We work in interdisciplinary research in the area of global change and coastal marine ecosystems in order to provide information for sustainable management of marine resources, and global change adaptation strategies of coastal communities dependent on ecosystem services provided by the ocean.

Credits cover photo: Mar. Biol. Hugo Carrillo

The “Coastal Ecosystems & Global Environmental Change Lab” (ECCA Lab) is Professor Cristian Vargas’s research lab at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences & EULA Environmental Sciences Center, Universidad de Concepcion, Chile. We work in interdisciplinary research in the area of global change and coastal marine ecosystems in order to provide information for sustainable management of marine resources, and global change adaptation strategies of coastal communities dependent on ecosystem services provided by the ocean. 

Our methodological approaches combine observational oceanography & carbon biogeochemistry (e.g. sensors/loggers, satellite mapping and field campaigns), the use of field and laboratory experiments of different physiological traits (e.g. feeding, respiration, growth, among others), complemented with the use of different tools, such as, stable isotopes or fatty acid biomarker, as well as synthesis work. 

Our experimental work focuses on a wide spectrum of marine organisms, from bacteria, phytoplankton, holoplankton (copepods), to larval stages and adult individuals of marine intertidal/subtidal invertebrates. Dr. Vargas and his lab group are specifically focused on understand whether and how coastal species can respond and/or adapt to future changes in the ocean, including changes driven by multiple-stressors, such as, ocean warming, ocean acidification, deoxygenation, and their interactive effects with local/global pollutants.

Some examples of the kind of research we are working on:

Our laboratory group is also interested in using the scientific results to engage with industry stakeholders or policymakers for exploring potential adaptation strategies of local communities to climate and global change impacts.

Understanding current progress and the knowledge gaps that the industry perceives as important can help scientists and policymakers to trigger and support individual and collective actions towards sustainability.

For this purpose, we work closely with sociologists, socio-ecologists, and economists, aiming to understand the human dimension of global change impacts in coastal ecosystems.

In this context, we have emphasized the cross or multidisciplinary training for our Lab graduate students, which are typically co-tutored by colleagues from different areas (e.g. geographers, sociologists, economists, evolutive biologists, and so on); on this way, we allowed them to naturally develop a multidisciplinary perspective around their specific research interests.

Finally, we work collaboratively with different educational institutions for outreach activities with the active participation of our graduates and postdoc researchers.

No posts found

NEWS

New publication at Communication Earth & Environment.

We are very happy that this Perspective article has finally been published, together with our colleague and Director of the …

Read More

New PhD student at ECCA Lab.

From the first semester of this 2024 Paco Quintana is a new member of ECCA Lab. Paco is from Perú, …

Read More

New paper in Nature Communications

We would like sharing with all of you this huge achievement of our ECCALab team and all the collaborators, co-authors, …

Read More
academicos integran red secos

Millennium Institute of Coastal Socio-Ecology (SECOS)

As a laboratory we are happy and proud to be part of the new “Millennium Institute of Coastal Socio-Ecology (SECOS). …

Read More

PROJECTS

Role of underwater kelp forest in blue carbon sequestration and refuge from ocean acidification. The David & Lucile Packard Foundation

PI: Dr. Mauricio Urbina (UdeC) Dr. Cristian Vargas (UdeC), Dr. Nelson Lagos (UST), Dr. Erasmo Macaya (UdeC) Submarine forests...

Role of TEmporal scales of oceanographic variability in shaping the Response of Marine Organisms upon changing pH and Oxygen conditions in the coastal zone (TERMO2 Project). FONDECYT Nº 1210171. 2021 – 2025

Understanding biological responses of marine organisms is paramount to improve prediction of the fate of biological systems in coastal...

Coastal Social-Ecological Millennium Institute (SECOS)

The goal of SECOS is to advance social-ecological systems (SES) research by focusing on real world coastal challenges to...