Perspectives on Rangeland Management Education and Research in Argentina

ANDERSON, D.L; BONVISSUTO, G. L.; BRIZUELA, M. A.; CHIOSSONE, G.; CIBILS, A. F.; CID, M. S.; FELDMAN, I.; FERNÁNDEZ GRECCO, R. C.; KUNST, C.; OESTERHELD, M.; OLIVA, G. E.; PARUELO, J.M.; PEINETTI, H. R. L. ; VILLAGRA, E. S.

Rangelands

Society for Range Management

Lugar: Texas; Año: 2011 vol. 33 p. 2 - 12

0190-0528

Rangelands account for over two-thirds of Argentina?s land area and contribute uniquely to its biodiversity, agricultural livelihood, and cultural identity. Colossal mountain ranges and regional air mass movements create a variety of climates that generate an equally diverse array of rangeland and forest biomes (Table 1; Fig. 1). Humid tropical air currents that fl ow into the continent from the Atlantic Ocean create a NE?SW gradient of decreasing precipitation across the northern half of Argentina?s territory. Along this gradient, subtropical forests are gradually replaced by subhumid woodlands and extensive subtropical and temperate grasslands that eventu-ally give way to semiarid savannas and desert scrublands (Fig. 1). The southern half of Argentina?s land area (also known as Patagonia) exhibits climate and vegetation pat-terns that are controlled almost entirely by the orographic effects of the Cordillera de los Andes. This mountain range, which runs in a N?S direction along Argentina?s western border, stands in the way of mid-latitude westerlies and thus creates a region-wide rain shadow that hosts some of the continent?s most extensive cold deserts and semi-deserts.