Management of grassland/savannas encroached by woody plants in South American Semiarid Chaco: Ecological restoration vs. African grasses introduction

In Semiarid Chaco, two management approaches for woody plant-encroached grassland/savannas were evaluated: ecological restoration and the African grass introduction. An experiment with five treatments was carried out: 1) reference community (Ref_Eco; a grassland/savanna in good state, used as standa...

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Main Authors: Coria, Rubén Darío, Kunst, Carlos Roberto, Anriquez, Analía Liliana, Bravo, Sandra
Format: info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo
Language:Inglés
Published: Asociación Argentina de Ecología 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/14647
https://ojs.ecologiaaustral.com.ar/index.php/Ecologia_Austral/article/view/2156
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author Coria, Rubén Darío
Kunst, Carlos Roberto
Anriquez, Analía Liliana
Bravo, Sandra
author_browse Anriquez, Analía Liliana
Bravo, Sandra
Coria, Rubén Darío
Kunst, Carlos Roberto
author_facet Coria, Rubén Darío
Kunst, Carlos Roberto
Anriquez, Analía Liliana
Bravo, Sandra
author_sort Coria, Rubén Darío
collection INTA Digital
description In Semiarid Chaco, two management approaches for woody plant-encroached grassland/savannas were evaluated: ecological restoration and the African grass introduction. An experiment with five treatments was carried out: 1) reference community (Ref_Eco; a grassland/savanna in good state, used as standard of comparison); 2) grassland/savanna encroached by woody plants (Woody_Encr; the woody state of grassland/savannas); 3) roller chopping of the encroached ecosystem, followed by grazing suppression and prescribed fire (Roll_Fire; aimed at inducing grassland/savanna ecological restoration); 4) roller chopping of the encroached ecosystem, with instantaneous seeding of Megathyrsus maximus cv. Gatton Panic and grazing suppression (Roll_Gatton Panic), and 5) roller chopping of the encroached ecosystem, with instantaneous seeding of Cenchrus ciliaris cv. Buffel Texas and grazing suppression (Roll_Buffel Texas). The last two treatments aimed to obtain new highly productive grassy states for ranching through the introduction of these African grasses. The results suggested that Ref_Eco (average herbaceous biomass [HERB]=7196.9 kg DM/ha) was dominated by shade intolerant and fire tolerant grasses, and it had good soil quality and good utilitarian range condition. Regarding Ref_Eco: a) in Woody_Encr (HERB=2192 kg DM/ha), the vegetation structure, plant composition and the utilitarian range condition were altered, but it still had good soil quality and abundant native grass populations; b) in Rol_Fire (HERB=6591.6 kg DM/ha), both the vegetation structure and good utilitarian range condition were restored, plant composition was not restored and the good soil quality was kept, and c) Roll_Gatton Panic and Roll_Buffel Texas (HERB=10972.1 and 7450.8 kg DM/ha, respectively) resulted in new grassy states integrated by native and exotic grasses with good utilitarian range condition and good soil quality. In this study case, the ecological restoration of the encroached ecosystems would be both ecologically and productively viable. So, probably the introduction of African grasses to improve ranching was not necessary.
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institution Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina)
language Inglés
publishDate 2023
publishDateRange 2023
publishDateSort 2023
publisher Asociación Argentina de Ecología
publisherStr Asociación Argentina de Ecología
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spelling INTA146472023-06-28T21:27:03Z Management of grassland/savannas encroached by woody plants in South American Semiarid Chaco: Ecological restoration vs. African grasses introduction Manejo de pastizales/sabanas lignificados del Chaco Semiárido Sudamericano: Restauración ecológica vs. implantación de pasturas africanas Coria, Rubén Darío Kunst, Carlos Roberto Anriquez, Analía Liliana Bravo, Sandra Praderas Sabanas Manejo de Praderas Ecología Vegetación Quema Controlada Grasslands Savannahs Grassland Management Ecology Vegetation Controlled Burning Región Chaco Semiárido In Semiarid Chaco, two management approaches for woody plant-encroached grassland/savannas were evaluated: ecological restoration and the African grass introduction. An experiment with five treatments was carried out: 1) reference community (Ref_Eco; a grassland/savanna in good state, used as standard of comparison); 2) grassland/savanna encroached by woody plants (Woody_Encr; the woody state of grassland/savannas); 3) roller chopping of the encroached ecosystem, followed by grazing suppression and prescribed fire (Roll_Fire; aimed at inducing grassland/savanna ecological restoration); 4) roller chopping of the encroached ecosystem, with instantaneous seeding of Megathyrsus maximus cv. Gatton Panic and grazing suppression (Roll_Gatton Panic), and 5) roller chopping of the encroached ecosystem, with instantaneous seeding of Cenchrus ciliaris cv. Buffel Texas and grazing suppression (Roll_Buffel Texas). The last two treatments aimed to obtain new highly productive grassy states for ranching through the introduction of these African grasses. The results suggested that Ref_Eco (average herbaceous biomass [HERB]=7196.9 kg DM/ha) was dominated by shade intolerant and fire tolerant grasses, and it had good soil quality and good utilitarian range condition. Regarding Ref_Eco: a) in Woody_Encr (HERB=2192 kg DM/ha), the vegetation structure, plant composition and the utilitarian range