Innovating use of a GIS in the logistics of forest products

El costo del transporte de los productos forestales reviste gran importancia en la rentabilidad de la actividad, incidiendo directamente en el precio percibido por el productor. Ante esta situación sería de utilidad, para el productor y para el transportista, conocer cuál sería el recorrido óptimo desde el lugar de partida (ej. lote del productor) hasta el lugar de destino (ej. acopiador). En consecuencia, se propone comprobar la factibilidad de utilizar el entorno de los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG) en la determinación, de manera rápida y con exactitud, del camino óptimo entre un lote forestal y el aserradero.The cost of the transport of forest products has great importance in the yield of the activity, affecting directly in the price perceived by the producer. So, it would be good for the producer and the carrier, to know the optimum route from the departure place (farm) to the destiny place (gatherer). In this work the feasibility to use geographical information systems (GIS), in the fast and exact determination, of the optimal way between a forest lot and the sawmill is analyzed.Fil: Brizuela, Armando Benito.Fil: Nosetto, Marcelo Daniel

Plantaciones Forestales: sus servicios e impactos hidrológicos

Si bien una buena parte de la sociedad identifica al árbol como un elemento que es inherentemente amigable para el ambiente, el establecimiento de forestaciones puede en algunos casos alterar profundamente los servicios ambientales que provee el ecosistema que las hospeda. Dentro de estos se encuentran los servicios hídricos, los cuales incluyen la provisión de agua (cantidad, calidad y estabilidad) para uso doméstico, energético, industrial o agrícola; y la regulación hidrológica, la cual incluye el control de inundaciones y de la erosión y el mantenimiento de humedales. Cuando las plantaciones forestales se establecen en áreas originalmente carentes de vegetación arbórea pueden generar importantes alteraciones en la forma en que el agua circula en el ecosistema, alterando estos servicios hídricos. Por otro lado, cuando las forestaciones se establecen en áreas en las cuales estaban originalmente dominadas por bosques pero que actualmente se encuentran degradadas por la actividad agrícola pueden contribuir a restablecer el funcionamiento hidrológico original. En este artículo revisamos los mecanismos, impactos y desafíos asociados al establecimiento de forestaciones sobre el balance hídrico y los servicios asociados al mismo.Fil: Nosetto, Marcelo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; Argentin

Land‐use change and water losses: the case of grassland afforestation across a soil textural gradient in central Argentina

Vegetation changes, particularly those involving transitions between tree- and grass-dominated covers, often modify evaporative water losses as a result of plant-mediated shifts in moisture access and demand. Massive afforestation of native grasslands, particularly important in the Southern Hemisphere, may have strong yet poorly quantified effects on the hydrological cycle. We explored water use patterns in Eucalyptus grandis plantations and the native humid grasslands that they replace in Central Argentina. In order to uncover the interactive effects that land cover type, soil texture and climate variability may have on evaporative water losses and water use efficiency, we estimated daily evapotranspiration (ET) in 117 tree plantations and grasslands plots across a soil textural gradient (clay-textured Vertisols to sandy-textured Entisols) using radiometric information from seven Landsat scenes, existing timber productions records, and 13C measurements in tree stems. Tree plantations had cooler surface temperatures (-5°C on average) and evaporated more water (+80% on average) than grasslands at all times and across all sites. Absolute ET differences between grasslands and plantations ranged from 0.6 to 2 mm day-1 and annual up-scaling suggested values of 630 and 1150 mm yr-1 for each vegetation type, respectively. The temporal variability of ET was significantly lower in plantations compared with grasslands (coefficient of variation 36% vs. 49%). Daily ET increased as the water balance became more positive (accumulated balance for previous 18 days) with a saturation response in grassland vs. a continuous linear increase in plantations, suggesting lower ecophysiological limits to water loss in tree canopies compared with the native vegetation. Plantation ET was more strongly affected by soil texture than grassland ET and peaked in coarse textured sites followed by medium and fine textured sites. Timber productivity as well as 13C concentration in stems peaked in medium textured sites, indicating lower water use efficiency on extreme textures and suggesting that water limitation was not responsible for productivity declines towards finer and coarser soils. Our study highlighted the key role that vegetation type plays on evapotranspiration and, therefore, in the hydrological cycle. Considering that tree plantations may continue their expansion over grasslands, problematic changes in water management and, perhaps, in local climate can develop from the higher evaporative water losses of tree plantations.Fil: Nosetto, Marcelo Daniel. 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: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. 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: Paruelo, José. 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; Argentin

