Assessing the interaction between mountain forests and snow avalanches at Nevados de Chillán, Chile and its implications for ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction

"Nothofagusforests may influence avalanche dynamics, particularly in small to medium-sized events if the distance between the release area of the avalanche and the upper timberline is less than ca. 200 m.A combination of different methods and approaches is crucial to a comprehensive understanding of interactions between natural hazards and forest ecosystems. This is particularly true for complex mountainous regions like the Nevados de Chillán, where in many cases natural hazards interact with each other, where the complextopography (steep mountain terrain) results in a more difficult acquisition of accurate digital terrain models (which are necessary for the applied simulation models) and in particular where historical records on natural hazard regimes arescarce.Overall, the findings of our study suggest that the conservation of regional native forests may contribute, at least inspecific parts of the region, as an Eco-DRR measure for protecting against natural hazards.Given the relevance of snow avalanches and other gravitational natural hazards for the local community and for tourism, it is important to better integrate spatial information related to these processes as input for land-use planning tools along the Valle Las Trancas."