CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Riparian forests are among the most vulnerable ecosystems. Ecological restoration is needed to maintain the ecosystem services they provide. The main goal of the present study was to generate a map of riparian zones identifying forest and transformed areas as a base for their restoration in Tucumán, Argentina. We compared different buffers width: one according to legal requirement (60 m) and two scientific-technical suggestions (100 and 250 m). To explore the occupation of the agronomic production units (cadastral units) by the buffers, we analyzed riparian land cover among different agro-ecological regions and the percentage of production units area affected. Land cover maps were performed through a supervised classification of Sentinel in Google Earth Engine. Our results revealed that between a 40 and 60 percent of the riparian zones, mainly covered by agriculture, need to be restored to reach the 60 and 250 m of buffer strip respectively. Considering the 60 m buffer, riparian zones were covered by agricultural and urban uses in a 23.5% (1959 ha) in the foothills, 50.9% (7784 ha) in the wet plains, and 36.8% (3113 ha) in the dry plains. Therefore, different efforts must be made for an efficient and effective restoration. The amount of area needed to restore the legal requirement could be an attainable objective considering the global and regional restoration goals. In addition, majority of the production units included less than 20% of their surface in a riparian zone. However, we suggest including socio-ecological approaches for restoration projects to know social actors perceptions and avoid major restriction for agronomic production. The cartography performed will be a valuable tool for the implementation of restoration projects for a priority area in Argentina.