Abstract

ZEBERIO, Juan M; TORRES ROBLES, Silvia S  and  CALABRESE, Graciela M. Land use and conservation of woody vegetation in the Northeast of Patagonia. Ecol. austral [online]. 2018, vol.28, n.3, pp.543-552. ISSN 1667-782X.

Natural systems are often managed for production and provision of environmental services. The main use of semiarid ecosystems of Northeastern Patagonia is grazing by livestock in rangelands. Native vegetation is a shrubby-grassland steppe with isolated groups of trees. In this work we study the relationships between compositional and structural aspects of vegetation and the anthropic use of the Patagonian Monte. Communities were characterized by ecological parameters such as richness, cover, Shannon Wiener’s diversity index (H’) and Importance Value Index (IVI). Sites with similar covers of high and low strata and sites dominated by high shrubby strata presented higher values of Shannon index, greater cover and lower cattle stock. Besides, these sites had higher cover of perennial herbs. Presence of different woody strata provides more cover to the soil and enhances the forage availability in the Monte of the northeastern of Rio Negro.

Keywords : Semiarid lands; Shrub steppe; Encroachment; Land use.

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