Fjölrit RALA - 05.12.1999, Page 58

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Arid and semi-arid rangelands of Argentina
late after one or two forthcoming generations and large areas may be transformed to
unproductive habitats. Argentineans are leaming that the insidious process of land
degradation is in the way of breaking up about seventy percent of the national territory
due to ignorance. shortsightedness or indifference. System recovery may take many
years after applying adequate corrective measures to control desertification.
One of the main recent achievements has been the raise of public awareness (indi-
vidual land owners, rancher’s associations, govemment agencies) of the problem. This
is strictly necessary in a country were rangelands are mostly private properties, except
for limited areas under the control of provincial govemments or national parks. Gen-
eration of local, regional and national programs to control desertification is an in-
creasing activity under the supervision of agricultural agencies, universities and re-
search institutes.
Future concerted, comprehensive, interdisciplinary research should focus on deter-
mining causes and rates of environmental degradation, subjects of which a paucity of
information exists in Argentina. Several scientific and technical national and intema-
tional research programs have emerged recently headed to obtain guidelines for a
more rational management of natural resources, and to understand ecological func-
tioning of arid and semi-arid ecosystems in Argentina. Current training of postgradu-
ate students in range science abroad and in the country constitutes a very favourable
step towards a proper management of these territories.
Basic research on resource inventory and fundamental ecological processes has
been extensive at the Monte, Caldenal and Patagonian steppes (Soriano 1983, Busso
1997, Guevara et al. 1997). Although research on these lines should continue, future
programs should rather integrate research on applied ecology for management with
investigations on basic rangeland ecological processes. These programs should outline
and quantify the effects of various resource management altematives on overall range
productivity. Introduction of new production alternatives such as game ranching, for
example, would however lead to further investigations on basic ecological processes.
Finally, more research should be focussed on increasing our knowledge of the impor-
tance of the deep soil for nutrient and water balances since deep roots are likely im-
portant for C and water dynamics in ecosystems that experience periodic droughts
(Jackson et al. 1996).
To date, devastation of Argentinean rangelands has not reached levels of environ-
mental degradation as in other parts of the world where desertification is already an
irreversible phenomenon. Although degraded, the ecological system and species still
exist over large areas. We can foresee improvements in land use which may insure its
sustainability.
References
Aguiar, M.R., Paruelo, J.M., Sala, O.E. and Lauenroth, W.K. 1996. Ecosystem responses to changes
in plant functional type composition: An example from the Patagonian steppe. J. Veg. Sci. 7, 381-
390.
Aguiar, M.R. and Sala, O.E. 1994. Competition, facilitation, seed distribution and the origin of
patches in a Patagonian steppe. Oikos 70, 26-34.
Aguiar, M.R. and Sala, O.E. 1997. Seed distribution constrains the dynamics of the Patagonian
Steppe. Ecology 78, 93-100.