Survival and growth of Celtis tala Gillies ex Planch in the ecological rehabilitation of abandoned shell quarries Supervivencia y crecimiento de Celtis tala Gillies ex Planch en la rehabilitación ecológica de canteras de conchilla abandonadas

PLAZA BEHR, MAIA C.; PÉREZ, CAROLINA; GOYA, JUAN; ARTURI, MARCELO

ECOLOGÍA AUSTRAL

ASOCIACIÓN ARGENTINA DE ECOLOGÍA

Año: 2021 vol. 31 p. 251 - 260

0327-5477

In the east of the province of Buenos Aires, the mining of calcareous subsoil materials causes the loss of cover of native forests dominated by Celtis tala, one of the main forest formations in the region. The objective of this study was to evaluate the tala plantation techniques in areas of abandoned quarries, to improve the ecological rehabilitation of such areas. Our hypothesis is that survival and growth are negatively affected by the low availability of fertile soil, the competition with herbaceous plants and high the direct solar radiation incidence. We carried out a field study to estimate survival, diameter at the stem base and height of tala plants as a response to weeding and shelter in a gradient of fertile soil availability. Survival increased with soil depth, and we observed a positive response of growth rate to weeding, which was greater at high fertile soil availability. Only a weak positive effect of shelter on growth was observed at higher fertile soil availability. The loss of forest cover caused by mining cannot be reversed with simple planting techniques. It is necessary to understand the ecophysiological processes that limit the establishment of tala and to plan the management of the remaining fertile soil. Other local tree species should also be assayed.