Review Comments1 of these kinds of situations in which and perhaps are at one extreme and North Africa, Mexico, and are closer to the E. R. Fuentes2 other.

In , for example, the occurs along a 1000-mile-wide altitudinal vege- tation belt on the longitudinally extended and on the Coastal Ranges. The central valley between these mountain ranges is occupied by a I would like to make two opening observations: , and the marine terraces along the coast were occupied by a mixture of evergreen and (1) I will speak as a biologist and as a con- drought-deciduous . Further north, cerned citizen of a developing country where ever- drought-deciduous plants dominate. Towards the green shrublands (/matorral) are an south, the predominant elements are evergreen important resource. (2) Although the responsi- forests. bility for these comments is mine, they were discussed with the other Chilean participants in Chilean evergreen shrub lands are thus part of this meeting and are thus part of a consensus wider management units in which the various alti- among us. tudinal and to a lesser degree latitudinal vegeta- tion belts offer different resources and impose Whereas there are many striking similarities different constraints. Along the wider valleys between the various Mediterranean ecosystems where there is irrigation, fruits and other crops around the world, there are very important differ- are grown. On the dry, flat areas, the main ences in sociocultural aspects. Thus, whereas the problem now is grazing. Fires seem not to have biology satisfies a convergence criterion in many been part of the natural situation in Chile. cases, the history of management, the history of science, and the aims and resources of the people Historical grazing management units seem to inhabiting those areas do not converge. People in have been strips of land that would allow animals the various Mediterranean areas seem to impact to graze at low elevations during the winter and different requirements on their ecosystems. In early spring, and the high altitude grasses during part, these differences are due to the fact that the summer and early fall. Today, this is still the use of the Mediterranean-type ecosystems largely the case, although a more sedentary situa- shrublands, from man's point of view, is not tion also holds. In both cases, however, manage- independent from the use of other ecosystems. ment questions could be roughly dichotomized into Thus, for example, the California chaparral is a problems in the dry, flat areas and those on the heavily subsidized system in which the possible slopes. uses are only in response to needs of city dwellers: water management, fires, and recre- On the flatter areas, continuing research is ation. The income and resources required by dealing with substituting the existing shrub cover people inhabiting the area of the California with more palatable species (i.e., Atriplex spp.). chaparral come from sources other than the chap- This arrangement should provide grasses during one arral ecosystems. This situation is most likely part of the year with the shrubs buffering the to be different just across the Mexican inter- animal's requirement when the grasses are dry. national border. There, although the biology Animal science, management of plant cover, animal would probably be very similar to the one we see loads, and optimization are key phrases. A poster here, the system is much less subsidized and was presented during these meetings which explains people have to live out of what the Mediterranean the research efforts and results in more detail. ecosystems can supply them. There, uses are not as much associated with requirements of city By contrast on the slopes, potential erosion is dwellers as to people actually living in the high enough so that only animal numbers can be shrublands. The situation with California Indians managed. Removal of the shrub cover could cause might have been similar to that in developing severe soil losses and is no longer recommended. countries. In fact, during the 19th and early 20th centuries, the removal of shrubs was done and severe erosion In fact, observing across the various Mediter- followed. Here, along the steeper slopes which is ranean-type ecosystems, there is a whole spectrum where the poorest people live, the key phrases for us are ecosystems resilience, management of goats, and fuel extraction for domestic purposes.

1 Presented at the Symposium on Dynamics and Earlier in this meeting, J. Simonetti and I Management of Mediterranean-type Ecosystems, presented some results concerning the possible June 22-26, 1981, San Diego. California. devastating consequences of the introduction of

2 goats into Chilean shrublands. We even posed the Professor of Biological Sciences, Pontificia question that eventually goats may so devastate Universidad Catolica de Chile. Casilla 114-D, the vegetation that they may have to be replaced Santiago, Chile. as a source of income.

Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-58. Berkeley, CA: Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; 1982. 565

However, since there are people living in and In this meeting, as well as in a previous one out of the Chilean shrublands, biological con- held in Chile about 10 months ago, I found that siderations have to be compromised with studies of there is a "gap" between managers and scientists. human desires and needs. Therefore, as it is This should decrease in the future and instead of likely to be the case in other Mediterranean being a drawback, it should be a reason for more ecosystem regions, biological research in the meetings of this sort--international and diverse. Chilean matorral must include collaboration from Particularly, as a biologist from a developing scientists in nonbiological disciplines. Thanks country, I think there is need for true integra- to the efforts of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) tion among disciplines in which the biology of Program, this collaboration is occurring. human use is studied and later set into a wider perspective in collaboration with researchers from I do not need to refer here to the problems other disciplines. Within this context, the that arise when this kind of effort must be imple- differences between Mediterranean ecosystems and mented. I believe, though, that symposia such as the aims and uses people make of them could actu- the one this week will help increase the under- ally become a source of fruitful comparisons and standing between people working in various disci- inspiration for us all. plines. Meetings should include not only biologi- cal and physical scientists and managers but also social scientists.

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