Remotely‐sensed primary productivity shows that domestic and native herbivores combined are overgrazing Patagonia

1.Carrying capacity is the maximum animal density an area can sustain without deterioration of its resources. Overgrazing has degraded Patagonia, but sheep stocks decreased and gave way to mixed systems with cattle, goats and guanacos (native wild camelids). 2.The objective of this paper was to dev...

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Main Authors: Oliva, Gabriel Esteban, Paredes, Paula Natalia, Ferrante, Daniela, Cepeda, Carla Tamara, Rabinovich, Jorge Eduardo
Format: Artículo
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley; British Ecological Society 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/5142
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2664.13408
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13408
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author Oliva, Gabriel Esteban
Paredes, Paula Natalia
Ferrante, Daniela
Cepeda, Carla Tamara
Rabinovich, Jorge Eduardo
author_browse Cepeda, Carla Tamara
Ferrante, Daniela
Oliva, Gabriel Esteban
Paredes, Paula Natalia
Rabinovich, Jorge Eduardo
author_facet Oliva, Gabriel Esteban
Paredes, Paula Natalia
Ferrante, Daniela
Cepeda, Carla Tamara
Rabinovich, Jorge Eduardo
author_sort Oliva, Gabriel Esteban
collection INTA Digital
description 1.Carrying capacity is the maximum animal density an area can sustain without deterioration of its resources. Overgrazing has degraded Patagonia, but sheep stocks decreased and gave way to mixed systems with cattle, goats and guanacos (native wild camelids). 2.The objective of this paper was to develop a method to estimate carrying capacity based on remotely sensed data, and to assess wild and domestic herbivore numbers in order to establish if grazing stocks have evolved to balance with carrying capacity. 3.Net Primary Productivity (NPP) MOD17/A3 images and field Aerial Net Primary Productivity (ANPP) data of 66 sites were linearly regressed (R2= 0.83, P<0.01), and the slope 0.236 used to convert MOD17/A3 NPP to ANPP. Harvest index (proportion of ANPP that may be sustainably consumed) was estimated as a function of ANPP and carrying capacity as a consumable forage/ estimated annual consumption, set at 500 (sheep and goats), 3200 (cattle) and 750 kg Dry Matter.head−1.year−1 (guanacos). 4.Regional ANPP±SD (2000‐2015) was 758±52 kg Dry Matter ha−1.yr−1 and Harvest index 13.7±0.6%. Regional carrying capacity was 14.8±1.6 M sheep or goats, 2.3±0.3 M cattle or 9.9±1.2 M guanacos. 5.Domestic stock was high from 1920 to 1980, but declined thereafter and remained mostly within 1SD of mean 2000‐2015 carrying capacity. In this century annual provincial stocks and carrying capacity correlated well (R²= 0.94, p<0.01) with a slope close to 1. 6.Guanacos increased from 0.5 M to 2 M between 2000‐2015, driving linearly combined grazing pressures 36 and 62% above carrying capacity in southern Patagonia provinces in 2015. 7.Synthesis and applications. From the year 2000, after decades of sheep overstocking, domestic stock have shown a regional trend towards a grazing equilibrium, but growth of guanacos might have upset that trend. Participation of guanacos as a critical excess in total grazing pressure is debatable, but management of these populations is necessary and may be increasingly attractive if combined production systems are developed to incorporate wild meat and fibre. Our method,MOD17/A3 enables a carrying capacity evaluation and stock adjustment in these unique mixed grazing systems, preventing further rangeland degradation and loss of ecosystem services.
