Daniel P. Soto is a forester and applied forest ecologist based on Northern Patagonia. He’s an Assistant Professor of Forest Ecology and Silviculture at the Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Tecnología of the new and state university called University of Aysen in Coyhaique, Chile. Dr. Soto serves as associate editor of New Forests, International Journal on the Biology, Biotechnology, and Management of afforestation and reforestation (since March 2019 to ongoing), officeholder of IUFRO RG 1.05.00 division of uneven-aged silviculture (2019-2024), and board member of the Science Committee of the Research Direction and elected Senator of the University of Aysen (March 2020 to March 2024).
Daniel Soto has a M.S. in Forest Resources from Universidad Austral de Chile, and a Ph.D. in Forest Ecosystems and Society from Oregon State University. Currently, he’s running three competitive projects as a principal investigator (PI). One relate to increase the structural complexity of pure lenga (Nothofagus pumilio; the largest forest type of the temperate region of south America) forests through uneven-aged silviculture, another project related to how resources (i.e. light, nutrients and water) interact to drive the development of different tree species (shade-tolerance) along an ample environmental gradient within Evergreen forest type in the South-Central Chile (39° to 45°), and a project related to structural variation of lenga forests (N. pumilio) along precipitation gradient in northwestern Patagonia. Dr. Soto’s also co-investigator of two projects: one about the successional development of evergreen forest type after 40 years since applied different silvicultural treatments in the coastal range of south-central Chile, and an initiative about the conversion of exotic pine plantation to native forests in northern Patagonia; both funding by Fondo de Investigación del Bosque Nativo (FIBN) of CONAF (Chilean Forest Service). Further information about his research topics and peer-reviewed publications can be found in the following link:
https://sites.google.com/view/silviculture/danielsotowebpage
Research interests: Silviculture, Applied Forest Ecology, Regeneration ecology and silviculture, Ecological forest management, Forest Restoration