Sustainable management of biodiversity in woody ecosystems: biotechnology and bioprospecting of native species from Monte desert, Patagonia

Abstract

Dry-land surface (i.e., semi-arid and arid regions) covers approximately one-third of the world's land. During the last 50 years, there has been growing interest in the causes of desertification due to its impact on the global environment, economy and society. These dry-ecosystems provide a series of ecological services, which are essential for the sustainability of human life and the development of productive activities. These arid and semi-arid biomes of Argentina are undergoing rapid habitat conversion. The anthropic activity, and fundamentally the change in the use of the land, have triggered a set of environmental problems that directly or indirectly affect biodiversity. The new systems of agricultural production added to an extractive culture have caused an increase of the genetic erosion at an alarming rate. In the past few years, Argentina has faced one of the processes of transformation of its largest native forests in the history.In the extra-Andean Patagonia, overgrazing, deforestation and unsustainable agriculture are combined with natural erosion to carry ecosystems to critical points of deterioration. An alternative to restore this ecosystem, as well as other similarly degraded arid environments, is reforestation with native species obtained in nursery gardens.