Arid and semiarid rangeland responses to non-stationary temporal dynamics of environmental drivers

Easdale, Marcos Horacio; Perri, Daiana; Bruzzone, Octavio Augusto

doi:10.1016/j.rsase.2022.100796

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 72 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…To better address biophysical heterogeneity, the selection of landscape units for the installation of new monitoring plots in the field should include more assessment sites and consider other criteria, such as the temporal variation of vegetation productivity (Bruzzone & Easdale, 2021; Easdale et al., 2022) and its responses to changes in climatic variables (Bruzzone et al., 2023). The proposed approach allows us to relate floristic archetypes with environmental variables and more easily describe changes over time.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking floristic archetypes of Patagonian steppes

Easdale,

Martin‐Albarracin,

Perri

et al. 2024

Applied Vegetation Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

QuestionsThe classification of plant communities is a well‐established practice in ecology. However, the factors that determine the distribution of common species and the extent of their dominance and overlap are still being debated. Large‐scale studies based on field data are of great interest in the face of biodiversity changes and climate change impacts. This research was designed to answer the following two questions: What are the dominant plant communities in the Patagonian steppes and how do they relate to environmental features, as measured by latitude, longitude, altitude, mean annual precipitation and mean temperature? What have been the recent changes in plant communities in terms of expansion and contraction of different types of communities?LocationPatagonian steppes (South America).MethodsWe used a large database of species‐by‐species vegetation cover from 426 monitoring plots in the South American Patagonian steppes, surveyed between 2007 and 2019, with two different assessment dates at least 5 years apart. We applied archetypal analysis to identify different vegetation compositions at a regional scale (called floristic archetypes) and to track their changes over time. In addition, we analyzed the relationship between floristic archetypes and spatial and meteorological variables to assess the association between floristic composition and the environmental context.ResultsSeven floristic archetypes were identified in the Patagonian steppes. The dominant and most widespread floristic archetype showed an expanding pattern in floristic trajectories and was positively associated with mean annual temperature. This floristic archetype was characterized by both drought‐ and grazing‐tolerant species. Two floristic archetypes located at the longitudinal extremes showed decreasing relative participation in the vegetation configurations, and the archetype located towards the west showed a positive relationship with annual precipitation, suggesting a threatened scenario in the face of drier conditions. Southern floristic archetypes either showed a slight decrease or remained stable.ConclusionsPatagonian steppes are dominated by both drought‐ and grazing‐tolerant species communities and their spatial distribution is expanding across different biomes, whereas the more forage‐preferred species were associated with a decreasing floristic archetype. A projected drier and hotter climate scenario may potentiate this pattern. The floristic archetypes framework has potential as a monitoring tool for tracking changes in vegetation composition at a mesoscale and for identifying hotspots of vulnerable vegetation in the face of environmental changes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking floristic archetypes of Patagonian steppes

Easdale,

Martin‐Albarracin,

Perri

et al. 2024

Applied Vegetation Science

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A family of vegetation phenology classifications addressing NDVI metrics, has gained increased research attention to characterizing temporal oscillations and shifts of vegetation productivity [5]. For instance, identifying a sudden increase or an abrupt surpass of a threshold value, the date and magnitude of maximum and minimum values, changes in the length of the growing season, long-term shifts or trends, a variety of time-frequencies measures and different kind of noise, e.g., [6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. Whereas NDVI time series give opportunities to characterize temporal dynamics of different ecosystems at coarse scales, identifying the contribution of different vegetation species or patches at finer scales is still a challenge.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationship between NDVI of Patches and Cover Area of Grasses, Shrubs and Bare Soil Components of a Semi-Arid Steppe from North-West Patagonia, Argentina

Fariña

Aramayo

Perri

et al. 2023

Grasses

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Distinguishing the contributions of different vegetation cover such as shrubs and grasses components into the primary production in arid and semi-arid rangelands is a key step to understanding changes at a landscape scale. The aim was to assess the contribution of shrubs, grasses and bare soil components into a total biophysical variable at a patch level, and the relationship between that biophysical variable and remote sensing vegetation index, in a grass–shrub steppe from North-West Patagonia, Argentina. We conducted a field survey in the period 2015–2017 to analyzing the relationship between monthly values of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of two grasses, two shrub species and bare soil, weighted by their cover area at a patch level, and the concomitant patch NDVI records, respectively. The contribution of the patch components to the total NDVI value at a patch level was additive. The relationship between the weighted NDVI of patch components and the concomitant NDVI value at a patch level along time was linear for perennial grasses and deciduous shrub–grass patches, but linearity was not significant for most perennial shrub–grass patches. Differences among patch compositions and their surface reflectance suggest the need to move forward in a more precise distinction of the floristic composition of patches, to better understanding their contribution to NDVI temporal dynamics at a landscape scale.

show abstract

Arid and semiarid rangeland responses to non-stationary temporal dynamics of environmental drivers

Cited by 2 publications

References 72 publications

Tracking floristic archetypes of Patagonian steppes

Tracking floristic archetypes of Patagonian steppes

Relationship between NDVI of Patches and Cover Area of Grasses, Shrubs and Bare Soil Components of a Semi-Arid Steppe from North-West Patagonia, Argentina

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About