The impact of livestock grazing on the spatial pattern of vegetation in north-eastern Patagonia, Argentina

Background: The occurrence of shrub patches, alternating with either bare soil or low herbaceous cover, is a common feature in arid and semi-arid shrublands throughout the world. This patchy pattern of vegetation may result from water limitation, modulated by plant interactions; grazing (offtake and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plant ecology & diversity 2018-03, Vol.11 (2), p.219-227
Main Authors: Funk, Flavia A., Peter, Guadalupe, Leder, Cintia V., Loydi, Alejandro, Kröpfl, Alicia, Distel, Roberto A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aridity
Desertification
Grasses
Grazing
Grazing intensity
Herbivores
Livestock
Livestock grazing
Luminous intensity
Patagonia
Plants
Plants (botany)
shrub-grass interactions
Shrublands
Shrubs
Vegetation
Vegetation cover
vegetation patchiness
vegetation spatial distribution
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Summary:Background: The occurrence of shrub patches, alternating with either bare soil or low herbaceous cover, is a common feature in arid and semi-arid shrublands throughout the world. This patchy pattern of vegetation may result from water limitation, modulated by plant interactions; grazing (offtake and tramping) by livestock may cause further patchiness vegetation structure. Aims: We hypothesised that vegetation patchiness in the semi-arid shrublands of north-eastern Patagonia would be increased by livestock grazing, but not by positive interactions between adult plants of shrubs and grasses. Methods: We compared vegetation cover and pattern at three grazing intensities (exclosure, light and heavy grazing) and measured the growth of a representative shrub and grass in the presence and absence of the other to quantify the role of plant-to-plant interactions and its interaction with grazing for vegetation structure. Results: In the grazing exclosure and in moderately grazed areas, vegetation cover among shrub patches was larger, whereas the top cover of shrubs was lower than in the heavily grazed areas. We did not find any evidence of positive interactions between shrub and grass life forms. Conclusions: Our results were consistent with the hypothesis that livestock grazing increased the formation of patchy vegetation cover in arid and semi-arid shrublands.
ISSN:1755-0874
1755-1668
DOI:10.1080/17550874.2018.1473519