Vegetation response to fire and roller-chopping in the south-west of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

The objective of this work was to study the effect of acontrolled fire and/or roller-chopping on foliar cover and density ofthe most conspicuous woody and forage perennial grass species inthe south of the Phytogeographical Province of the Monte, Argentina.All control treatments reduced the woody species mean percentagecover. This reduction persisted during the whole study period.Nevertheless, the woody species tended to recover their percentagecover towards the end of study. At the end of the study period, significantdifferences (P 0.05) in woody species mean density were detectedamong treatments throughout the study period. At the end of thestudy period, the foliar cover and density of desirable perennial grassspecies was higher (P 0.05) were detected in intermediate perennial grassesfoliar cover and density among treatments. Our results suggest thatthe reduction of the woody species cover might encourage increasedthe foliar cover and density of desirable perennial grass species. Theuse of the controlled fire and/or roller-chopping, with proper grazingmanagement, may be the key factor to reduce woody species influenceand improve rangelands condition in the Monte region.