Fray Jorge: Long-Term Ecological Research on Central Chile's Coast
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Fray Jorge National Park — a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Chile’s Coquimbo Region — is home to one of the longest continuously running ecological experiments in the Southern Hemisphere. Since 1989, researchers have maintained a large-scale field experiment probing how biotic interactions and climatic variability shape plant communities as well as small mammals and predators through the interconnected food webs of this unique semi-arid landscape. The Kartzinel Lab is building on this legacy of long-term monitoring by integrating innovative approaches that link dietary DNA and experimental manipulation to understand how the ecosystem functions. Our goal is to help translate long-term ecological data into actionable conservation insights — especially as extreme climatic events are accelerating. |
Why Fray Jorge Matters
Fray Jorge National Park holds a remarkable diversity of ecosystems in a relatively small area: it is best known for the relict mountaintop Valdivian fog forest for which it was initially protected, but this is embedded within a broader region characterized by a semi-arid Mediterranean climate. These systems coexist thanks to persistent coastal fog and the area's unique topography.
Within this matrix, decades of experimental work have generated a steady stream of high-value insights. Spatially replicated plots manipulate access to native small mammals as well as their predators and non-native competitors and predators. These plots are systematically monitored to track long-term changes in plant and small mammal communities in relation to precipitation variability. Monitoring also includes tracking communities of arthropods, predatory birds, and carnivores.
These long time series uniquely position Fray Jorge as a sentinel for how climate change impacts semi-arid ecosystems, revealing how drought and rainfall pulses propagate through populations and food webs.
Within this matrix, decades of experimental work have generated a steady stream of high-value insights. Spatially replicated plots manipulate access to native small mammals as well as their predators and non-native competitors and predators. These plots are systematically monitored to track long-term changes in plant and small mammal communities in relation to precipitation variability. Monitoring also includes tracking communities of arthropods, predatory birds, and carnivores.
These long time series uniquely position Fray Jorge as a sentinel for how climate change impacts semi-arid ecosystems, revealing how drought and rainfall pulses propagate through populations and food webs.
Watch the History of the Fray Jorge Experiment
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Since 1989, Fray Jorge has hosted one of the world’s longest-running ecological experiments. These short documentaries describe the origins of the project, the researchers who built it, and why its continuity matters now more than ever.
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English version |
Versión en español |
What We Are Doing Now
Leading the Fourth Decade of NSF LTREB Objectives
The Kartzinel Lab joins collaborators in a long-standing US-Chilean partnership to lead the ongoing NSF Long-Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) award that supports this essential research. The fourth decadal plan aims to integrate all the classic experimental research and monitoring that has driven ecological discoveries at the site with modern genomic insights that use dietary DNA to reconstruct linkages in the food web with the utmost precision. This partnership reflects a commitment to maintaining continuity in long-term biological observations while expanding their power with molecular tools.
Integrating Dietary DNA into Long-Term Experiments
Building on the experimental framework of Fray Jorge, we are applying dietary DNA metabarcoding to:
By combining long-term experimental plots with cutting-edge molecular ecology, we aim to illuminate how resource use shifts before and after ecological thresholds are crossed.
→ In the Media: Strengthening plant DNA barcoding in the Global South
Enhancing Functional Interpretation with Experimental Manipulations
Fray Jorge’s experimental design — including predator exclusions — offers a rare opportunity to link causal mechanisms to ecological outcomes. Our work emphasizes:
This mechanistic focus aligns with modern research priorities for conservation science worldwide: precisely characterizing ecological changes that occur and understanding why they unfold as they do.
Science, Conservation, and Public Engagement
The significance of the Fray Jorge system extends far beyond academic research:
Recently, we celebrated more than 35 years of continuous study at Fray Jorge, which underscored its role in shaping biodiversity and conservation research in a changing world — across Chile and beyond.
The Kartzinel Lab joins collaborators in a long-standing US-Chilean partnership to lead the ongoing NSF Long-Term Research in Environmental Biology (LTREB) award that supports this essential research. The fourth decadal plan aims to integrate all the classic experimental research and monitoring that has driven ecological discoveries at the site with modern genomic insights that use dietary DNA to reconstruct linkages in the food web with the utmost precision. This partnership reflects a commitment to maintaining continuity in long-term biological observations while expanding their power with molecular tools.
Integrating Dietary DNA into Long-Term Experiments
Building on the experimental framework of Fray Jorge, we are applying dietary DNA metabarcoding to:
- Characterize diets of small mammals and predators across seasons and years
- Link diet variation to rainfall patterns, plant community shifts, and niche partitioning
- Detect subtle shifts in trophic structure that precede population or community change
By combining long-term experimental plots with cutting-edge molecular ecology, we aim to illuminate how resource use shifts before and after ecological thresholds are crossed.
→ In the Media: Strengthening plant DNA barcoding in the Global South
Enhancing Functional Interpretation with Experimental Manipulations
Fray Jorge’s experimental design — including predator exclusions — offers a rare opportunity to link causal mechanisms to ecological outcomes. Our work emphasizes:
- How vertebrate herbivores influence plant community composition over time
- How foraging individuality modulates responses to climate variability
- How long-term data can inform restoration and resilience planning
This mechanistic focus aligns with modern research priorities for conservation science worldwide: precisely characterizing ecological changes that occur and understanding why they unfold as they do.
Science, Conservation, and Public Engagement
The significance of the Fray Jorge system extends far beyond academic research:
- It functions as a living laboratory for international researchers and students to connect and think together
- It contributes data needed for conservation policies rooted in long-term evidence
- It fosters collaboration between Chilean institutions, local communities, and global science networks (e.g., LTSER-Chile)
Recently, we celebrated more than 35 years of continuous study at Fray Jorge, which underscored its role in shaping biodiversity and conservation research in a changing world — across Chile and beyond.
Stories From the Field
Fieldwork at Fray Jorge has yielded both scientific insight and memorable moments. Recently, Ph.D. candidate Montana Stone's award-winning photo of an Andean fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) from our study site was highlighted in the Brown University Medical School's magazine, reminding us how closely ecological research connects to broader conversations about nature and health.
Future posts and dispatches will feature researchers in action, preliminary data highlights, and reflections on long-term trends.
Future posts and dispatches will feature researchers in action, preliminary data highlights, and reflections on long-term trends.
Long-term Research Continuity & Impact is Undervalued
Long-term ecological monitoring — especially nested within experimental manipulations like we have at Fray Jorge — is exceedingly rare and its scientific value only increases with time.
The 2020 pandemic — exacerbated by tightening research budgets in many countries — have posed real risks of discontinuities that begin to erode our ability to leverage this one-of-a-kind resource for good.
Philanthropic and foundation-aligned support could help bolster our core NSF funding in critical ways:
We welcome conversations with partners who value long-term ecological insight tied to real-world conservation impact.
The 2020 pandemic — exacerbated by tightening research budgets in many countries — have posed real risks of discontinuities that begin to erode our ability to leverage this one-of-a-kind resource for good.
Philanthropic and foundation-aligned support could help bolster our core NSF funding in critical ways:
- Sustaining field logistics and data continuity
- Supporting students learning to lead international collaborations
- Enhancing our ability to run DNA sequencing and analysis at remote field sites
- Translating ecological insights into broader conservation narratives that make a real difference in this era of change.
We welcome conversations with partners who value long-term ecological insight tied to real-world conservation impact.