Abstract
In Santa Cruz province, nearly 2.83 million hectares are occupied by a shrub steppe dominated by Mulguraea tridens (locally called matorral de mata negra), where the main activity is extensive sheep farming. This paper focuses on the effects of management practices such as removal in strips of the above ground shrub layer. The treatments were the control and the cutting of 4 and 8 m wide strips. Meteorological variables (humidity, rainfall, temperature and wind), the effect of treatments on soil variables, shrub regrowth capacity and aspects related to soil seed bank (SSB), potential germination and seedling recruitment in the field were monitored for a term of three years. The vegetation cover and grassland productivity was assessed after one, three and five years of treatments application. Shrub litter from cutting strip treatments varied between 5700 and 8000 kg/ha of dry matter, resulting in a decrease in soil range temperature (2-5 °C) and an increase in soil moisture (2.5-7.5%) during spring-summer months. Short grasses and herb productivity in the control was 11.6 kg/ha of dry matter and under strips management was up to 88.2 kg/ha of dry matter in the fifth year possibly due to better soil water use rather than seedling establishment. No significant effect of treatments on the SSB was observed. Shrubs showed ability to resprout, which provide flexibility in long term management allowing a rotational scheme of strips.
Highlights
Response of vegetation to management by cuttings along strips in a Mulguraea tridens shrubland in southern Patagonia
Las regiones áridas y semiáridas del mundo representan aproximadamente una tercera parte de la superficie continental (Whitford and Wade 2002), donde las gramíneas perennes y los arbustos son las principales formas de vida dominantes en tales ecosistemas (Bertiller et al 2005)
Está dividido en cuatro campos de 2500 ha cada uno, que son utilizados en época invernal por ganado ovino
Summary
Respuesta de la vegetación al manejo por corte en fajas en un arbustal de Mulguraea tridens en Patagonia sur SABRINA L. Por un término de 3 años se midieron variables meteorológicas (humedad, precipitaciones, temperatura y viento), el efecto de los tratamientos sobre variables del suelo, capacidad de rebrote de los arbustos de M. tridens y aspectos relacionados al banco de semillas del suelo (BSS) como la germinación potencial y el reclutamiento de plántulas en el campo. La productividad promedio del inter-coironal en el testigo fue 11.6 kg/ha de materia seca, mientras que en las fajas de corte se obtuvieron hasta 88.2 kg/ha de materia seca al quinto año de medición, posiblemente por un mejor aprovechamiento del agua del suelo ya que no se detectaron diferencias en el reclutamiento de las plántulas. [Palabras clave: suelo, vegetación, rebrote, arbusto, banco de semillas, germinación]
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