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Forest fragmentation in the Argentine Chaco: recruitment and population patterns of dominant tree species

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Abstract

The forest in the Central Argentine Chaco has been dramatically fragmented and persists only as isolated patches in an agricultural matrix. In this study, we evaluated the effects of fragmentation on total density, recruitment, and size-class structure of its dominant tree species, a key issue, although little explored, for forest conservation in the region. We particularly analyzed the effects of fragment size and forest cover at landscape level on seven of the most important tree species of the forest. Our results suggest that forest cover at landscape level is more important than fragment size to explain the population patterns of the main tree species. Fragment size was relevant in only one species, Cordia americana, whereas forest cover resulted relevant in five species. The size-class structure of Schinopsis balansae, one of the dominant species of the upper stratum, appeared to be affected in landscapes with less forest cover, showing lower densities of the smaller classes. Our results show that for the conservation of the forest it would be important to increase their protection degree against the expansion of agriculture, attempting to preserve as much of the forest as possible, to promote the forest cover at landscape level and give relevance even to the smallest fragments.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks are given to two anonymous reviewers for useful suggestions on early version of this paper, to Serge Listello and Angel Langellotti for their collaboration in the logistics during fieldwork and to the local owners and farmers who provided access to their properties. We thank L. Oakley, V. Mogni, J. Bonanata, A. Palmerio, and F. Massa for their collaboration in the fieldwork. LG is a researcher from Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina and thanks CONICET and SECyT (UNC) for financial support. This study was funded by The Rufford Small Grants Foundation (grant number 74.06.09).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grupo de Estudios de Sistemas Ecológicos en Ambientes Agrícolas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Intendente Güiraldes 2160 4 piso #56, Pabellón II, Ciudad Universitaria (C1428EGA), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Sebastián Andrés Torrella & Rubén Ginzburg

  2. Cátedra de Diversidad Vegetal II, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, CONICET, CC 495 (5000), Córdoba, Argentina

    Leonardo Galetto

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  1. Sebastián Andrés Torrella
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  2. Rubén Ginzburg
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Correspondence to Sebastián Andrés Torrella.

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Communicated by Kun-Fang Cao.

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Torrella, S.A., Ginzburg, R. & Galetto, L. Forest fragmentation in the Argentine Chaco: recruitment and population patterns of dominant tree species. Plant Ecol 216, 1499–1510 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-015-0532-2

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