Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies

Autores
Grau, Hector Ricardo; Torres, Ricardo; Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio; Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo; Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía; Macchi, Leandro
Año de publicación
2015
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
In most tropical and subtropical biomes, conservation strategies are mainly focused on the preservation of forests. However, neotropical dry forest and savanna ecoregions include open habitats that may deserve conservation attention. We analyzed the historical patterns and potential distribution of natural grasslands, as well as their biodiversity in the northern Argentina dry Chaco, which is one of the largest and yet most rapidly transforming neotropical ecoregions. Paleocological literature, historical records, and bioclimatic modeling support the hypothesis that Chaco grasslands distribution was more extended in the past, and has been historically reduced by woody encroachment resulting from environmental changes occurred in the past century. Recent research shows that natural grasslands host distinctive components of the Chaco biodiversity, and a significant proportion of the vertebrate species have a negative association with woody biomass. Ongoing land use trends continue to threaten native grasslands both in unprotected sectors (where they are converted into agriculture and planted pastures) and inside protected areas (were fire suppression is favoring woody encroachment). Current conservation policies (Protected Areas, Argentine forest law, REDD+) neglect the importance of native grasslands for biodiversity conservation. Such forest-centered initiatives should be revised to specifically include native grasslands and their biodiversity into land use strategies that adequately balance agriculture and livestock production with biodiversity conservation.
Fil: Grau, Hector Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Torres, Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. Facultad de Cs.exactas Fisicas y Naturales. Museo de Zoologia; Argentina
Fil: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Macchi, Leandro. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Materia
Argentina
Biodiversity Conservation
Dry Chaco
Fire Suppression
Grassland Distribution Modeling
Land Use Planning
Woody Encroachment
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/12483
Acceder
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oai_identifier_str oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/12483
network_acronym_str CONICETDig
repository_id_str 3498
network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policiesGrau, Hector RicardoTorres, RicardoGasparri, Nestor IgnacioBlendinger, Pedro GerardoMarinaro Fuentes, María SofíaMacchi, LeandroArgentinaBiodiversity ConservationDry ChacoFire SuppressionGrassland Distribution ModelingLand Use PlanningWoody Encroachmenthttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1In most tropical and subtropical biomes, conservation strategies are mainly focused on the preservation of forests. However, neotropical dry forest and savanna ecoregions include open habitats that may deserve conservation attention. We analyzed the historical patterns and potential distribution of natural grasslands, as well as their biodiversity in the northern Argentina dry Chaco, which is one of the largest and yet most rapidly transforming neotropical ecoregions. Paleocological literature, historical records, and bioclimatic modeling support the hypothesis that Chaco grasslands distribution was more extended in the past, and has been historically reduced by woody encroachment resulting from environmental changes occurred in the past century. Recent research shows that natural grasslands host distinctive components of the Chaco biodiversity, and a significant proportion of the vertebrate species have a negative association with woody biomass. Ongoing land use trends continue to threaten native grasslands both in unprotected sectors (where they are converted into agriculture and planted pastures) and inside protected areas (were fire suppression is favoring woody encroachment). Current conservation policies (Protected Areas, Argentine forest law, REDD+) neglect the importance of native grasslands for biodiversity conservation. Such forest-centered initiatives should be revised to specifically include native grasslands and their biodiversity into land use strategies that adequately balance agriculture and livestock production with biodiversity conservation.Fil: Grau, Hector Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. Facultad de Cs.exactas Fisicas y Naturales. Museo de Zoologia; ArgentinaFil: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Macchi, Leandro. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaElsevier2015-12info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/12483Grau, Hector Ricardo; Torres, Ricardo; Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio; Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo; Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía; et al.; Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies; Elsevier; Journal Of Arid Environments; 143; 12-2015; 40-460140-1963enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.12.006info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196314002511info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-10-22T11:22:09Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/12483instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-10-22 11:22:09.851CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies
title Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies
spellingShingle Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies
Grau, Hector Ricardo
Argentina
Biodiversity Conservation
Dry Chaco
Fire Suppression
Grassland Distribution Modeling
Land Use Planning
Woody Encroachment
title_short Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies
title_full Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies
title_fullStr Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies
title_full_unstemmed Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies
title_sort Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Grau, Hector Ricardo
Torres, Ricardo
Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio
Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo
Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía
Macchi, Leandro
author Grau, Hector Ricardo
author_facet Grau, Hector Ricardo
Torres, Ricardo
Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio
Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo
Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía
Macchi, Leandro
author_role author
author2 Torres, Ricardo
Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio
Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo
Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía
Macchi, Leandro
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Argentina
Biodiversity Conservation
Dry Chaco
Fire Suppression
Grassland Distribution Modeling
Land Use Planning
Woody Encroachment
topic Argentina
Biodiversity Conservation
Dry Chaco
Fire Suppression
Grassland Distribution Modeling
Land Use Planning
Woody Encroachment
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv In most tropical and subtropical biomes, conservation strategies are mainly focused on the preservation of forests. However, neotropical dry forest and savanna ecoregions include open habitats that may deserve conservation attention. We analyzed the historical patterns and potential distribution of natural grasslands, as well as their biodiversity in the northern Argentina dry Chaco, which is one of the largest and yet most rapidly transforming neotropical ecoregions. Paleocological literature, historical records, and bioclimatic modeling support the hypothesis that Chaco grasslands distribution was more extended in the past, and has been historically reduced by woody encroachment resulting from environmental changes occurred in the past century. Recent research shows that natural grasslands host distinctive components of the Chaco biodiversity, and a significant proportion of the vertebrate species have a negative association with woody biomass. Ongoing land use trends continue to threaten native grasslands both in unprotected sectors (where they are converted into agriculture and planted pastures) and inside protected areas (were fire suppression is favoring woody encroachment). Current conservation policies (Protected Areas, Argentine forest law, REDD+) neglect the importance of native grasslands for biodiversity conservation. Such forest-centered initiatives should be revised to specifically include native grasslands and their biodiversity into land use strategies that adequately balance agriculture and livestock production with biodiversity conservation.
Fil: Grau, Hector Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Torres, Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. Facultad de Cs.exactas Fisicas y Naturales. Museo de Zoologia; Argentina
Fil: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Macchi, Leandro. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
description In most tropical and subtropical biomes, conservation strategies are mainly focused on the preservation of forests. However, neotropical dry forest and savanna ecoregions include open habitats that may deserve conservation attention. We analyzed the historical patterns and potential distribution of natural grasslands, as well as their biodiversity in the northern Argentina dry Chaco, which is one of the largest and yet most rapidly transforming neotropical ecoregions. Paleocological literature, historical records, and bioclimatic modeling support the hypothesis that Chaco grasslands distribution was more extended in the past, and has been historically reduced by woody encroachment resulting from environmental changes occurred in the past century. Recent research shows that natural grasslands host distinctive components of the Chaco biodiversity, and a significant proportion of the vertebrate species have a negative association with woody biomass. Ongoing land use trends continue to threaten native grasslands both in unprotected sectors (where they are converted into agriculture and planted pastures) and inside protected areas (were fire suppression is favoring woody encroachment). Current conservation policies (Protected Areas, Argentine forest law, REDD+) neglect the importance of native grasslands for biodiversity conservation. Such forest-centered initiatives should be revised to specifically include native grasslands and their biodiversity into land use strategies that adequately balance agriculture and livestock production with biodiversity conservation.
publishDate 2015
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2015-12
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/12483
Grau, Hector Ricardo; Torres, Ricardo; Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio; Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo; Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía; et al.; Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies; Elsevier; Journal Of Arid Environments; 143; 12-2015; 40-46
0140-1963
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/12483
identifier_str_mv Grau, Hector Ricardo; Torres, Ricardo; Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio; Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo; Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía; et al.; Natural grasslands in the Chaco. A neglected ecosystem under threat by agriculture expansion and forest-oriented conservation policies; Elsevier; Journal Of Arid Environments; 143; 12-2015; 40-46
0140-1963
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2014.12.006
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196314002511
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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score 12.982451

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