Extent and originality in the creation of national parks in relation to government and economical changes in Argentina

Argentina tiene una historia prolongada de creación de áreas protegidas que permite analizar las tendencias temporales, territoriales y biogeográficas en relación a cambios macroeconómicos y políticos. En este trabajo creamos un índice que cuantifica la originalidad del aporte de cada parque nacional a la conservación en términos de su contribución a la diversidad biogeográfica. Para analizar cómo varía la creación de parques nacionales en relación a cambios político-económicos, realizamos análisis de épocas superpuestas para el periodo 1930-2004 y para los dos subperiodos de igual duración incluidos, utilizando independientemente como variables predictivas el Producto Bruto Interno y los Ingresos Relativos de la Administración Pública Nacional; y correlacionamos estas dos variables con la superficie y el índice de originalidad de los parques. Finalmente comparamos la superficie y originalidad de los parques entre distintos períodos de gobierno de Argentina, y entre periodos de gobiernos democráticos y no democráticos. Los análisis de épocas superpuestas revelaron que la creación de parques está precedida por un año con aumentos significativos en el Producto Bruto Interno, principalmente durante las últimas cuatro décadas, en que se observan correlaciones positivas entre indicadores económicos y creación de parques. La “Década Infame” (1930-1945) fue el periodo responsable de la mayor superficie de parques; y el período “Neoliberal” (1990-2001) de la mayor originalidad y número de parques creados. Los gobiernos no democráticos generaron la mayor superficie de parques nacionales, y los democráticos la mayor originalidad. Los resultados permiten dividir la historia de creación de parques nacionales de Argentina en dos etapas caracterizadas por patrones espaciales y mecanismos causales diferentes. En la Etapa de Defensa Nacional (1930 a mediados de 1960) se crearon parques grandes sobre límites nacionales y, dada la importancia asignada a la soberanía nacional, su creación fue relativamente independiente de excedentes económicos. En la Etapa de Diversificación Biogeográfica (mediados de 1960 a 2004) se crearon muchos parques de menor tamaño en regiones biogeográficas variadas y con creciente valor inmobiliario; enfocados en tendencias internacionales de conservación de la biodiversidad, su creación tuvo un comportamiento de “bienes de lujo”, en los que el Estado invierte cuando se encuentra con excedentes presupuestarios.Argentina has a long history of protected areas creation which allows assessing temporal, territorial and biogeographical trends in relation to macroeconomic and political changes. In this paper, we created an index to quantify the contribution of each newly created national park to the conservation of the biogeographic diversity of Argentina ecoregions. To analyze how the creation of national parks changed in relation to macroeconomic shifts, we performed superposed epoch analyses for the period 1930-2004 and for the two included subperiods with the same temporal extent, using independently two macroeconomic indicators (Gross Domestic Product and Relative Public Administration Incomes) as the independent variables, and the creation of a national park as the dependent one; and we correlated Gross Domestic Product per capita and Relative Public Administration Incomes with the extent and originality of parks. Finally, we compared extent and originality of national parks between different government periods and between groups of democratic and non-democratic periods of government. Superposed epoch analyses showed that years of creation of national parks tended to lag one year of high Gross Domestic Product growth, particularly during the last four decades, when correlation between macroeconomic variables and creation of national parks were possitive. The “Década Infame” period (1930-1945) was responsible of the major addition of national parks area, and the “Neoliberal” period (1990-2001) showed the highest originality and number of parks created. Non-democratic governments generated the largest area of national parks and democratic governments, the highest biogeographical originality. Based on these results, the history of Argentine national parks creation can be classified into two major stages characterized by different spatial patterns and causal mechanisms. During the National Defense Stage (from 1930 to the mid 1960s) large national parks where created mostly on international boundaries and, due to the priority assigned to territorial sovereignty, their creation were relatively independent of economic variables. During the Biogeographic Diversification Stage (from the mid 1960s to 2004) many smaller parks where created on diverse ecoregions with growing land price. This stage 2 followed international trends to protect biodiversity and their creation behaved as “luxury goods” in which government investments depended on financial surpluses.Fil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. 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: Grau, Hector Ricardo. 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: Aráoz, Ezequiel. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentin

Nature representation in South American protected areas: country contrasts and conservation priorities

