Viewpoint: The state and transition model applied to the herbaceous layer of Argentina's calden forest
Author
Llorens, E. M.Issue Date
1995-09-01Keywords
Prosopis caldeniawildfire management
grassland improvement
Prosopis
climax communities
ecological succession
rain
stocking rate
overgrazing
Argentina
botanical composition
grasses
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Llorens, E. M. (1995). Viewpoint: The state and transition model applied to the herbaceous layer of Argentina's calden forest. Journal of Range Management, 48(5), 442-447.Publisher
Society for Range ManagementJournal
Journal of Range ManagementDOI
10.2307/4002249Additional Links
https://rangelands.org/Abstract
The ecological trends in the vegetation of the caldén (Prosopis caldenia Burk.) forest of central Argentina have generally been explained with a model that assumed a unique equilibrium state or "climax." This model does not adequately explain the ecological changes that occur in the understory of the caldén forest. Recently, models that present different stable states of vegetation have been suggested. These vegetation states do not change unless relatively drastic management or climatic actions occur. Observations of vegetation changes, grazing regimes, and other aspects of management permitted the development of a basic scheme to explain changes in the herbaceous layer in the caldén forest, based on the state and transition model. Five stable states and 9 transitions are proposed to account for current herbaceous associations and their origins. This model seems to more accurately explain transitions between the different vegetation states in the area, some of which could not be readily explained by the "climax" model.Type
textArticle
Language
enISSN
0022-409Xae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.2307/4002249