Forests expand as livestock pressure declines in subtropical South America
| Autor: | Milena Holmgren, Marion Buddeberg, Rafael E. Bernardi, Matías Arim |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management
sheep uruguay QH301-705.5 vegetation shifts Rainforest Subtropics Ecological transitions Ecosystem services tree cover Ecosystem Vegetation shifts Biology (General) QH540-549.5 agriculture Sheep Tree cover Land use Ecology business.industry Agroforestry grasslands Agriculture Ecotone Aquatische Ecologie en Waterkwaliteitsbeheer PE&RC Geography Disturbance (ecology) cattle ecological transitions Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Grasslands Campos Uruguay Cattle business ecosystem services campos |
| Zdroj: | Ecology and Society, Vol 24, Iss 2, p 19 (2019) Ecology and Society 24 (2019) 2 Ecology and Society, 24(2) |
| ISSN: | 1708-3087 |
| Popis: | Forests, savannas, and grasslands are prevalent across the landscapes of South America. Land uses associated with these ecosystems have influenced economies from household to country scales, shaping social-ecological organization across the region since pre-Hispanic societies. Recent studies suggest that tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and forests represent alternative ecosystem states. Transitions between these ecosystem states can be promoted by changes in disturbance regimes and by land uses determined by the organization of societies and their activities. We analyzed how changes in agriculture, fire, and livestock management influenced forest cover over a 45-year span (1966-2011) in the Campos region, an extensive subtropical ecotone between rain forests and grasslands of South America. We found that forests contracted in areas with high crop agriculture, whereas forests increased in those grasslands where livestock densities had been reduced. These patterns were strongly associated with soil and topographic conditions because they broadly determine the potential land productivity and use. Our results show that current land use and disturbance regimes explain the large extent of grasslands across the South American Campos and suggest that changes in land use and disturbance regimes could facilitate or prevent transitions between subtropical forests, savannas, and grasslands altering the provision of ecosystem services linked to them. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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