Seedling recruitment and survival of two desert grasses in the monte of Argentina

Abstract

In the Monte Austral Neuquino, Argentina, vegetation is arranged in patches. Understanding the mechanisms involved in their distribution is critical for preventing desertification. The working hypothesis was that vegetation patches reduce environmental stress on the plants. Plant patches were classified into four microenvironments: windward; below the dominant shrubs (subcanopy); vegetation at the patch periphery (canopy edge) and bare patch interspaces (open).We determined seedling survival of the dominant species in eachmicroenvironment, using a marking method of seedlings established from sown seeds. In addition, we measured the environmental characteristics in the four microenvironments, and associated them with seedling survival. Study species were the perennial grasses Leymus erianthus (Phil.) Dubcovsky, Stipa neaei Nees ex Steudel and Poa ligularis Nees ex Steudel, and the shrubs Larrea divaricata Cav. and Atriplex lampa Gill ex Moquin. Results supported the hyphothesis only for L. erianthus and S. neaei (but not for the other three species that showed higher seedling survival in the subcanopy than in the patch interspaces after 1 year from sowing). This study determined that (1) reduced environmental stress does not guarantee seed germination and seedling survival of a given species in the plant community and (2) seedling establishment will not be possible for any species of the plant community in the patch interspaces under the study conditions in the region. This is mostly because soil temperatures can reach up to 508C in the patch interspaces in years of scanty precipitation during late spring and summer.