Landform heterogeneity drives multi-stemmed Neltuma flexuosa growth dynamics. Implication for the Central Monte Desert forest management
Drylands represent the main earth biome, providing ecosytemic services to a large number of people. Along these environments, woodlands are often dominated by multi-stemmed trees, which are exploited by local inhabitants to obtain forest products for their livelihood. In central-west Argentina, Nel...
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| Formato: | Online |
| Lenguaje: | eng |
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Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias-UNCuyo
2024
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| Acceso en línea: | https://revistas.uncu.edu.ar/ojs3/index.php/RFCA/article/view/7179 |
| Sumario: | Drylands represent the main earth biome, providing ecosytemic services to a large number of people. Along these environments, woodlands are often dominated by multi-stemmed trees, which are exploited by local inhabitants to obtain forest products for their livelihood. In central-west Argentina, Neltuma flexuosa (algarrobo) woodlands are distributed across different landform units, varying in topographical and soil characteristics. This research aimed to reconstruct stem-growth time until harvestable diameter was achieved, and biological rotation age according to topo-edaphic variability in three algarrobo forests using dendrochronological methods. Results indicated that landform heterogeneity modulated species radial growth, influencing stem increments and cutting cycle period. In this sense, a decreasing trend in tree productivity emerged along a loamy-to-sandy textured soil gradient. These findings provide useful novel information for N. flexuosa forest management, suggesting the need to account for spatial landform/soil heterogeneity when examining desert forest dynamics.
Highlights:
Neltuma flexuosa provides forest product (poles) to Central Monte Desert (Argentina) local inhabitants.
N. flexuosa wood productivity was assessed for different topo-edaphic landforms.
Cutting cycle was reached at younger ages at river and paleo-river landforms.
Wood extraction must consider landscape heterogeneity.
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