Intensification of livestock farming in times of climate change: The challenges of domestic grazing in the drylands of the Argentine Patagonia

Laura Yahdjian, Lucas J. Carboni, Sergio Velasco Ayuso, Gaston R. Oñatibia

Abstract


Livestock grazing modifies and even degrades arid ecosystems, which threatens the sustainability of livestock farming itself. It is essential to learn more about the effects of grazing on vegetation and soil to design strategies to avoid desertification, perhaps the most serious problem faced by drylands. In this paper, we evaluate the changes in the functional traits of the plant community and the biological soil crust induced by the intensification of grazing in Patagonian ecosystems. This description, together with changes in diversity, plant composition, and ecosystem functioning, can help us to understand the mechanisms by which the intensification of sheep grazing could degrade arid ecosystems.

Keywords


Patagonian steppe; functional diversity; biological soil crusts; sheep production; desertification

Full Text: PDF

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.13.21553

References


Austin, A. T., & Sala, O. E. (2002). Carbon and nitrogen dynamics across a natural precipitation gradient in Patagonia, Argentina. Journal of Vegetation Science, 13(3), 351–360. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02059.x

Carboni, L. (2019). La intensificación del pastoreo produce efectos diferenciales en la cobertura y composición vegetal en un gradiente regional de aridez. [Undergraduate dissertation in Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Buenos Aires]. Argentina.

Censo Nacional Agropecuario. (2018). Resultados preliminares, ganadería. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos – INDEC.

Cesa, A., & Paruelo, J. M. (2011). Changes in vegetation structure induced by domestic grazing in Patagonia (Southern Argentina). Journal of Arid Environments, 75(11), 1129–1135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.04.003

Flombaum, P., Yahdjian, L., & Sala, O. E. (2017). Global-change drivers on ecosystem functioning modulated by natural variability and saturating responses. Global Change Biology, 23(2), 503–511. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13441

Gaitán, J. J., Bran, D. E., Oliva, G. E., Aguiar, M. R., Buono, G. G., Ferrante, D., Nakamatsu, V., Ciari, G., Salomone, J. M., Massara, V., García Martínez, F., & Maestre, F. T. (2018). Aridity and overgrazing have convergent effects on ecosystem structure and functioning in Patagonian rangelands. Land Degradation & Development, 29(2), 210–218. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.2694

Huang, J., Yu, H., Guan, X., Wang, G., & Guo, R. (2016). Accelerated dryland expansion under climate change. Nature Climate Change, 6, 166–171. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2837

Le Houérou, H. N. (1996). Climate change, drought and desertification. Journal of Arid Environments, 34(2), 133–185. https://doi.org/10.1006
/jare.1996.0099

León, R. J. C., Bran, D., Collantes, M., Paruelo, J. M., & Soriano, A. (1998). Grandes unidades de vegetación de la Patagonia extra andina. Ecología Austral, 8(2), 125–144.

Maestre, F. T., Quero, J. L., Gotelli, N. J., Escudero, A., Ochoa, V., Delgado-Baquerizo, M., García-Gómez, M., Bowker, M. A., Soliveres, S., Escolar, C., García-Palacios, P., Berdugo, M., Valencia, E., Gozalo, B., Gallardo, A., Aguilera, L., Arredondo, T., Blones, J., Boeken, B., … Zaady, E. (2012). Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands. Science, 335(6065), 214–218. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1215442

Oñatibia, G. R. (2021). Grazing management and provision of ecosystem services in Patagonian arid rangelands. In P. L. Peri, G. Martínez Pastur, & L. Nahuelhual (Eds.), Ecosystem services in Patagonia (pp. 47–74). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69166-0_3

Oñatibia, G. R., Amengual, G., Boyero, L., & Aguiar, M. R. (2020). Aridity exacerbates grazing‐induced rangeland degradation: A population approach for dominant grasses. Journal of Applied Ecology, 57(10), 1999–2009. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13704

Oyarzabal, M., Clavijo, J., Oakley, L., Biganzoli, F., Tognetti, P., Barberis, I., Maturo, H. M., Aragón, R., Campanello, P. I., Prado, D., Oesterheld, M., & León, R. J. C. (2018). Unidades de vegetación de la Argentina. Ecología Austral, 28(1), 40–63. https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.18.28.1.0.399

Velasco Ayuso, S., Oñatibia, G. R., Maestre, F. T., & Yahdjian, L. (2020). Grazing pressure interacts with aridity to determine the development and diversity of biological soil crusts in Patagonian rangelands. Land Degradation and Development, 31(4), 488–499. https://doi.org/10.1002/ldr.3465

Yahdjian, L., & Sala, O. E. (2008). Climate change impacts on South American Rangelands. Rangelands, 30(3), 34–39. https://doi.org/10.2111/1551-501X(2008)30[34:CCIOSA]2.0.CO;2

Yahdjian, L., Sala, O. E., & Havstad, K. M. (2015). Rangeland ecosystem services: Shifting focus from supply to reconciling supply and demand. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 13(1), 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1890/140156


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.