Abstract

KUTSCHKER, Adriana M; PAPAZIAN, Gabriela; MARTINEZ, Oscar A  and  IBANEZ, Nancy. Quality assessment and restoration perspectives of riparian forest in an Andean river from Patagonia, Argentina. Ecol. austral [online]. 2020, vol.30, n.1, pp.99-112. ISSN 1667-782X.

The river banks are one of the most important aspects to quantifying and qualifying the ecological status of aquatic ecosystems. An evaluation of the quality of the riparian forests and the restoration perspectives of the Carrileufu river, from its sources in Cholila lake to its mouth in Rivadavia lake, NW of Chubut was raised. Two stretches of the tributary Pedregoso river were also included. A physical and ecological characterization was carried out at the ecosystem level and at the stretch level, registering environmental variables, plant community a􀄴ributes and the active and inactive geomorphological processes in the river environment. The QBRp index was applied in twelve stretches of 100 m in length, subject to one or more land uses (i.e., exotic plantations, urbanization, agriculture, livestock, recreational-tourist activity). A multicriteria analysis was applied, with the information relieved as input, which allowed defining the feasibility of restoration and the most appropriate management for each stretch of the river. The values of the QBRp index varied between intermediate to very good river bank quality, without bad or bad quality; observing an inverse relationship between the riparian forest quality and the overlap and intensity of land uses. Regarding to restoration prospects, three stretches presented a feasibility defined as ´simple´, four of them ´moderate and five showed a ´difficult´ one. Different management ways for their recovery were established, ranging from conservation/regeneration, restoration, complex restoration/revegetation, and even rehabilitation of the more degraded stretches.

Keywords : Aquatic environment; Carrileufu; Ecological status; Management; QBRp.

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