IMPACTS OF DOMESTIC CATTLE ON FOREST AND WOODY ECOSYSTEMS IN SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERICA

MAZZINI, FLAVIA; RELVA MA ANDREA; MALIZIA LUCIO

Posadas, Misiones

Conferencia; IUFRO CONFERENCE: Adaptive Management for Forested Lanscapes in Transformation; 2018

IUFRO, INTA

There is a long lasting debate on the effects of domestic cattle grazing on natural ecosystemsworldwide. Cattle are generally assumed to have negative effects to forest conservation; however,several studies also report positive and neutral effects. We aimed to investigate the availableevidence for positive, negative and neutral effects of cattle grazing on forest and woodyecosystems of southern South America. We conducted a peer-review literature search using theISI Web of Knowledge and Scopus databases in order to identify studies dealing with cattleimpacts for nature conservation. We compiled a database of 211 cases from 126 originalpublications. A reduced number of forest ecosystems (Patagonian forest, Chaco and Monte)concentrated ~85% of the reported study cases. The hierarchical cluster analysis to group casesbased on cattle effects, ecological variables and ecosystems reported that negative effects (~66%of cases) were mostly informed for vegetation variables and mainly occur in Patagonian forestand Chaco; positive effects (~16%) were mostly informed for Monte (no particular variableassociated), while neutral effects (~18%) were mostly informed for fauna related variables andUruguayan savanna. Our study suggests that grazing effects by cattle on southern South Americaforests are not homogeneous and depend on the particular forest ecosystem considered as well ason the forest attribute measured. Different cattle effects found can be partially explained bydifferences in grazing history and different ecosystems productivity. It is vital to improve ourunderstanding of cattle-forest interactions to guide synergies between sustainable managementand forest conservation.