Evaluation of the effect of livestock density on the vegetation of wetlands of the Middle Paraná River

TREISSE, IRINA; SABATTINI, JULIÁN; LORENTE, CAMILA JAZMÍN; BERÓN, MARÍA CECILIA; MESA, LETICIA

Rosario

Congreso; XXXIV Argentinian Meeting of Plant Physiology; 2023

Sociedad Argentina de Fisiología Vegetal

During the last decades, the expansion of the agricultural frontier led to a displacement of livestock towards regions with little aptitude for agriculture, such as wetlands. The excessive increase in this activity without quantification and management guidelines cause an environmental and social problem. The livestock stocking rate influences the structure of vegetation community, producing positive or negative effects. The aim of this work was to assess the effect of livestock stocking rate on vegetation in wetlands of the middle Paraná river. Sampling were conducted in five sites under continuous grazing with high (greater than 1 EV ha-1) and low stocking rate (less than 1 EV ha-1) in November 2021 and March 2022. Four square (size of 4 m2) were used to estimate the herbaceous vegetation cover in two areas depending on topographic position (lowland and upland vegetation). Species were classified as forage, non-forage, and toxic to livestock. Shannon-Weaver diversity (H') and forage/non-forage ratio were calculated. Nonparametric analyzes (Mann-Whitney and NMDS) were performed between high or low livestock stocking rate. In general, significant differences were observed in forage cover and in “forage/non-forage” ratio (p