Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands

Autores
Carilla, Julieta; Aragón, Myriam Roxana; Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel
Año de publicación
2011
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Grazing and fire have been the most common disturbances in many grasslands ecosystems for many centuries. However, some mountain regions are currently experiencing a decrease in land use, and therefore in frequency or intensity of these disturbances. In this study, we evaluated how fire and grazing affect vegetation structure in mountain grasslands of NW Argentina. We hypothesized that they would have differential effects on plant species richness, vegetation composition and aerial biomass dynamics, predicting that fire would have a stronger effect on these variables than grazing. We tested this hypothesis by performing a controlled field experiment in which we manipulated fire and compared grazed plots with ungrazed exclosures, simulating current (high frequent fires and low livestock load) and future (fire suppression and grazing exclosure) scenarios. We recorded total of 90 species with 40 shared among all treatments. Tussock grasses (Elionurus muticus), followed by three shrubs represented the main contribution to live biomass in all treatments. Species richness, equitativity and diversity were higher in burned plots. Multivariate ordination indicated that burning is more important than grazing in determining plot to plot similarity in species composition. Burning reduced total aerial biomass, standing dead biomass and litter, as well as live biomass, that was also reduced by grazing. Burning also reduced standing dead biomass and litter proportions, but increased live biomass contribution, showing a more evident effect within the grazed plots. Burning, seasonality and growing season had significant effects on the relative contribution of all biomass categories. Biomass consumption showed a strong seasonality, being significantly higher in January of both growing seasons, and it was not affected by burning. We conclude that under the current fire and grazing scenario, fire plays a more important role than grazing in shaping these grasslands dynamics.
Fil: Carilla, Julieta. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina
Fil: Aragón, Myriam Roxana. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina
Fil: Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina
Materia
Biomass Consumption
Burning
Controlled Field Experiment
Disturbance
Livestock Grazing
Mountain Grasslands
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:11336/72164
Acceder
id CONICETDig_33d5d20cfd01248f32e7c4472423e4f9
oai_identifier_str oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/72164
network_acronym_str CONICETDig
repository_id_str 3498
network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslandsCarilla, JulietaAragón, Myriam RoxanaGurvich, Diego EzequielBiomass ConsumptionBurningControlled Field ExperimentDisturbanceLivestock GrazingMountain Grasslandshttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1Grazing and fire have been the most common disturbances in many grasslands ecosystems for many centuries. However, some mountain regions are currently experiencing a decrease in land use, and therefore in frequency or intensity of these disturbances. In this study, we evaluated how fire and grazing affect vegetation structure in mountain grasslands of NW Argentina. We hypothesized that they would have differential effects on plant species richness, vegetation composition and aerial biomass dynamics, predicting that fire would have a stronger effect on these variables than grazing. We tested this hypothesis by performing a controlled field experiment in which we manipulated fire and compared grazed plots with ungrazed exclosures, simulating current (high frequent fires and low livestock load) and future (fire suppression and grazing exclosure) scenarios. We recorded total of 90 species with 40 shared among all treatments. Tussock grasses (Elionurus muticus), followed by three shrubs represented the main contribution to live biomass in all treatments. Species richness, equitativity and diversity were higher in burned plots. Multivariate ordination indicated that burning is more important than grazing in determining plot to plot similarity in species composition. Burning reduced total aerial biomass, standing dead biomass and litter, as well as live biomass, that was also reduced by grazing. Burning also reduced standing dead biomass and litter proportions, but increased live biomass contribution, showing a more evident effect within the grazed plots. Burning, seasonality and growing season had significant effects on the relative contribution of all biomass categories. Biomass consumption showed a strong seasonality, being significantly higher in January of both growing seasons, and it was not affected by burning. We conclude that under the current fire and grazing scenario, fire plays a more important role than grazing in shaping these grasslands dynamics.Fil: Carilla, Julieta. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; ArgentinaFil: Aragón, Myriam Roxana. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaGauthier-Villars/Editions Elsevier2011-04info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/72164Carilla, Julieta; Aragón, Myriam Roxana; Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel; Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands; Gauthier-Villars/Editions Elsevier; Acta Oecologica; 37; 4; 4-2011; 337-3451146-609XCONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.actao.2011.03.006info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1146609X11000622?via%3Dihub#!info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-29T10:12:40Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/72164instacron: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:34982025-09-29 10:12:41.262CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands
title Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands
spellingShingle Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands
Carilla, Julieta
Biomass Consumption
Burning
Controlled Field Experiment
Disturbance
Livestock Grazing
Mountain Grasslands
title_short Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands
title_full Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands
title_fullStr Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands
title_full_unstemmed Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands
title_sort Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Carilla, Julieta
Aragón, Myriam Roxana
Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel
author Carilla, Julieta
author_facet Carilla, Julieta
Aragón, Myriam Roxana
Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel
author_role author
author2 Aragón, Myriam Roxana
Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel
author2_role author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Biomass Consumption
Burning
Controlled Field Experiment
Disturbance
Livestock Grazing
Mountain Grasslands
topic Biomass Consumption
Burning
Controlled Field Experiment
Disturbance
Livestock Grazing
Mountain Grasslands
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Grazing and fire have been the most common disturbances in many grasslands ecosystems for many centuries. However, some mountain regions are currently experiencing a decrease in land use, and therefore in frequency or intensity of these disturbances. In this study, we evaluated how fire and grazing affect vegetation structure in mountain grasslands of NW Argentina. We hypothesized that they would have differential effects on plant species richness, vegetation composition and aerial biomass dynamics, predicting that fire would have a stronger effect on these variables than grazing. We tested this hypothesis by performing a controlled field experiment in which we manipulated fire and compared grazed plots with ungrazed exclosures, simulating current (high frequent fires and low livestock load) and future (fire suppression and grazing exclosure) scenarios. We recorded total of 90 species with 40 shared among all treatments. Tussock grasses (Elionurus muticus), followed by three shrubs represented the main contribution to live biomass in all treatments. Species richness, equitativity and diversity were higher in burned plots. Multivariate ordination indicated that burning is more important than grazing in determining plot to plot similarity in species composition. Burning reduced total aerial biomass, standing dead biomass and litter, as well as live biomass, that was also reduced by grazing. Burning also reduced standing dead biomass and litter proportions, but increased live biomass contribution, showing a more evident effect within the grazed plots. Burning, seasonality and growing season had significant effects on the relative contribution of all biomass categories. Biomass consumption showed a strong seasonality, being significantly higher in January of both growing seasons, and it was not affected by burning. We conclude that under the current fire and grazing scenario, fire plays a more important role than grazing in shaping these grasslands dynamics.
Fil: Carilla, Julieta. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina
Fil: Aragón, Myriam Roxana. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina
Fil: Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina
description Grazing and fire have been the most common disturbances in many grasslands ecosystems for many centuries. However, some mountain regions are currently experiencing a decrease in land use, and therefore in frequency or intensity of these disturbances. In this study, we evaluated how fire and grazing affect vegetation structure in mountain grasslands of NW Argentina. We hypothesized that they would have differential effects on plant species richness, vegetation composition and aerial biomass dynamics, predicting that fire would have a stronger effect on these variables than grazing. We tested this hypothesis by performing a controlled field experiment in which we manipulated fire and compared grazed plots with ungrazed exclosures, simulating current (high frequent fires and low livestock load) and future (fire suppression and grazing exclosure) scenarios. We recorded total of 90 species with 40 shared among all treatments. Tussock grasses (Elionurus muticus), followed by three shrubs represented the main contribution to live biomass in all treatments. Species richness, equitativity and diversity were higher in burned plots. Multivariate ordination indicated that burning is more important than grazing in determining plot to plot similarity in species composition. Burning reduced total aerial biomass, standing dead biomass and litter, as well as live biomass, that was also reduced by grazing. Burning also reduced standing dead biomass and litter proportions, but increased live biomass contribution, showing a more evident effect within the grazed plots. Burning, seasonality and growing season had significant effects on the relative contribution of all biomass categories. Biomass consumption showed a strong seasonality, being significantly higher in January of both growing seasons, and it was not affected by burning. We conclude that under the current fire and grazing scenario, fire plays a more important role than grazing in shaping these grasslands dynamics.
publishDate 2011
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2011-04
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/11336/72164
Carilla, Julieta; Aragón, Myriam Roxana; Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel; Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands; Gauthier-Villars/Editions Elsevier; Acta Oecologica; 37; 4; 4-2011; 337-345
1146-609X
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/72164
identifier_str_mv Carilla, Julieta; Aragón, Myriam Roxana; Gurvich, Diego Ezequiel; Fire and grazing differentially affect aerial biomass and species composition in Andean grasslands; Gauthier-Villars/Editions Elsevier; Acta Oecologica; 37; 4; 4-2011; 337-345
1146-609X
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.actao.2011.03.006
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1146609X11000622?via%3Dihub#!
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
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Gauthier-Villars/Editions Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Gauthier-Villars/Editions 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
_version_ 1844614036484784128
score 13.070432

Publicaciones similares