Factors governing the groundwater dynamics in two sites of the inland Pampa with different moisture regimes

En gran parte de la región pampeana argentina, el acuífero freático ejerce una fuerte influencia, tanto positiva como negativa, sobre los sistemas agropecuarios. Por lo tanto, comprender su dinámica y sus controles es fundamental para predecir cambios de nivel y diseñar estrategias de manejo. En este trabajo, evaluamos la influencia de las características climáticas, la topografía y el tipo de cultivo sobre las fluctuaciones del nivel freático a escala anual y mensual en dos sitios con diferencias edafo-climáticasde la Pampa Interior (Pehuajó, Bs. As. y Mackenna, Córdoba). Para esto, registramos periódicamente la profundidad freática durante cinco campañas agrícolas en 34 freatímetros ubicados bajo distintos cultivos (maíz, soja, trigo/soja y cobertura/maíz) y en diferentes posiciones topográficas (bajo, media loma y loma). En ambos sitios encontramos que el clima ejerció un rol preponderante en la dinámica freática, explicando el efecto "año" más del 80% de la suma de cuadrados (SC) tipo 1 (p menor 0,01). La lluvia anual estuvo relacionada linealmente con el cambio de nivel en ambos sitios (r2=0,37 y 0,56 para Pehuajó y Mackenna, respectivamente). La influencia del cultivo se manifestó a la escala mensual en Pehuajó, mientras que en Mackenna también influyó a la escala anual,explicando el 10% de la SC (p menor 0,01). En este sitio se encontró una estrecha relación lineal negativa entre el cambio de nivel freático y la evapotranspiración del cultivo (r2=0,57), observándose niveles más profundos en sistemas de doble cultivo. La topografía solo afectó la dinámica freática en Mackenna y a la escala mensual, donde se observaron mayores ascensos y descensos en los bajos. Si bien el clima fue el control fundamental de la dinámica freática, la influencia del cultivo en Mackenna a la escala anual abrela posibilidad de cierto "manejo" agropecuario de los niveles de napa. La falta de dicho efecto en Pehuajó sugeriría un rol importante de la evaporación directa en el balance hídrico.In most of the Argentinean Pampas, the water-table strongly affects the agricultural systems both positively and negatively. Thus, it is critical to understand the dynamic and drivers of water-table levels in order to make predictions and to design management strategies. In this work, we evaluated the influence of climatic conditions, topography and crop type on the water-table dynamic, at the annual and monthly scales, at two sites in the Inland Pampa with different edaphic/climatic conditions (Pehuajó, Bs. As and Mackenna, Córdoba). For this purpose, we registered the water-table depth periodically during five growing seasons, in 34 boreholes located under different crops (corn, soybean, wheat/soybean and cover crop/corn) and in different topographic positions (lowland, mid-slope, highland). We found that in both sites, climate played a major role on the water-table dynamic, being 80% of the sum of squares (SS) type I explained by the "year" effect (p<0.01). Annual rainfall was linearly related to water-table level changes at both sites (r2=0.37 and 0,56 for Pehuajó and Mackenna, respectively). Crop influence was observed at the monthly scale in Pehuajó, but in Mackenna it was also evidenced at the annual scale, explaining 10% of the SS type I (p<0.01). At this site, we found a close lineal negative relationship between water-table level changes and crop evapotranspiration (r2=0.57), observing deeper water-table levels under double crops. Topography only affected the water-table dynamic in Mackenna and at the monthly scale, when we observed higher water-table rises and drops in lowlands. Although climate was the main driver of the water-table dynamic, crop influence in Mackenna at the annual scale opens the possibility for an agricultural "management" of groundwater levels. The lack of this effect in Pehuajó suggests that soil evaporation may be playing a key role in the hydrological balance.Fil: Florio, Eva Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Mercau, Jorge Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Nosetto, Marcelo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; Argentin

Water yield in primary watersheds under grasslands and pine plantations in the hills of Córdoba (Argentina)