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spelling INTA51422020-10-09T17:52:28Z Remotely‐sensed primary productivity shows that domestic and native herbivores combined are overgrazing Patagonia Oliva, Gabriel Esteban Paredes, Paula Natalia Ferrante, Daniela Cepeda, Carla Tamara Rabinovich, Jorge Eduardo Rangelands Harvest Index Ecosystem Services Carrying Capacity Mixed Grazing Tierras de Pastos Indice de Cosecha Guanaco Servicios de los Ecosistemas Capacidad de Carga Pastoreo Mixto MOD17/A3 Herbivore Destocking 1.Carrying capacity is the maximum animal density an area can sustain without deterioration of its resources. Overgrazing has degraded Patagonia, but sheep stocks decreased and gave way to mixed systems with cattle, goats and guanacos (native wild camelids). 2.The objective of this paper was to develop a method to estimate carrying capacity based on remotely sensed data, and to assess wild and domestic herbivore numbers in order to establish if grazing stocks have evolved to balance with carrying capacity. 3.Net Primary Productivity (NPP) MOD17/A3 images and field Aerial Net Primary Productivity (ANPP) data of 66 sites were linearly regressed (R2= 0.83, P<0.01), and the slope 0.236 used to convert MOD17/A3 NPP to ANPP. Harvest index (proportion of ANPP that may be sustainably consumed) was estimated as a function of ANPP and carrying capacity as a consumable forage/ estimated annual consumption, set at 500 (sheep and goats), 3200 (cattle) and 750 kg Dry Matter.head−1.year−1 (guanacos). 4.Regional ANPP±SD (2000‐2015) was 758±52 kg Dry Matter ha−1.yr−1 and Harvest index 13.7±0.6%. Regional carrying capacity was 14.8±1.6 M sheep or goats, 2.3±0.3 M cattle or 9.9±1.2 M guanacos. 5.Domestic stock was high from 1920 to 1980, but declined thereafter and remained mostly within 1SD of mean 2000‐2015 carrying capacity. In this century annual provincial stocks and carrying capacity correlated well (R²= 0.94, p<0.01) with a slope close to 1. 6.Guanacos increased from 0.5 M to 2 M between 2000‐2015, driving linearly combined grazing pressures 36 and 62% above carrying capacity in southern Patagonia provinces in 2015. 7.Synthesis and applications. From the year 2000, after decades of sheep overstocking, domestic stock have shown a regional trend towards a grazing equilibrium, but growth of guanacos might have upset that trend. Participation of guanacos as a critical excess in total grazing pressure is debatable, but management of these populations is necessary and may be increasingly attractive if combined production systems are developed to incorporate wild meat and fibre. Our method,MOD17/A3 enables a carrying capacity evaluation and stock adjustment in these unique mixed grazing systems, preventing further rangeland degradation and loss of ecosystem services. EEA Santa Cruz Fil: Oliva, Gabriel Esteban. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina Fil: Paredes, Paula Natalia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina Fil: Ferrante, Daniela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina Fil: Cepeda, Carla Tamara. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina Fil: Rabinovich, Jorge Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - la Plata. Centro de Estudios Parasitologicos y de Vectores. Universidad Nacional de la Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Centro de Estudios Parasitológicos y de Vectores; Argentina 2019-05-17T14:02:48Z 2019-05-17T14:02:48Z 2019-04 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/5142 https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2664.13408 1365-2664 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13408 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess application/pdf Wiley; British Ecological Society Journal of applied ecology (29 April 2019)
spellingShingle Rangelands
Harvest Index
Ecosystem Services
Carrying Capacity
Mixed Grazing
Tierras de Pastos
Indice de Cosecha
Guanaco
Servicios de los Ecosistemas
Capacidad de Carga
Pastoreo Mixto
MOD17/A3
Herbivore Destocking
Oliva, Gabriel Esteban
Paredes, Paula Natalia
Ferrante, Daniela
Cepeda, Carla Tamara
Rabinovich, Jorge Eduardo
Remotely‐sensed primary productivity shows that domestic and native herbivores combined are overgrazing Patagonia
title Remotely‐sensed primary productivity shows that domestic and native herbivores combined are overgrazing Patagonia
title_full Remotely‐sensed primary productivity shows that domestic and native herbivores combined are overgrazing Patagonia
title_fullStr Remotely‐sensed primary productivity shows that domestic and native herbivores combined are overgrazing Patagonia
title_full_unstemmed Remotely‐sensed primary productivity shows that domestic and native herbivores combined are overgrazing Patagonia
title_short Remotely‐sensed primary productivity shows that domestic and native herbivores combined are overgrazing Patagonia
title_sort remotely sensed primary productivity shows that domestic and native herbivores combined are overgrazing patagonia
topic Rangelands
Harvest Index
Ecosystem Services
Carrying Capacity
Mixed Grazing
Tierras de Pastos
Indice de Cosecha
Guanaco
Servicios de los Ecosistemas
Capacidad de Carga
Pastoreo Mixto
MOD17/A3
Herbivore Destocking
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/5142
https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1365-2664.13408
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13408
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