Landscape scales to evaluate conservation as a component of sustainable forest management: The case of Nothofagus pumilio forests in Tierra del Fuego

LENCINAS M.V.; MARTÍNEZ PASTUR G.; PERI P.L.; ANDERSON C.B.; SOLER ESTEBAN R.; CELLINI J.M.; BARRERA M.; GAMONDEZ MOYANO I.

Dunedin

Congreso; Southern Connection Congress; 2013

University of Otago

At regional scale, large areas are preserved as natural reserves; at local scale, protection forests are left according to legal restrictions; and at stand scale, variable retention systems are used to improve conservation. This work evaluates the conservation effectiveness at different landscape scales, using Nothofagus pumilio forests (NPF) as a study case. There were used 535 vascular plant surveys (richness and cover) as conservation status indicator in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina), which were analysed using multivariate techniques. At regional scale, NPF plant diversity differed along landscape, where natural reserves are deficient for a regional conservation. At local scale, NPF differed from associated environments, where their preservation does not ensure full conservation. Conservation programs to achieve sustainable NPF management must include different landscape scales, since differences were observed among scales.