Water availability is one of the main limitations for future development and e
conomi
c a
ctivity in many regions of the world. This applies even to areas of relatively high annual rainfall, su
ch as the Valdivian Rainforest e
co-region in Chile (35–48°S). Streamflow and water availability are
cru
cial for several e
conomi
c a
ctivities in the e
co-region in
cluding hydroele
ctri
city, irrigation, salmon farming, sports fishing of introdu
ced trout and tourism. S
cientifi
c resear
ch fo
cused on the spatial and temporal patterns of streamflow is a key element for planning the future development within the e
co-region. In this paper we explore the potential of tree-rings for streamflow re
constru
ction in this region. Our preliminary results indi
cate a signifi
cant
correlation (
coration:none; color:black"" href=""/science?_ob=MathURL&_method=retrieve&_udi=B7GJ1-4GPW3T0-1&_mathId=mml5&_user=3986987&_cdi=20193&_rdoc=6&_acct=C000053585&_version=1&_userid=6230853&md5=5621ec0bca586606411e72df5189d6cd"" title=""Click to view the MathML source"">r=0.59 coration:none; color:black"" href=""/science?_ob=MathURL&_method=retrieve&_udi=B7GJ1-4GPW3T0-1&_mathId=mml6&_user=3986987&_cdi=20193&_rdoc=6&_acct=C000053585&_version=1&_userid=6230853&md5=61ada28331044ef914737e2dfc5b35e4"" title=""Click to view the MathML source"">Pc;0.001, 1929–2000) between prior summer Río Bueno streamflow (January–April) and the average between a
composite tree-ring
chronology using
Pilgerodendron uviferum from Chile and two
composite
Austrocedrus chilensis chronologies from Argentinean Patagonia. Similarly, there is a signifi
cant
correlation (
coration:none; color:black"" href=""/science?_ob=MathURL&_method=retrieve&_udi=B7GJ1-4GPW3T0-1&_mathId=mml7&_user=3986987&_cdi=20193&_rdoc=6&_acct=C000053585&_version=1&_userid=6230853&md5=61d741b50a8f49b9ab1af0124295485e"" title=""Click to view the MathML source"">r=0.57,
coration:none; color:black"" href=""/science?_ob=MathURL&_method=retrieve&_udi=B7GJ1-4GPW3T0-1&_mathId=mml8&_user=3986987&_cdi=20193&_rdoc=6&_acct=C000053585&_version=1&_userid=6230853&md5=ba52407f2e698279c61bf24caed8e84f"" title=""Click to view the MathML source"">Pc;0.001, 1943–2002), between the
Austrocedrus chronology (40°44′S) at Centinela in Argentinean Patagonia and the previous spring through early autumn (November–April) streamflow for Río Puelo. The tree-ring re
cords used to
correlate with Río Bueno and Río Puelo dis
charges show low-frequen
cy variability and therefore the potential to re
constru
ct this variability in streamflow for the last 500–780 years. We also found a signifi
cant
correlation between the
composite
Pilgerodendron standard ring-width
chronology and the
current summer water salinity (January–April) at the Relon
cavi Estuary (
coration:none; color:black"" href=""/science?_ob=MathURL&_method=retrieve&_udi=B7GJ1-4GPW3T0-1&_mathId=mml9&_user=3986987&_cdi=20193&_rdoc=6&_acct=C000053585&_version=1&_userid=6230853&md5=982c09f2cc7e1f18c4a12dd08b42ac33"" title=""Click to view the MathML source"">r2=0.60,
coration:none; color:black"" href=""/science?_ob=MathURL&_method=retrieve&_udi=B7GJ1-4GPW3T0-1&_mathId=mml10&_user=3986987&_cdi=20193&_rdoc=6&_acct=C000053585&_version=1&_userid=6230853&md5=d390121bc7796ab397ed4acc45aa5ba9"" title=""Click to view the MathML source"">Pc;0.01, 1992–2000). Water salinity is a
cru
cial determinant of the
carrying
capa
city of salmon farming. Future resear
ch should provide re
constru
ctions of streamflow, water salinity and other water quality attributes from tree-rings. These data will provide inputs to modeling s
cenarios of future water availability and are
cru
cial to de
cision-making and planning of resour
ce management and so
cio-e
conomi
c development in the Valdivian Rainforest e
co-region.