Land use in the dry subtropics: Vegetation composition and production across contrasting human contexts

Baldi, Germán; Jobbágy, Estéban G.

doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.08.016

Cited by 31 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Extensive areas of rangeland are affected by runoff/ runon redistribution processes, exemplified by the South American Dry Chaco, one of the largest and flattest semiarid rangelands globally (almost 1 million km 2 ; Ada´moli et al 1990, Jobba´gy et al 2008, Baldi and 4 E-mail: pnmagliano@gmail.com Jobba´gy 2012). The primary land use of Dry Chaco is extensive cattle production, using forage in native woodlands (Baldi et al 2013, Gasparri and.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The primary land use of Dry Chaco is extensive cattle production, using forage in native woodlands (Baldi et al 2013, Gasparri and. Two main challenges that livestock production faces in the region are the lack of fresh surface or groundwater sources for drinking supply, and the low fraction of the NPP that is allocated to forage (as opposed to non-forage woody tissues) in the rangelands (Baldi and Jobba´gy 2012). While the lack of fresh water is resolved by runoff harvesting in human-made impoundments (Magliano et al 2015b), the availability of forage here as well as elsewhere depends on the redistribution of surface water via runoff/runon to vegetation patches (Ludwig et al 2005, Urgeghe et al 2010.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rainfall intensity switches ecohydrological runoff/runon redistribution patterns in dryland vegetation patches

Magliano

Breshears

Fernández

et al. 2015

Ecological Applications

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Abstract. Effectively managing net primary productivity in drylands for grazing and other uses depends on understanding how limited rainfall input is redistributed by runoff and runon among vegetation patches, particularly for patches that contrast between lesser and greater amounts of vegetation cover. Due in part to data limitations, ecohydrologists generally have focused on rainfall event size to characterize water redistribution processes. Here we use soil moisture data from a semiarid woodland to highlight how, when event size is controlled and runoff and interception are negligible at the stand scale, rainfall intensity drives the relationship between water redistribution and canopy and soil patch attributes. Horizontal water redistribution variability increased with rainfall intensity and differed between patches with contrasting vegetation cover. Sparsely vegetated patches gained relatively more water during lower intensity events, whereas densely vegetated ones gained relatively more water during higher intensity events. Consequently, range managers need to account for the distribution of rainfall event intensity, as well as event size, to assess the consequences of climate variability and change on net primary productivity. More generally, our results suggest that rainfall intensity needs to be considered in addition to event size to understand vegetation patch dynamics in drylands.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rainfall intensity switches ecohydrological runoff/runon redistribution patterns in dryland vegetation patches

Magliano

Breshears

Fernández

et al. 2015

Ecological Applications

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“…To analyse how has varied the adaptative capacity of agriculture to climate variability across different territories, we applied a crosscontinental comparative and quantitative approach using existing databases from diverse sources (Baldi and Jobb agy, 2012). We studied the Argentine Chaco (AR) that has an extension of 232,873 km 2 and the US Southern Plains (US), which extends over 84,879 km 2 .…”

Section: The Study Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the beginning, most of the changes in cropland uses occurred due to transitions between cropland uses and pasture/rangeland (Nickerson et al, 2011). Although currently, crops are grown on a vastly increased scale of production, early last century, the percentage of area planted with annual crops was low (Baldi and Jobb agy, 2012).…”

Section: Agriculture Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This mismatch between the studied regions may be due the early adoption of hybrid seeds (Reca, 2006) and the contribution of conservation-tillage methods also initiated several decades ago (Peterson, 2005) in the US Southern Plains. On the other hand, annual crop cultivation in the Argentine Chaco has developed under rain-fed conditions with no input of irrigation water (Baldi and Jobb agy, 2012;Baldi et al, 2013), while the vast cropping region of the US Southern Plains has shown a trend towards increased irrigation that started in 1940's (USDA, 2008;USGS, 2013). For 2007, this region accounted about 15 percent of total US irrigated area (Schaible and Aillery, 2012).…”

Section: Agriculture Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparison of adaptative strategies to climate variability in rural areas of Argentine Chaco and US Southern Plains during the last century

Ricard

Viglizzo

Podestá

2015

Journal of Arid Environments

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Ecohydrological transformation in the Dry Chaco and the risk of dryland salinity: Following Australia's footsteps?

et al. 2017

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During the last century, the massive conversion of Australian dry forests to crops and pastures triggered the massive soil and groundwater degradation process known as dryland salinity.Currently, South American Chaco's dry forests are undergoing a similar transformation, leading global deforestation rates. The goal of this study was to review existing ecohydrological information about natural and cultivated systems in the Chaco to assess the dryland salinity risks. We review deep soil water, salt stocks, and groundwater recharge from agriculture or native dry forests stands located in a precipitation range of 450-1100 mm. We complement this with water table level records and geoelectric profiles together with personal observations. We use data from 15 Australian studies for comparison. Strong salt leaching, especially after 20 years of forest clearance, indicates the onset of deep drainage following forest conversion to agriculture in the Dry Chaco. Water stocks were more than double in the cleared stands compared to their dry forest pairs, and recharge rates were up to two order magnitude higher in agricultural areas.Although lower atmospheric salt deposition, younger sediments, and relatively high water-consuming agricultural systems in the Dry Chaco attenuate salinization risks compared to Australia, the very flat topography and related shallow water table levels of the South American region could make groundwater recharge and salt mobilization processes more widespread and difficult to manage. The lack of awareness among the general public, farmers, and decision makers about this issue amplifies the problem, making land management plans for the Argentine dry forest territories essential.

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Land use in the dry subtropics: Vegetation composition and production across contrasting human contexts

Cited by 31 publications

References 62 publications

Rainfall intensity switches ecohydrological runoff/runon redistribution patterns in dryland vegetation patches

Rainfall intensity switches ecohydrological runoff/runon redistribution patterns in dryland vegetation patches

Comparison of adaptative strategies to climate variability in rural areas of Argentine Chaco and US Southern Plains during the last century

Ecohydrological transformation in the Dry Chaco and the risk of dryland salinity: Following Australia's footsteps?

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