Abstract

Anthropogenic threats and their impacts on aquatic ecosystems have traditionally been evaluated only through literature reviews. Within the last decade, however, expert opinions have become an increasingly popular alternative for gaining complementary information to literature reviews. This study employed a standardized method for collecting bibliographic data combined with synthesize expert opinions to establish a current knowledge baseline on threats to Mediterranean freshwater ecosystems in Chile. We revised 79 scientific articles that included a variety of taxonomic groups containing fish (n = 32); macroinvertebrates (n = 17); amphibians (n = 18); freshwater plants (n = 8); and two taxonomic groups simultaneously (n = 4). From this review, we identified 14 threats, with land-use change, species introductions, and industrial/domestic effluents as salient factors. These findings were in agreement with results from expert opinion surveys (n = 46 researchers). An analysis by taxonomic group indicated freshwater fishes as most threatened by hydropower plants. Aquatic plants were most threatened by mining. Amphibians were most threatened by changes in soil use whereas aquatic macroinvertebrates by industrial/domestic effluents. Remarkably, the magnitude of threats identified in the literature review was of similar order than those catalogued by experts. Moreover, the primary threats identified here align with those reported in other Mediterranean regions of the world. Our combined approach using literature review and expert opinion was useful in determining the consistency of the main threats to each taxonomic group. Our findings can be used as a baseline to further research and in prioritizing management strategies for threatened Mediterranean ecosystems worldwide.