Revista chilena de historia natural - Diversity, dynamics and biogeography ...n benthic nearshore ecosystems: an overview and guidelines for conservation Revista chilena de historia natural Print ISSN 0716-078X Curriculum Rev. chil. hist. nat. vol.73 n.4 Santiago Dec. 2000 How to cite this article Diversity, dynamics and biogeography of Chilean benthic nearshore ecosystems: an overview and guidelines for conservation Diversidad, dinámica y biogeografía del ecosistema costero bentónico de Chile: revisión y bases para conservación marina MIRIAM FERNANDEZ1,2, EDUARDO JARAMILLO3, PABLO A. MARQUET2, CARLOS A. MORENO4, SERGIO A. NAVARRETE1,2, F. PATRICIO OJEDA2, CLAUDIO R. VALDOVINOS5 & JULIO A. VASQUEZ 6 (*) 1 Estación Costera de Investigaciones Marinas, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile, e-mail:
[email protected] 2 Departamento de Ecología, Facultad de Biología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile, 3 Instituto de Zoología, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile, 4 Instituto de Ecología y Evolución, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile, 5 EULA, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile, 6 Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo, Chile, * in alphabethical order from the second to the last author ABSTRACT Despite Chile has been one of the pioneering countries in studies of human impact on marine communities, and despite the enormous economic and social significance that the marine environment has for the country, the development of marine conservation programs and the scientific basis for sustainability has not kept pace, with the exploitation rate of marine fisheries and the increasing use of the coast for other purposes. Although we think that the establishment of any conservation policies along the vast coastline of Chile must be based on a multitude of approaches and considerations, scientific, biological, and ecological principles should guide much of these efforts.