condition were altered, but it still had good soil quality and abundant native grass populations; b) in Rol_Fire (HERB=6591.6 kg DM/ha), both the vegetation structure and good utilitarian range condition were restored, plant composition was not restored and the good soil quality was kept, and c) Roll_Gatton Panic and Roll_Buffel Texas (HERB=10972.1 and 7450.8 kg DM/ha, respectively) resulted in new grassy states integrated by native and exotic grasses with good utilitarian range condition and good soil quality. In this study case, the ecological restoration of the encroached ecosystems would be both ecologically and productively viable. So, probably the introduction of African grasses to improve ranching was not necessary. Dos enfoques de manejo de pastizales/sabanas lignificados fueron evaluados: la restauración ecológica y la implantación de pasturas africanas. Se realizó un experimento con cinco tratamientos: 1) comunidad de referencia (Ref_Eco; pastizal/sabana en buen estado, usado como estándar de comparación); 2) pastizal/sabana lignificado (Woody_Encr; estado lignificado de los pastizales/ sabanas); 3) rolado del ecosistema lignificado, seguido por supresión del pastoreo y fuego prescripto (Roll_Fire; objetivo: inducir la restauración ecológica del pastizal/sabana); 4) rolado del ecosistema lignificado con siembra instantánea de Megathyrsus maximus cv. Gatton Panic y supresión del pastoreo (Roll_Gatton Panic), y 5) rolado del ecosistema lignificado, con siembra instantánea de Cenchrus ciliaris cv. Buffel Texas y supresión del pastoreo (Roll_Buffel Texas). Los dos últimos tratamientos buscaron obtener nuevos estados graminosos muy productivos para la ganadería mediante la implantación de esas pasturas africanas. Los resultados sugirieron que Ref_Eco (biomasa herbácea promedio [HERB]=7196.9 kg MS/ha) estuvo dominado por gramíneas intolerantes a la sombra y tolerantes al fuego, y tuvo calidad del suelo buena y condición utilitaria del pastizal buena. Comparado con a Ref_Eco: a) en Woody_Encr (HERB=2192 kg MS/ha), la estructura de la vegetación, la composición de plantas y la condición utilitaria del pastizal fueron alteradas, pero éste todavía tuvo calidad del suelo buena y poblaciones de gramíneas nativas abundantes; b) en Roll_Fire (HERB=6591.6 kg MS/ha), la estructura de la vegetación y la condición utilitaria del pastizal fueron restaurados, la composición de plantas no fue restaurada y la calidad del suelo buena fue preservada, y c) Roll_Gatton Panic y Roll_Buffel Texas (HERB=10972.1 y 7450.8 kg MS/ha, respectivamente) resultaron en nuevos estados graminosos integrados por pastos nativos y exóticos con calidad del suelo buena y condición utilitaria del pastizal buena. En este estudio, la restauración ecológica del ecosistema lignificado sería ecológica y productivamente viable. Por lo tanto, probablemente la implantación de pasturas africanas para mejorar la producción ganadera no fue necesaria. EEA Santiago del Estero Fil: Coria, Ruben Dario. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santiago del Estero; Argentina Fil: Kunst, Carlos Roberto. Colegio de Ingenieros Agrónomos de Santiago del Estero; Argentina Fil: Anriquez, Analia Liliana. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Agronomía y Agroindustrias; Argentina Fil: Bravo, Sandra. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales. Cátedra de Botánica; Argentina 2023-06-22T12:25:06Z 2023-06-22T12:25:06Z 2023-08 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/14647 https://ojs.ecologiaaustral.com.ar/index.php/Ecologia_Austral/article/view/2156 0327-5477 1667-782X eng info:eu-repograntAgreement/INTA/2019-PD-E2-I038-002/2019-PD-E2-I038-002/AR./Evaluación, monitoreo y manejo de la biodiversidad en sistemas agropecuarios y forestales info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) application/pdf Asociación Argentina de Ecología Ecología Austral 33 (2) : 489-506. (agosto 2023)
spellingShingle Praderas
Sabanas
Manejo de Praderas
Ecología
Vegetación
Quema Controlada
Grasslands
Savannahs
Grassland Management
Ecology
Vegetation
Controlled Burning
Región Chaco Semiárido
Coria, Rubén Darío
Kunst, Carlos Roberto
Anriquez, Analía Liliana
Bravo, Sandra
Management of grassland/savannas encroached by woody plants in South American Semiarid Chaco: Ecological restoration vs. African grasses introduction
title Management of grassland/savannas encroached by woody plants in South American Semiarid Chaco: Ecological restoration vs. African grasses introduction
title_full Management of grassland/savannas encroached by woody plants in South American Semiarid Chaco: Ecological restoration vs. African grasses introduction
title_fullStr Management of grassland/savannas encroached by woody plants in South American Semiarid Chaco: Ecological restoration vs. African grasses introduction
title_full_unstemmed Management of grassland/savannas encroached by woody plants in South American Semiarid Chaco: Ecological restoration vs. African grasses introduction
title_short Management of grassland/savannas encroached by woody plants in South American Semiarid Chaco: Ecological restoration vs. African grasses introduction
title_sort management of grassland savannas encroached by woody plants in south american semiarid chaco ecological restoration vs african grasses introduction
topic Praderas
Sabanas
Manejo de Praderas
Ecología
Vegetación
Quema Controlada
Grasslands
Savannahs
Grassland Management
Ecology
Vegetation
Controlled Burning
Región Chaco Semiárido
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/14647
https://ojs.ecologiaaustral.com.ar/index.php/Ecologia_Austral/article/view/2156
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