Structural and nutritional heterogeneity of riparian vegetation in Patagonia (Argentina) in relation to seasonal grazing by sheep |
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| Institution: | 1. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria –EEA Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, Argentina;2. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral, Unidad Académica Río Gallegos, Santa Cruz, Argentina;3. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina;4. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina;5. Department of Animal and Range Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM 88003, USA;1. University of Copenhagen, Department of Geoscience and Natural Resource Management, Rolighedsvej 23, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark;2. University of British Columbia, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, 2424 Main Mall, Vancouver V6T 1Z4, Canada;1. Department of Forest Resources Management, College of Forestry, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, Jiangsu, China;2. Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, Jiangsu, China;3. IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute, Aschebergsgatan 44, 411 33 Göteborg, Sweden;4. Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka;1. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Agronomía, Cátedra de Forrajicultura, Av. San Martín 4453, 1417, Buenos Aires, Argentina;2. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a La Agricultura (IFEVA), Facultad de Agronomía, Buenos Aires, Argentina;3. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA), Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Esquel, Chacabuco 513, 9200, Esquel, Argentina;1. Bio-Protection Research Centre, PO Box 85084, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand;2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand |
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| Abstract: | Riparian meadows of southern Patagonia are temporally and spatially heterogeneous habitats. They are thought to play a key role in regulating the dynamics of arid grazed steppes of the region. We conducted a 2-year study with sheep to determine the influence of two grazing conditions (deferment and spring grazing) on structural and nutritional parameters of three vegetation types apparently associated with a soil moisture gradient in a riparian meadow in southern Santa Cruz (Argentina). Spring deferment allowed forage accumulation in very moist and intermediate vegetation types by the beginning of the summer and had no detrimental impact on forage quality. Deferment had no effect on biomass accumulation of the drier vegetation type at our study site. Structural attributes of the vegetation appeared to affect spatial grazing patterns of sheep. Soil-related patchiness, rather than sheep grazing, appeared to control vegetation structure and nutritional value. The proportion of more mesic plant communities in riparian habitats of Patagonia could determine the outcome of plant–animal interactions in these systems. Practical recommendations of grazing capacity in paddocks, or more theoretical considerations of ecosystem dynamics of the Patagonian steppes need to explicitly consider the internal patchiness of riparian habitats. |
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