Los cambios en la cobertura vegetal pueden tener importantes efectos sobre el ciclo hidrológico, afectando la magnitud y distribución temporal del caudal de ríos y arroyos. Estos efectos cobran una relevancia especial en áreas montañosas de regiones secas dado su papel importante en la provisión de agua. Este es el caso de las laderas orientales de las sierras de Córdoba, en donde se establecieron ~35000 ha de plantaciones de pinos en reemplazo de pastizales naturales. Exploramos cómo esta transformación ha afectado el rendimiento hídrico de pequeñas cuencas serranas. Para ello seleccionamos cuatro pares de cuencas primarias ocupadas por pastizales naturales y plantaciones de Pinus ellioti (superficie: 27 a 143 ha; elevación: 1100 a 1750 m.s.n.m.). En todos estos pares de cuencas determinamos el caudal base de arroyos por dilución de un trazador salino con frecuencia estacional entre mayo de 2004 y enero de 2007, y en dos de ellos realizamos un seguimiento continuo del caudal con sensores automáticos durante la transición entre la estación seca y húmeda de 2006-2007. En promedio, el rendimiento hídrico de las cuencas forestadas fue 48% inferior al de las cuencas de pastizal (112 vs. 204 mm/año o 24 vs. 13% de la precipitación recibida, P<0.05). Las mediciones continuas mostraron caudales base mayores y poca respuesta al tipo de vegetación en cuencas elevadas y de alta pendiente y caudales base menores y muy sensibles al establecimiento de plantaciones en cuencas de menor elevación y pendiente intermedia. La caracterización satelital de todas las cuencas a partir del índice verde normalizado (NDVI) satelital del sensor MODIS sugirió una productividad primaria y evapotranspiración mayor y más estable bajo plantaciones respecto a los pastizales, con contrastes máximos entre estos tipos de vegetación observados en invierno. En la actualidad, los impactos de las plantaciones serranas sobre la provisión de agua pueden manifestarse únicamente en cuencas primarias dado que las de mayor orden se encuentran forestadas sólo de manera parcial. A nivel regional, es importante contemplar estos efectos al proyectar cuánto, dónde y cómo se forestará, en especial en áreas que aportan agua a los principales focos de consumo energético y urbano.Vegetation changes can have a strong imprint on the hydrological cycle, affecting the magnitude and temporal distribution of stream and river flow. These effects gain special relevance in the mountain ranges of dry regions, which play a key role in water provision. This is the case of the eastern front of the Córdoba hills, where ~35.000 ha of pine plantations have replaced natural grasslands. We explored how this transformation has affected water yield in small watersheds. For this purpose we selected four pairs of neighboring watersheds occupied by natural grasslands and Pinus ellioti plantations (area: 27 to 143 ha; elevation: 1100 to 1750 m.a.s.l.). For all pairs, basal streamflow was measured through the tracer dilution method with seasonal frequency between May 2004 and January 2007, and in two of these pairs we performed a continuous monitoring using automatic level sensors during the transition between the dry and humid season of 2006-2007. On average, water yield in afforested watersheds was 48% less than in grassland watersheds (112 vs. 204 mm/year or 24 vs. 13% of precipitation inputs during the study period, P<0.05). Continuous measurements revealed higher base flows and little response to vegetation in high elevation and slope watersheds, and lower and more vegetationsensitive base flows in low elevation and intermediate slope watersheds. The remote sensing characterization of watersheds based on a green index (NDVI) from MODIS suggested higher and more stable primary productivity and evapotranspiration under plantations compared to grasslands, with maximum contrasts taking place in winter. Currently the impact of plantations in the hills on water provision can be intense only at the level of primary watersheds, since those of larger order are only partially afforested. At the regional level is important to contemplate these effects to project how much, where and how will be planted, particularly in areas that supply water to the largest foci of hydroenergy and urban demand.Fil: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Acosta, Ana Mariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Nosetto, Marcelo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; Argentin

Changes in the Soil Organic Carbon of Grasslands in the High Andes of Peru after Their Conversion to Croplands and Their Environmental Controls

