IANIGLA   20881
INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE NIVOLOGIA, GLACIOLOGIA Y CIENCIAS AMBIENTALES
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Geomorphological-related heterogeneity as reflected in tree growth and its relationships with climate of Monte Desert Prosopis flexuosa DC woodlands
Autor/es:
PIRAINO, SERGIO; ABRAHAM, ELENA MARIA; DIBLASI, ANGELA; ROIG-JUÑENT, FIDEL ALEJANDRO
Revista:
TREES-STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
Editorial:
SPRINGER
Referencias:
Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2015 vol. 29 p. 903 - 916
ISSN:
0931-1890
Resumen:
Desert forests grow under diverse ecological conditions, mainly resulting from the spatial  heterogeneity of drylands with consequences on tree growth and its interactions with climate. In the Monte Desert, geomorphological processes generate landform and soil variability, determining the distribution and growth of plant species. Prosopis flexuosa DC., a dominant tree species in the Central Monte Desert, grows in territories characterized by a high variability of landform and soil. We applied classical dendrochronological and statistical analysis to disentangle the effect of spatial heterogeneity upon the species radial growth and its further relation with precipitation fluctuations. Trees from 11 plots distributed in seven P. flexuosa forests encompassing the most importantgeomorphological/landform units in the Central Monte Desert were analyzed. Tree-ring development at both high and low frequencies reflects spatial landform variability. Soil heterogeneity drives ring growth within landform. Regionally, precipitation influences radial growth at the beginning and the end of the growing season, while locally dependent mechanisms related to landform/soil variability emerged. In this sense, the negative influence of late-summer precipitation found for a riparian chronology is a function of soil permeability. Ring growth at the paleoriverenvironment depends on late spring and early mid-summer precipitation, with within-landform differences probably related to soil heterogeneity. In the case of interdune and lowland units, radial growth depends on early spring rainfall. Our findings highlight the influence of the heterogeneity of desert environments on tree growth. The information is relevant to management and conservationpolicies, particularly for the forests of P. flexuosa in Argentine Monte