 km apart) and seasons (summer, spring, fall and winter; only eDNA and BRUVs). Our results show that alpha diversity estimates from water eDNA did not vary significantly across depths or sites but did change among seasons. In contrast, ARMS’ alpha diversity differed between depths but not among sites. Community composition differed among seasons for eDNA and not among depths or sites, while for ARMS, differences were found between depths and sites. Comparisons between BRUVs, eDNA and ARMS showed partial overlap, underscoring the need for complementary approaches to monitoring TRMEs biodiversity. Together, these methodologies deliver a comprehensive assessment of biodiversity patterns of Chilean TMREs, offer an initial understanding of the temporal and spatial variation of biodiversity and provide a foundation for future studies of environmental factors, particularly seasonal changes in dissolved oxygen concentration, that may be driving the observed patterns.