Background. South America faces strong environmental pressures as a result of agriculture and infrastructure expansion and also of demographic growth, demanding immediate action to preserve natural assets by establishing protected areas. Currently, 7.1% of the (sub)continent is under strict conservation categories (I to IV, IUCN), but the spatial distribution of these 1:3×106 km2 is poorly understood. We evaluated the representation of nature within the networks of protected areas, map conservation priorities and assess demographic, economic or geopolitical causes of existing protection patterns. Methods. We characterized nature representation by looking at two components: The extent and the equality of protection. The first refers to the fraction of territory under protection, while the second refers to the homogeneity in the distribution along natural conditions of this protected fraction. We characterized natural conditions by either 113 biogeographical units (specifically, ecoregions) or a series of limited and significant climatic, topographic and edaphic traits. We analyzed representation every ten years since 1960 at national and continental levels. In the physical approach, histograms allowed us to map the degree of conservation priorities. Finally, we ranked the importance of different economic or geopolitical variables driving the observed distributions with a random forest technique. Results. Nature representation varied across countries in spite of its priority in conservation agendas. In Brazil, Peru and Argentina there are still natural conditions with no formal protection, while in Bolivia and Venezuela, protected areas incorporate the natural diversity in a more balanced manner. As protected networks have increased their extent, so did their equality across and within countries over time. Our maps revealed as top continental priorities the southern temperate, subhumid and fertile lowland environments, and other country-specific areas. Protection extent was generally driven by a low population density and isolation, while other variables like distance to frontiers, were relevant only locally (e.g., in Argentina). Discussion. Our description of the spatial distribution of protected areas can help societies and governments to improve the allocation of conservation efforts. We identified the main limitations that future conservation efforts will face, as protection was generally driven by the opportunities provided by low population density and isolation. From a methodological perspective, the physical approach reveals new properties of protection and provides tools to explore nature representation at different spatial, temporal and conceptual levels, complementing the traditional ones based on biodiversity or biogeographical attributes.Fil: Baldi, Germán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; ArgentinaFil: Schauman, Santiago Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; ArgentinaFil: Texeira González, Marcos Alexis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. 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: Martín, Osvaldo Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; ArgentinaFil: Gandini, Patricia Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Santa Cruz. Universidad Tecnológica Nacional. Facultad Regional Santa Cruz. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Santa Cruz. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral. Centro de Investigaciones y Transferencia de Santa Cruz; ArgentinaFil: Jobbágy, Esteban G.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; Argentin

Open Standards for conservation as a tool for linking research and conservation agendas in complex socio-ecological systems

Disparity between the knowledge produced and knowledge required to address complex environmental challenges, such as biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation, continues to grow. Systems thinking under the Open Standards for Conservation framework can help close this gap by facilitating interdisciplinary engagement, advancing conversations on how environmental systems work, and identifying actions that could be implemented to achieve defined conservation goals. Here, we present a modelling exercise for one of the most endangered forested systems in the world: The Gran Chaco. We focus on unsustainable hunting, a pressing threat to this system. We highlight knowledge gaps that underpin all parts of an adaptive management process from understanding key relationships in social-ecological systems to design and implementation of strategies for Gran Chaco conservation as well as evaluation of outcomes.Fil: Núñez Regueiro, Mauricio Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentina. Universidad Católica de Salta; ArgentinaFil: Branch, Lyn Clarke. University of Florida. Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation; Estados UnidosFil: Derlindati, Enrique Javier. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Cs.naturales. Escuela de Agronomia. Cat.de Agroecologia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio. 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. Instituto Miguel Lillo; ArgentinaFil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. 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: Nanni, Ana Sofía. 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: Nuñez Godoy, Cristina Cecilia. University of Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Piquer Rodríguez, María. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo; Argentina. 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: Soto, José R.. University of Arizona; Estados UnidosFil: Tálamo, Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentin

Grasslands and Open Savannas of the Dry Chaco

The Dry Chaco is mostly known as a forested ecosystem. However it includes natural grasslands, savannas, scrublands, and wetlands. With one of the highest global deforestation rates in the last two decades and only 12% of the area protected, the concern about land-use change in this ecoregion has raised exponentially; but conservation initiatives developed in last years almost exclusively targeted forests whereas natural grasslands and savannas remain as neglected ecosystem within scientific and governmental agendas. While currently the distribution of natural grassland and savanna area encompasses over 20,000 km2, historical records and spatial models indicate that natural grassland and savannas were more widespread in pre-European era. Two main reasons drove this reduction in natural grasslands and savannas: woody encroachment by fire suppression and overgrazing, and conversion to agriculture and implanted pastures. In this article, through a combination of analyzes and bibliographic revisions, we describe biotic and abiotic components of natural grassland and savannas of the Dry Chaco. We also present the current distribution and conservation status of these ecosystems, and describe the process of change and the ecological consequences for biogeochemical cycles and biologic interactions. To provide basis for management, we estimate current grazing stocking rates on natural grasslands and savannas of Argentine Dry Chaco and we propose an alternative approach to sustainably intensify the use of these ecosystems and improve cattle rancher livelihoods. Despite the existent knowledge about natural grasslands and savannas in the region, we believe that is necessary to motivate the scientific community and national institutions to increase efforts to reconcile the restoration and conservation of these particular rangelands.Fil: Fernández, Pedro. 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. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido; ArgentinaFil: Baumann, Mathias. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Baldi, Germán. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; ArgentinaFil: Banegas, Natalia Romina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido; ArgentinaFil: Bravo, Sandra. Universidad Nacional de Santiago del Estero. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales. Instituto de Silvicultura y Manejo de Bosques; ArgentinaFil: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio. 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: Lucherini, Mauro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia. Instituto de Ciencias Biológicas y Biomédicas del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. 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: Nanni, Ana Sofía. 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: Nasca, Jose Andres. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias. Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido; ArgentinaFil: Tessi, Torcuato. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Córdoba. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Manfredi; ArgentinaFil: Grau, Hector Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentin

Comparison of animal biodiversity in three livestock systems of open environments of the semi-arid Chaco of Argentina

Increasing global food demand requires the exploration of agricultural production systems that minimise the conflict between food production and biodiversity conservation. Cattle ranching is a main land-use in tropical and sub-tropical South American semi-arid ecosystems, such as the Chaco eco-region of sub-tropical Argentina, one of the most active frontiers of land-use change. Despite open habits being a key component of the Chaco landscape, conservation studies and policies have focussed on forests. In this study, bird and mammal communities of three different open-canopy livestock-producing systems in the semi-arid Argentinian Chaco: natural grasslands, sown non-native pastures and silvopastoral systems are discussed. Diversity (Inverse Simpson index) and species composition (multivariate ordinations) were measured and species identified that characterise each system (indicator species). The three livestock systems did not significantly differ in terms of diversity but showed differences in the composition of bird communities. Natural grasslands had the highest number of bird and mammal indicator species (including Myrmecophaga tridactyla, a high conservation-value species). These results highlight natural grasslands as a landscape unit with a high conservation value and indicate that they should be explicitly targeted by conservation and land-use policies, particularly because they represent a small and rapidly decreasing proportion of the semi-arid Argentinian Chaco.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; ArgentinaFil: 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; Argentin

Private-land control and deforestation dynamics in the context of implementing the Native Forest Law in the Northern Argentinian Dry Chaco

Subtropical dry forests are among the largest and most threatened terrestrial biomes worldwide. In Argentina, the Native Forest Law (NFL) was passed in 2007 to regulate deforestation by mandating the provincial zonation of forested areas, while the erection of fences has been an increasingly common mechanism of private-land control reinforcement in the region; this is mainly fuelled by imminent land-use changes, recent land transactions or subsidies from the NFL. We explored the dynamics between the erection of fences and deforestation in the Northern Argentinian Dry Chaco (NADC) during the implementation of the NFL. We found that a third of land deforested during 2000-2017 had been previously fenced, with the highest percentage (44%) occurring during the sanction of the NFL (2007) and the completion of the forest-zonation maps (2011). Only 34% of deforestation within fenced areas occurred in zones where deforestation was legally permitted. In total, 327 386 ha of forests had been fenced within NADC by 2017, representing areas of potential access restriction for local people, who historically used forest resources for survival. Additionally, 57% of the fenced area occurred in zones where deforestation was restricted. A novel remote-sensing application can serve as an early-warning tool for deforestation.Fil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. 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: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio. 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: Piriz Carrillo, Veronica Raquel. No especifíca

Land tenure and biological communities in dry Chaco forests of northern Argentina

