Response of vegetation to the increase in guanaco density after sheep removal in north-eastern Patagonian rangelands, Argentina

RODRÍGUEZ, MARÍA VICTORIA; PAZOS, GUSTAVO E.; MARINO, ANDREA; LARREGUY, CECILIA

Saskatoon

Congreso; 2016 International Rangeland Congress; 2016

In arid Patagonia, unsustainable practices in sheep production have typically led to vegetation and land degradation. Guanaco (Lama guanicoe) is the dominant native herbivore inhabiting these ecosystems. Lastly, ranchers and some government agents perceive this herbivore as a threat to livestock production and alerted on a hypothetical risk of vegetation deterioration by guanaco overgrazing because of the growth of some of their populations. In this work, we annually monitored during seven years the cover and composition of four plant communities in a wildlife reserve that was previously a typical sheep ranch.