Restoration of overgrazed areas in the semi-arid Chaco (Argentina): studying germination requirements to grow nurse plants

MARTÍNEZ GÁLVEZ FERNANDA; TÁLAMO ANDRÉS; DALMASSO ANTONIO ; CROCE JOHANNA; ALAUIE ALEJANDRO EMILIANO; BASKIN CAROL

Foz do Iguassu

Congreso; VII World Conference on Ecological Restoration - V Congreso Iberoamericano y del Caribe de Restauración Ecológica - I Conferência Brasileira de Restauração Ecológica; 2017

Society for Ecological Restoration

Among the dry forests of Latin America, the Chaco has the largest extent of continuous forests . People in the Chaco live by using traditional livestock management in ?puestos? (groups of houses, farmyards and artificial water sources) . Overgrazing causes vegetation loss and soil compaction generating areas without vegetation cover . Reintroducing thorny or non-palatable plants is useful as a starting point to create fertility islands, these potential nurse plants protect plants from grazing and improve natural regeneration . However, there is no information about the dormancy-breaking and germination requirements of Chaco plants . In order to raise new nurse plants for restoration programs in the Chaco, we studied the germination requirements of five woody species: Castela coccinea, Celtis ehrenbergiana, Anisocapparis speciosa, Sarcotoxicum salicifolium, and Capparicordis twediana . Germination of each species was tested at 25°C in light (12hr light/12hr darkness) and in continuous darkness (Petri dishes covered with aluminum foil) . A seed germinated if it had a 2 mm radicle, and a species was dormant if their germination percentage is lower than 80 . We found that seeds of A . speciosa are not dormant, and those of C . cocinea are not dormant in darkness . Seeds of C . ehrenbergiana, S . salicifolium and C . tweediana are dormant; therefore, to increase their germination percentages, we are performing a seed stratification treatment . The best candidates to introduce into the puestos are A . speciosa and C . cocinea (both can be easily propagated) . This information is useful to grow potential nurse plants to restore the overgrazed areas in the semi-arid Chaco .