Trends in fragmentation and connectivity of Paspalum quadrifarium grasslands in the Buenos Aires province, Argentina
| Autor: | Maria A. Cañibano, Marcelo Gandini, Laura Beatriz Moreno, Bruno D. Lara, Patricia Gandini |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Morphology NETWORK ANALYSIS 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Conservation Biology Range (biology) COMMUNITY REPLACEMENT HABITAT LOSS Biodiversity lcsh:Medicine LAND COVER CHANGE Land cover 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Land cover change General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology Grassland purl.org/becyt/ford/1 [https] Spatial pattern Guidos toolbox purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 [https] 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Cattle grazing SPATIAL PATTERN geography.geographical_feature_category Ecology General Neuroscience lcsh:R Fragmentation (computing) Habitat loss General Medicine Community replacement Geography Habitat destruction Habitat MORPHOLOGY Common spatial pattern Network analysis Physical geography CATTLE GRAZING General Agricultural and Biological Sciences GUIDOS TOOLBOX |
| Zdroj: | PeerJ PeerJ, Vol 7, p e6450 (2019) CONICET Digital (CONICET) Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas instacron:CONICET |
| ISSN: | 2167-8359 |
| Popis: | Background. Despite its wide distribution worldwide, only 4.6% of temperate grasslands are included within systems of protected areas. In Argentina, this situation is even more alarming: only 1.05% is protected. The study area (central area of the southern Salado River basin) has a large extent of grasslands of Paspalum quadrifarium (Pq) which has been target since the middle of the last century of a variety of agricultural management practices including fire burning for cattle grazing. Methods. Five binary images of presence-absence data of Pq from a 42-year range (1974–2016) derived from a land cover change study were used as base data. Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis (MSPA), Morphological Change Detection (MCD) and Network Connectivity Analysis (NCA) were performed to the data using Guidos Toolbox (GTB) for the estimation of habitat and connectivity dynamics of the Pq patches (fragments). Results. A loss of the coverage area and habitat nuclei of this grassland was observed during the study period, with some temporal oscillation but no recovery to initial states. Additional drastic reduction in connectivity was also evident in resulting maps. The number of large Pq grassland fragments (>50 ha) decreased at beginning of the study period. Also, fragmentation measured as number of components (patches) was higher at the end of the study period. The Pq pajonal nuclei had their minimum representativeness in 2000, and recovered slightly in area in 2011, but with a significant percentage increase of smaller patches (=islets) and linear elements as bridges and branches. Large corridors (mainly edge of roads) could be observed at the end of the study period, while the total connectivity of the landscape pattern drops continuously. Statistics of links shows mean values decreasing from 1974 to 2016. On the other hand, maximum values of links decreased up to 19% in 2011, and recovered to a 54% of their original value in 2016. Discussion. Pq fragmentation and habitat reduction could have an impact on the ecosystem functioning and the mobility of some species of native fauna. The connecting elements of the landscape were maintained and/or recovered in percentage in 2011 and 2016. This fact, although favoring the dispersion of the present diversity in the habitat nuclei could cause degradation by an edge effect. Part of the area has the potential to be taken as an area of research and as an example of livestock management, since it is the one that would most preserve the biodiversity of the Pq environment. On the methodological side, the use of a proved tool as GTB is useful for monitoring dynamics of a grassland-habitat fragmentation. Fil: Gandini, Marcelo Luciano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina Fil: Lara, Bruno Daniel. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento Ciencias Básicas Agronómicas y Biológicas. Laboratorio de Investigación y Servicios en Teledetección de Azul; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil; Argentina Fil: Moreno, Laura Beatriz. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina Fil: Cañibano, María Alejandra. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentina Fil: Gandini, Patricia Alejandra. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral. Unidad Académica Caleta Olivia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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