| Since 1989, I have been involved in a long-term ecological study in the semiarid zone of north-central Chile. To date it has uncovered many exciting aspects of the structure and functioning of the unusual biota here. However, the genesis of this project actually dates back to 1973 when I first saw the study area in Parque Nacional Bosque Fray Jorge as a visiting professor at the Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago. At that time, I initiated a small mammal live-trapping study in collaboration with Eric Le Boulengé of Belgium. Little did we know that the basic data we collected on small mammal populations, diets, and predators then would lead to the installation of what is now the longest running field manipulation in temperate South America. In this... |
