Prosopis caldenia encroachments intervened by different management techniques: Analysis from its seedbank

Argentina’s central semiarid area is characterized by an important increase of woody species and non-palatable grasses. The recovery of its grazing sites depends on the seed bank composition and dynamics under different management practices. The aim of this study was to analyse the composition and abundance of viable seed bank (BSSG) and its relationship with the plant community in different patches of vegetation in a caldén encroachment under different management practices. This work was carried out in a degraded caldén woodland with a woody cover greater than 75%. After a selective rolling and a controlled burning, four treatments were obtained: control (T), burned (Q), rolled (R) and rolled+burned (R+Q). At each treatment site, in open patches (with a predominance of grasses and herbaceous plants) and closed ones (with a woody layer) vegetation cover was evaluated and soil samples were taken for GSSB analysis. Data were analysed using the Jaccard and Raup-Crick similarity index, NMDS, ANOVA, two-way cluster and PerMANOVA. Sixtyone species were recorded in the plant community and a 34 species were identified in the GSSB. The 26.5% of GSSB species were perennial grasses, mostly forage grasses (GFP). The similarity between the vegetation-BSSG in each treatment was low. However, the BSSG had a high similarity between all the treatments. Treatment patches had higher GFP seedling density than the Control. GFP seedling density was higher in open patches. Non-forage perennial grasses (GNFP) and GA+DA had higher seedling density in close patches. Exotic species density was higher in the treatment sites than in the Control, reaching higher values in the R site. In managed sites, heterogeneity in vegetation patches determines vegetation composition and GSSB dynamics. Therefore, the soil seed bank as a memory of the communities and vegetation patches are key elements to consider for the restoration of these systems.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Ernst, Ricardo D., Suárez, Carla E., Estelrich, Héctor D., Morici, Ernesto F., Campos, Marilina A.
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	spa
Published:	Asociación Argentina de Ecología 2020
Online Access:	https://ojs.ecologiaaustral.com.ar/index.php/Ecologia_Austral/article/view/989
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