Abstract

CORIA, Rubén D; KUNST, Carlos R  and  NAVARRETE, Víctor. Rolado selectivo de baja intensidad (RBI) sobre bosque nativo en el Chaco Semiárido: influencia sobre la diversidad y la composición de un ensamble de reptiles. Ecol. austral [online]. 2017, vol.27, n.1, pp.1-9. ISSN 1667-782X.

Low intensity roller chopping (RBI) is a technology that enables low impact silvopastoral systems in the Semiarid Chaco. In contrast to other systems, RBI preserves the soil and most of the native vegetation without sacrificing production. This study addresses the local impact of RBI without implanted exotic pastures on a reptile assemblage in a Semiarid Chaco forest, where the forest with RBI maintains connectivity with large areas of native vegetation. The results show that: a) the alpha diversity of reptiles did not decrease in the forest with RBI, associated with the non-degradation of the vegetation´s vertical structure, and b) reptile assemblages were highly similar between the forest with RBI and the control, due to a high structural similarity between habitats. The results show that tree and litter cover are important variables that influence the distribution of reptile species in the habitats, related to the sunlight gradient. At a local scale, this study suggests that RBI without implanted exotic pastures has the potential to adequately maintain the diversity and composition of reptile assemblages in Semiarid Chaco forests.

Keywords : Alpha diversity; Similarity of assemblages; Vegetation structure; Habitat structural similarity; Silvopastoral systems.