Resumen

PEREDO-PARADA, M et al. ECO-HYDROLOGICAL DATABASE OF CHILEAN RIVERS: A TOOL FOR MANAGEMENT OF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM. Gayana (Concepc.) [online]. 2009, vol.73, n.1, pp. 119-129. ISSN 0717-6538.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0717-65382009000100015.

The limited knowledge of Chilean native species is one of the main constraints to develop conservation strategies for species or conservation planning and rehabilitation of aquatic ecosystems. To fill this gap it was developed an Eco-Hydro logical Database of the Chilean rivers. This database contains information about hydrology, water quality, substrate and fish information. The latter information was based on literature collection concerning on fish distribution, divided into three levels (I, II and III) according to detail and spatial scale of the information (macro, meso and microscale, respectively). The database has 393 hydro logical stations, 361 water quality stations, 92 substrate stations and a total of 1580 fish records distributed throughout Chile. This database has been integrated into the management platform «River Environmental Classification of Chilean Rivers» (REC-Chile), which was built based on environmental factors which control the hydrological pattern of a river. The joint use of the database along with REC-Chile will further develop planning and management of aquatic ecosystems in Chile.

Palabras llave : Chile; REC-Chile; Eco-Hydrological Database; aquatic ecosystems management; Chilean native fish.