Abstract

TALAMO, Andrés et al. Livestock-ranching, forest regeneration and restoration: Experiences from the Chaco forest. Multequina [online]. 2021, vol.30, n.2, pp.199-209. ISSN 1852-7329.

Extensive cattle ranching in forests such as the dry Chaco is an important land use practiced by local communities. This activity has been studied in past decades and recently, and it is necessary to summarize what is known to date. Here, we synthesize evidence on the relationship between livestock and regeneration and restoration experiences in two areas of the Argentinean dry Chaco: Copo National Park (Santiago del Estero province) and finca El Paraíso (Salta province). The relationship between livestock and regeneration depended on livestock pressure. In lands that were far from human settlements in Copo National Park, regeneration on sites with and with our livestock was similar, while on heavy degraded lands, the negative effect of livestock was clear. Recent exclosures in heavy degraded lands in Copo National Park have not shown conclusive results yet. In Paraíso, high livestock pressure decreased regeneration. In sites with less pressure and 10 years of exclusion from Copo National Park, exclosures increased grass biomass and soil cover, and favored sapling growth of Schinopsis lorentzii. Restoring heavily degraded lands requires excluding livestock and reintroducing the seed bank in scarified soils under nurse plants or artificial shade. Furthermore, we describe how to propagate nurse shrubs to create regeneration microsites. This synthesis will help to plan future restoration experiences on overgrazed sites in dry Chaco.

Keywords : Seed bank; Exclosures; Key species propagation; Resilience; Overgrazing.

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