The high-Andean grasslands of Peru provide a wide range of goods and services, not only locally, but also regionally and globally. However, land-use change and global warming are threatening these ecosystems, of which soil organic carbon (SOC) is a key element affecting their sustainability. In this study, we have analyzed the variation of SOC stocks to a depth of 20 cm in 16 paired cropland and grassland sites located in the Sullccapallcca stream micro-watershed (elevation > 3600 m.a.s.l., Ayacucho, Peru). We have also analyzed the environmental controls on the SOC stocks and their variation with land-use change. We found that the studied high-Andean grasslands store high SOC contents (247 Tn SOC ha−1), whose spatial variability was partially explained by the slope of the terrain (r2 = 0.26, p < 0.05). Despite the higher NDVI, the conversion of these grasslands into croplands decreased the SOC stock by 39 Tn SOC ha−1 on average, a decrease that was more pronounced when the initial SOC content of the grassland was higher (r2 = 0.60, p < 0.05). This study provides the first evidence of the effects of land-use change on the SOC in the region, although the mechanisms involved still need to be investigated.Fil: Medina Quispe, Paolo Rivaldo. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Huanta; PerúFil: Arizapana Almonacid, Marco Aurelio. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Huanta; PerúFil: Nosetto, Marcelo Daniel. 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

What does it take to flood the Pampas?: Lessons from a decade of strong hydrological fluctuations

While most landscapes respond to extreme rainfalls with increased surface water outflows, very flat and poorly drained ones have little capacity to do this and their most common responses include (i) increased water storage leading to rising water tables and floods, (ii) increased evaporative water losses, and, after reaching high levels of storage, (iii) increased liquid water outflows. The relative importance of these pathways was explored in the extensive plains of the Argentine Pampas, where two significant flood episodes (denoted FE1 and FE2) occurred in 2000?2003 and 2012?2013. In two of the most flood-prone areas (Western and Lower Pampa, 60,000 km2 each), surface water cover reached 31 and 19% during FE1 in each subregion, while FE2 covered up to 22 and 10%, respectively. From the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the flood events, we distinguished slow floods lasting several years when the water table is brought to the surface following sustained precipitation excesses in groundwater-connected systems (Western Pampa), and ?fast? floods triggered by surface water accumulation over the course of weeks to months, typical of poor surface-groundwater connectivity (Lower Pampa) or when exceptionally strong rainfalls overwhelm infiltration capacity. Because of these different hydrological responses, precipitation and evapotranspiration were strongly linked in the Lower Pampa only, while the connection between water fluxes and storage was limited to the Western Pampa. In both regions, evapotranspirative losses were strongly linked to flooded conditions as a regulatory feedback, while liquid water outflows remained negligible.Fil: Kuppel, Sylvain. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Houspanossian, Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Nosetto, Marcelo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; Argentin

Water subsidies from mountains to deserts: their role in sustaining groundwater-fed oases in a sandy landscape

In arid regions throughout the world, shallow phreatic aquifers feed natural oases of much higher productivity than would be expected solely from local rainfall. In South America, the presence of well-developed Prosopis flexuosa woodlands in the Monte Desert region east of the Andes has puzzled scientists for decades. Today these woodlands provide crucial subsistence to local populations, including descendants of the indigenous Huarpes. We explore the vulnerability and importance of phreatic groundwater for the productivity of the region, comparing the contributions of local rainfall to that of remote mountain recharge that is increasingly being diverted for irrigated agriculture before it reaches the desert. We combined deep soil coring, plant measurements, direct water-table observations, and stable-isotopic analyses (2H and 18O) of meteoric, surface, and ground waters at three study sites across the region, comparing woodland stands, bare dunes, and surrounding shrublands. The isotopic composition of phreatic groundwaters (delta2H: -137 per thousand +/- 5 per thousand) closely matched the signature of water brought to the region by the Mendoza River (-137 per thousand +/- 6 per thousand), suggestin that mountain-river infiltration rather than in situ rainfall deep drainage (-39 per thousand +/- 19 per thousand) was the dominant mechanism of recharge. Similarly, chloride mass balances determined from deep soil profiles (> 6 m) suggested very low recharge rates. Vegetation in woodland ecosystems, where significant groundwater discharge losses, likely >100 mm/yr occurred, relied on regionally derived groundwater located from 6.5 to 9.5 m underground. At these locations, daily water-table fluctuations of 10 mm, and stable-isotopic measurements of plant water, indicated groundwater uptake rates of 200-300 mm/yr. Regional scaling suggests that groundwater evapotranspiration reaches 18-42 mm/yr across the landscape, accounting for 7 17% of the Mendoza River flow regionally. Our study highlights the reliance of ecosystem productivity in natural oases on Andean snowmelt, which is increasingly being diverted to one of the largest irrigated regions of the continent. Understanding the ecohydrological coupling of mountain and desert ecosystems here and elsewhere should help managers balance production agriculture and conservation of unique woodland ecosystems and the rural communities that rely on them.Fil: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. 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"; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Económico Sociales; ArgentinaFil: Nosetto, Marcelo Daniel. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Económico Sociales; Argentina. 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 ; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Cátedra de Climatología Agrícola; ArgentinaFil: Villagra, Pablo Eugenio. 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; ArgentinaFil: Jackson, Robert B.. University Of Duke; Estados Unido

