IIBYT   23944
INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES BIOLOGICAS Y TECNOLOGICAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Short-term effects of pack animal grazing exclusion from Andean Alpine meadows.
Autor/es:
BARROS, A.; PICKERING, C.M.; RENISON, D.
Revista:
ARCTIC ANTARCTIC AND ALPINE RESEARCH
Editorial:
INST ARCTIC ALPINE RES
Referencias:
Lugar: Boulder, USA; Año: 2014 vol. 46 p. 333 - 443
ISSN:
1523-0430
Resumen:
Grazing by livestock can have positive, neutral, and/or negative effects on vegetation
depending on the intensity and type of grazing. This includes grazing by pack
animals used for tourism in mountain protected areas. We assessed the response of
vegetation to the exclusion of grazing by pack animals over one growing season in
the highest park in the Southern Hemisphere, Aconcagua Provincial Park, dry Central
Andes. Twenty pairs of exclosures and unfenced quadrats were established in
three high-altitude Andean alpine meadows that are intensively grazed by horses and
mules used by commercial operators to transport equipment for tourists. Vegetation
parameters, including height, cover, and composition were measured in late spring
when exclosures were established and ~120 days later at the end of the growing
season along with above-ground biomass. Data was analyzed using mixed models
and ordinations. Vegetation responded rapidly to the removal of grazing. Vegetation
in exclosures was more than twice as tall, had 30% more above-ground biomass, a
greater cover of grasses including the dominant Deyeuxia eminens, and less litter
than grazed quadrats. These changes in the vegetation from short-term exclusion of
grazing are likely to increase the habitat quality of the meadows for native wildlife.