Environmental factors and land use control habitat quality and resources availability, thus regulating species distribution. Land tenure in general, and particularly traditional indigenous properties, strongly influence land use in forest ecosystems, but their association with biodiversity is poorly explored. We surveyed 43 forests in the Northern Argentina Gran Chaco, to (1) compare species diversity and composition of birds, mammals and trees between land tenures across a 17 million-hectares region; and to (2) compare diversity between Wichí indigenous properties and non-indigenous properties, within a more restricted geographic range to control for climatic and soil factors (n = 19). Contrary to our expectations, protected areas did not include higher biodiversity, although they showed higher densities of species specifically targeted for human harvest. Wichí properties were the most original regime in terms of community composition of birds and trees. Every land tenure had particular indicator bird and tree species; thus a territorial conservation strategy could include a combination of all them, with a special focus on indigenous properties. Land tenure differences in biodiversity could be the complex result of different habitat quality derived from land use practices and of different geographic location.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; ArgentinaFil: 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: 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; ArgentinaFil: Zelaya, Patricia Viviana. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Trade-offs between land use intensity and avian biodiversity in the dry Chaco of Argentina: A tale of two gradients

Studies to assess the relationship between agriculture production and biodiversity conservation usually focus on one gradient ranging from a natural reference land cover type (typically forest) to an intensive productive land use. However, many semi-arid ecoregions such as the dry Chaco are characterized by a mosaic of different land covers, including natural grasslands and woody vegetation with different degrees of transformation, frequently aimed at meat production. We analyzed the associations between avian biodiversity and meat productivity of forest, natural grasslands, three types of livestock production systems, and soybean crops in northern Argentina dry Chaco; an area of c. 19 million ha characterized by high conservation value and rapid land use change. A Generalized Lineal Model analysis of reports and publications quantified a meat productivity range in which soybean (the less diverse land cover type) doubles the most efficient livestock systems, and is eight times more productive than the widespread puestos system. A multidimensional scaling ordination identified two independent gradients of bird's response to increasing land use intensity, respectively from protected forests and from natural grasslands, to highly transformed systems. Along both gradients avian richness and density sharply declined in the transition from semi-natural land covers to planted pastures and similarity to native grasslands and protected forests decreased exponentially. Along the “grasslands gradient”, bird richness and density presented a unimodal response. Maximum likelihood-fitted curves of bird's guilds response to the productivity gradients showed that in the “forest gradient” most guilds decreased exponentially or linearly, whereas in the “grasslands gradient” most guilds peaked at intermediate levels of meat yield. Our results suggest that land sparing strategies can be more efficient to balance agriculture production with the conservation of forest avian diversity, but also that the prevailing “forest oriented” conservation schemes (e.g. Argentine Forest Law) do not capture the complexity of the system and both forests and grassland gradients should be considered in land use planning, possibly including a combination of conservation strategies.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. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Grau, Ricardo Jose Antonio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Zelaya, Patricia Viviana. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán; 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. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán; Argentin

Differences in production, carbon stocks and biodiversity outcomes of land tenure regimes in the Argentine Dry Chaco

Rising global demand for agricultural products results in agricultural expansion and intensification, with substantial environmental trade-offs. The South American Dry Chaco contains some of the fastest expanding agricultural frontiers worldwide, and includes diverse forms of land management, mainly associated with different land tenure regimes; which in turn are segregated along environmental gradients (mostly rainfall). Yet, how these regimes impact the environment and how trade-offs between production and environmental outcomes varies remains poorly understood. Here, we assessed how biodiversity, biomass stocks, and agricultural production, measured in meat-equivalents, differ among land tenure regimes in the Dry Chaco. We calculated a land-use outcome index (LUO) that combines indices comparing actual vs. potential values of 'preservation of biodiversity' (PI), 'standing biomass' (BI) and 'meat production' (MI). We found land-use outcomes to vary substantially among land-tenure regimes. Protected areas showed a biodiversity index of 0.75, similar to that of large and medium-sized farms (0.72 in both farming systems), and higher than in the other tenure regimes. Biomass index was similar among land tenure regimes, whereas we found the highest median meat production index on indigenous lands (MI = 0.35). Land-use outcomes, however, varied more across different environmental conditions than across land tenure regimes. Our results suggest that in the Argentine Dry Chaco, there is no single land tenure regime that better minimizes the trade-offs between production and environmental outcomes. A useful approach to manage these trade-offs would be to develop geographically explicit guidelines for land-use zoning, identifying the land tenure regimes more appropriate for each zone.Fil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. 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: Grau, Hector Ricardo. 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: Gasparri, Nestor Ignacio. 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: Kuemmerle, Tobias. Universität zu Berlin; AlemaniaFil: Baumann, Matthias. Universität zu Berlin; Alemani

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

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; 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; Argentin