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024 _q10.3390/grasses3030015
040 _aAR-EsCIE
245 1 0 _aEffects of grazing and shrub management on species composition and soil properties in patagonian grasslands /
300 _adigital
521 _aHistorical sheep farming in the Patagonian drylands has led to reduced grass cover, soil erosion, and shrub encroachment, compromising ecosystem function. Effective restoration requires managing shrub cover, bare soil, and patch connectivity through various strategies. This study evaluates rehabilitation interventions in a grass-steppe ecosystem, comparing grazed and ungrazed areas. Over three years, we tested the following: (a) mechanical shrub cutting with biomass redistribution, and (b) enhancing patch connectivity with Pinus spp. branch piles, alongside controls, in eighteen 5 m × 5 m plots invaded by Mulinum spinosum. Half of the plots were fenced to exclude grazing, resulting in six treatment combinations. We monitored soil properties, vegetation cover, and species composition. The treatments explained twice as much of the variation in community composition as the annual climatic variations (0.26 vs. 0.13). Livestock exclusion increased perennial grass cover more than the grazed plots did (2.14 vs. 1.42 times the initial measure). All treatments reduced the amount of bare soil except the grazed controls. Shrub cutting, especially with grazing, increased the lasting litter coverage by 5–10% and decreased the bare soil equivalently. Organic matter increased except in the non-intervened interpatches (0.95 times). The enclosures with cut shrubs trapped erodible particles, showing a 5% increase. Our study highlights that grazing destabilizes communities, while enclosures stabilize them, with interventions improving soil fertility and mitigating erosion.
700 1 _aVogel, Braian
_967
700 1 _aMolina, Lucía,
_d1988-
_968
700 1 _aRostagno, César M.,
_d1949-
_969
700 _aLa Manna, Ludmila Andrea
_d1974-
_970
773 _gVol.3, no3 (2024), p. 205-220
_tGrasses
_x2813-3463
856 _uhttps://www.mdpi.com/2813-3463/3/3/15
910 _aPG240924
942 _2ddc
_cCF
_n0
999 _c32
_d32