Modelling Soil Carbon Content in South Patagonia and Evaluating Changes According to Climate, Vegetation, Desertification and Grazing

Pablo Luis Peri, Yamina Micaela Rosas, Brenton Ladd, Santiago Toledo, Romina Gisele Lasagno and Guillermo Martínez Pastur
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Pablo Luis Peri: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA); 9400 Río Gallegos, Argentina
Yamina Micaela Rosas: Laboratorio de Recursos Agroforestales, Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC CONICET); 9410 Ushuaia, Argentina
Brenton Ladd: School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia
Santiago Toledo: Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (UNPA)-CONICET, 9400 Río Gallegos, Argentina
Romina Gisele Lasagno: Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA); 9400 Río Gallegos, Argentina
Guillermo Martínez Pastur: Laboratorio de Recursos Agroforestales, Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC CONICET); 9410 Ushuaia, Argentina

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-14

Abstract: In Southern Patagonia, a long-term monitoring network has been established to assess bio-indicators as an early warning of environmental changes due to climate change and human activities. Soil organic carbon (SOC) content in rangelands provides a range of important ecosystem services and supports the capacity of the land to sustain plant and animal productivity. The objectives in this study were to model SOC (30 cm) stocks at a regional scale using climatic, topographic and vegetation variables, and to establish a baseline that can be used as an indicator of rangeland condition. For modelling, we used a stepwise multiple regression to identify variables that explain SOC variation at the landscape scale. With the SOC model, we obtained a SOC map for the entire Santa Cruz province, where the variables derived from the multiple linear regression models were integrated into a geographic information system (GIS). SOC stock to 30 cm ranged from 1.38 to 32.63 kg C m −2 . The fitted model explained 76.4% of SOC variation using as independent variables isothermality, precipitation seasonality and vegetation cover expressed as a normalized difference vegetation index. The SOC map discriminated in three categories (low, medium, high) determined patterns among environmental and land use variables. For example, SOC decreased with desertification due to erosion processes. The understanding and mapping of SOC in Patagonia contributes as a bridge across main issues such as climate change, desertification and biodiversity conservation.

Keywords: soil carbon; grasslands; livestock; climate; native forest; land use (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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