IONGEL DURÁN IS AWARDED FONDECYT 2025 INITIATION FUND TO STUDY THE ACONCAGUA RIVER BASIN. Hemera | Universidad Mayor

Drought impacts the hydrological cycle, agriculture, human communities and ecosystems. Since 2010, the central zone of Chile has experienced a sequence of dry years, known as mega-drought, which could be affecting the ecological integrity of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs), which require, partially or permanently, the contribution of groundwater for their functioning. Worldwide, their knowledge is limited, and in Chile their study is practically nonexistent.


Globally, the main efforts for the conservation and management of groundwater have focused on its various uses, leaving in second place the ecosystems that depend on this water resource. This limited attention motivated the initiative to study them in Chile, with the objective of researching how these ecosystems are adapting to drought and climate change.


The initiative, led by Iongel Durán Llacer, academic of the School of Environmental and Sustainability Engineering, School of Forestry Engineering and researcher associated with the Hémera Center, will have the international collaboration of researchers from the Faculty of Geological Sciences of the Complutense University of Madrid, as well as from the Universidad of La Serena. It will also have the direct support of the Dirección General de Aguas (DGA) and the participation of researchers from Centro Hémera.


The project, which will be carried out during 2025 and 2028 in the Aconcagua basin, aims to evaluate the water response of Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems (GDEs) to drought and climate change.


For this purpose, a mapping will be carried out to identify these ecosystems using machine learning models and isotopic analysis. In addition, their ecological response to future climate change scenarios will be analyzed.