Efectos de la Invasión del ligustro, Ligustrum lucidum, en la dinámica hídrica de la Yungas

ZAMORA-NAZCA, L; MONTTI, L; GRAU, HR; PAOLINI, L; ARAGON, MR

Luján

Congreso; 25º Reunión Argentina de Ecología; 2012

Asociación Argentina de Ecología

The Yungas montane forests of subtropical Argentina (mountain forest) have highis an ecosystem with high biodiversity and . It plays a key role in regional watershed regulation water flows regulating. Ligustrum lucidum (Glossy Privet), originary from China, is one of the most abundant exotic species, dominating in Among the exotic species that dominate their secondary forests highlights the glossy privet, Ligustrum lucidum, originally from China. There is little knowledge about the water use by this species, however, is known to have high growth rates of growth and green foliage all year round, Based on this, so it waswe hypothesized that, particularly during the dry season (winter-spring), glossy privet reduces the availability of water in the soil of forests in which is dominant compared to native species forests. We wWorked on six pairs of patches of native forests and monodominant glossy privet secondary forests monodominant of glossy privet in the Sierra San Javier, Tucumán. We Was recorded soil moisture by volumetric water content and water potential and estimated productivity of different forest types by Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) derived from MODIS satellite images. During the dry season, there was lower volumetric water content and water potential soil and a tendency to higher values of NDVI in glossy privet forests than the native forests. We concludes that the glossy privet forest would be consuming morest water, especially in the dry season, due to higher photosynthetic increased activity during this period compared to native forest. The invasion by glossy privet in and his invasion in the Argentine Yungas could alter the water functioning of this ecosystem.