Between March 9 to March 31, 2024, Dietmar Quandt (University of Bonn), Julia Bechteler (University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, now LMU Munich), Eric Stein (University of Heidelberg) and Lara Iaboli (University of Bonn, now LMU Munich) were in the Atacama in Chile for joint fieldwork of subprojects B01 and B07.

The team checked and re-measured the Huidobria fruticosa individuals in the 2022 established coastal transect north of Paposo. It was great to see that most of the plants were in good shape and had grown in size and volume since the last year. A further transect for this plant species could be established for comparative analyses in the vicinity of San Pedro de Atacama, which is influenced by Andean environmental conditions.

Almost 160 Huidobria fruticosa individuals were genotyped and phenotyped along an almost 6 km long transect. The team also focused on the other CRC1211 wide study organism Tillandsia landbeckii. Tasks included the download and digital archiving of the climate data recorded over the last year (2023/2024) from the climate stations in the study fields close to Caldera and Arica. In the study site close to Iquique the team sampled plant material for growth experiments under controlled environmental conditions at the University of Heidelberg.

Furthermore, the team obtained drilling cores of three dunes formed by died off Tillandsia landbeckii individuals to better understand spatial and temporal distribution patterns of Tillandsia dune ecosystems. The cores will be analysed by an interdisciplinary team of geologists and botanists from the University of Cologne, University of Bonn and University of Heidelberg. The support by our local collaboration partners Alexandra Stoll (CEAZA La Serena) and Eduardo Campos (Universidad Católica del Norte Antofagasta) was again excellent and the team greatly acknowledges their contributions to this successful and inspiring research field campaign.

The team checking out potential sites for a Huidobria fruticosa transect in the Andean region close to San Pedro de Atacama Photo: Julia Bechteler

Flower of a Huidobria fruticosa Photo: Julia Bechteler

Huidobria fruticosa in the newly established transect close to San Pedro de Atacama Photo: Julia Bechteler

Eric and Lara sampling and measuring a Huidobria fruticosa Photo: Dietmar Quandt

A stunning rainbow after rain and thunderstorm in San Pedro de Atacama Photo: Eric Stein

Digging out a drilling core of a dead Tillandsia landbeckii dune Photo: Julia Bechteler

Drilling core done… Photo: Julia Bechteler

Tillandsia landbeckii field close to Iquique Photo: Julia Bechteler

Dietmar is downloading data from the climate station in the Caldera Tillandsia field Photo: Eric Stein

Eric is reading out one of the CRC-wide climate stations in the Tillandsia landbeckii field nearby Arica Photo: Lara Iaboli