Dendroecology of Prosopis species in the world: Secular traces of natural and anthropic events and their effects on Prosopis growth

Prosopis genus comprises 44 species which grow in arid and semiarid environments of America, Asia and Africa and in Oceania as introduced species. Of those 44 species, 30 grow in America. Argentina is supposed to be the origin center of the genus Prosopis, and that could explain the fact that this country has the highest species variability. Prosopis species are of great ecological and social value providing goods such as firewood, food, feed for livestock and medicines as well as services acting as watershed stabilizers and nitrogen and carbon sequesters. In this chapter, we address the new insights that dendrochronological studies have provided about Prosopis genus worldwide with main emphasis in Latin America. Many studies provide information about growth dynamics which are later on applied to develop management plans, to quantify the increment in dead and alive biomass throughout time or to estimate growth changes linked to social and political events. Rainfall is the main growth driver of Prosopis throughout the Andes from Peru to central Argentina, whereas in the flat Pampas temperature is the main tree-ring width driver. Climate variables are hard to separate from other factors affecting growth such as geomorphology, anthropogenic impact and groundwater depth. Outside of Latin America, dendrochronology of Prosopis has been used for the analysis of anthropogenic contamination. Fire, the main disturbance factor in arid and semiarid environments, showed a regional dynamic as a result of human activities. Most dendroecological studies on Prosopis species, which allowed determining these species dynamics, concluded that Prosopis do not present an encroaching behavior. This review demonstrates the avant-garde and influential value of Prosopis genus for dendroecological research as it allows reconstructing past disturbances as fire, anthropogenic impact and changes in groundwater depth for the last 50–100 years and up to 356 years in the case of Prosopis caldenia Burkart in the Pampean Region.Fil: Cangiano, Maria Laura. North Carolina State University; Estados UnidosFil: Cendoya, Maria Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional La Pampa-San Luis. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Risio Allione, Lucia Veronica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Económico Sociales. Departamento de Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Bogino, Stella Marys. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Económico Sociales. Departamento de Ciencias Agropecuarias; Argentin

Dendroecology applied to silvicultural management in the Southern Patagonian forests: A case of study from an experimental forest in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

The study of forest dynamics over large temporal and spatial scales haswidely benefited from dendrochronological techniques. Patagonia is home to several long-lived tree species (Austrocedrus chilensis, Araucaria araucana, Fitzroyacupressoides, Nothofagus dombeyi and N. pumilio) with well-defined tree rings suitable for reconstructing tree establishment, mortality, spatio-temporal growth patterns and disturbance regimes with annual resolution. The first dendrochronologicalstudies in the region date back to the 1950s and had a strong emphasis on hydroclimatology. It was not until the last few decades that studies using dendroecologicaltechniques began to emerge. In this chapter, we review the experience gained by thetree-ring lab at IANIGLA (CONICET, Mendoza, Argentina) and colleagues fromother institutions over the past 30 years applying dendroecological techniques.Fil: Mundo, Ignacio Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Palazzini, Dino Andrés. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales; ArgentinaFil: Barotto, Antonio José. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Martínez Pastur, Guillermo José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Barrera, Marcelo Daniel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales; Argentin