Long-term satellite NDVI data sets: evaluating their ability to detect ecosystem functional changes in South America

In the last decades, South American ecosystems underwent important functional modifications due to climate alterations and direct human intervention on land use and land cover. Among remotely sensed data sets, NOAA-AVHRR "Normalized Difference Vegetation Index" (NDVI) represents one of the most powerful tools to evaluate these changes thanks to their extended temporal coverage. In this paper we explored the possibilities and limitations of three commonly used NOAA-AVHRR NDVI series (PAL, GIMIMS and FASIR) to detect ecosystem functional changes in the South American continent. We performed pixel-based linear regressions for four NDVI variables (average annual, maximum annual, minimum annual and intra-annual coefficient of variation) for the 1982-1999 period and (1) analyzed the convergences and divergences of significant multi-annual trends identified across all series, (2) explored the degree of aggregation of the trends using the O-ring statistic, and (3) evaluated observed trends using independent information on ecosystem functional changes in five focal regions. Several differences arose in terms of the patterns of change (the sign, localization and total number of pixels with changes). FASIR presented the highest proportion of changing pixels (32.7%) and GIMMS the lowest (16.2%). PAL and FASIR data sets showed the highest agreement, with a convergence of detected trends on 71.2% of the pixels. Even though positive and negative changes showed substantial spatial aggregation, important differences in the scale of aggregation emerged among the series, with GIMMS showing the smaller scale (11 pixels). The independent evaluations suggest higher accuracy in the detection of ecosystem changes among PAL and FASIR series than with GIMMS, as they detected trends that match expected shifts. In fact, this last series eliminated most of the long term patterns over the continent. For example, in the "Eastern Paraguay" and "Uruguay River margins" focal regions, the extensive changes due to land use and land cover change expansion were detected by PAL and FASIR, but completely ignored by GIMMS. Although the technical explanation of the differences remains unclear and needs further exploration, we found that the evaluation of this type of remote sensing tools should not only be focused at the level of assumptions (i.e. physical or mathematical aspects of image processing), but also at the level of results (i.e. contrasting observed patterns with independent proofs of change). We finally present the online collaborative initiative "Land ecosystem change utility for South America", which facilitates this type of evaluations and helps to identify the most important functional changes of the continent.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: Nosetto, Marcelo Daniel. 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: Aragón, Myriam Roxana. 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"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Aversa, Fernando. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Paruelo, José. 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: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. 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

Influence of lowland forests on subsurface salt accumulation in shallow groundwater areas

In flat sedimentary plains in areas with a sub-humid climate, tree planting on grasslands and arable lands creates strong hydrological shifts. As a result of deep rooting and high water uptake of trees, groundwater levels drop and subsurface salt accumulation increases. Tree planting has expanded globally and in Hungary it reached the rates of 15000 ha/year, being focused mainly in the Great Hungarian Plain where forests replace grasslands and crops in a region with widespread shallow groundwater. We performed soil and groundwater observations in 31 pairs of forest and control plots in the region, including gradients of initial water table depth and salinity, soil layering, and tree species and age. Accumulated tree biomass was positively correlated with soil salinization rates following tree planting, being also affected by species (poplar > common oak > black locust) and stand age. Differences among tree species effects appeared to be related to their growth rates. Due to downward deep percolation and salt leaching episodes during the Hungarian winters, the observed salt accumulation rates were lower than those described under similar settings in the warmer Argentine Pampas.Fil: Tóth, Tibor. Centre for Agricultural Research, Institute for Soil Sciences and Agricultural Chemistry; HungríaFil: Balog, Kitti. Centre for Agricultural Research, Institute for Soil Sciences and Agricultural Chemistry; HungríaFil: Szabó, András. Centre for Agricultural Research, Institute for Soil Sciences and Agricultural Chemistry; HungríaFil: Pásztor, László. Centre for Agricultural Research, Institute for Soil Sciences and Agricultural Chemistry; HungríaFil: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Nosetto, Marcelo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Gribovszki, Zoltán. University of West Hungary. Institute of Geomatics and Civil Engineering; Hungrí