Modelling Soil Carbon Content in South Patagonia and Evaluating Changes According to Climate, Vegetation, Desertification and Grazing
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 t...
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doaj-6a7af764214d4622a2cba4a5b244fc332020-11-24T22:09:16ZengMDPI AGSustainability2071-10502018-02-0110243810.3390/su10020438su10020438Modelling Soil Carbon Content in South Patagonia and Evaluating Changes According to Climate, Vegetation, Desertification and GrazingPablo Luis Peri0Yamina Micaela Rosas1Brenton Ladd2Santiago Toledo3Romina Gisele Lasagno4Guillermo Martínez Pastur5Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA); 9400 Río Gallegos, ArgentinaLaboratorio de Recursos Agroforestales, Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC CONICET); 9410 Ushuaia, ArgentinaSchool of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, AustraliaUniversidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral (UNPA)-CONICET, 9400 Río Gallegos, ArgentinaInstituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA); 9400 Río Gallegos, ArgentinaLaboratorio de Recursos Agroforestales, Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC CONICET); 9410 Ushuaia, ArgentinaIn 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.http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/2/438soil carbongrasslandslivestockclimatenative forestland use |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Pablo Luis Peri Yamina Micaela Rosas Brenton Ladd Santiago Toledo Romina Gisele Lasagno Guillermo Martínez Pastur |
spellingShingle |
Pablo Luis Peri Yamina Micaela Rosas Brenton Ladd Santiago Toledo Romina Gisele Lasagno Guillermo Martínez Pastur Modelling Soil Carbon Content in South Patagonia and Evaluating Changes According to Climate, Vegetation, Desertification and Grazing Sustainability soil carbon grasslands livestock climate native forest land use |
author_facet |
Pablo Luis Peri Yamina Micaela Rosas Brenton Ladd Santiago Toledo Romina Gisele Lasagno Guillermo Martínez Pastur |
author_sort |
Pablo Luis Peri |
title |
Modelling Soil Carbon Content in South Patagonia and Evaluating Changes According to Climate, Vegetation, Desertification and Grazing |
title_short |
Modelling Soil Carbon Content in South Patagonia and Evaluating Changes According to Climate, Vegetation, Desertification and Grazing |
title_full |
Modelling Soil Carbon Content in South Patagonia and Evaluating Changes According to Climate, Vegetation, Desertification and Grazing |
title_fullStr |
Modelling Soil Carbon Content in South Patagonia and Evaluating Changes According to Climate, Vegetation, Desertification and Grazing |
title_full_unstemmed |
Modelling Soil Carbon Content in South Patagonia and Evaluating Changes According to Climate, Vegetation, Desertification and Grazing |
title_sort |
modelling soil carbon content in south patagonia and evaluating changes according to climate, vegetation, desertification and grazing |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Sustainability |
issn |
2071-1050 |
publishDate |
2018-02-01 |
description |
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. |
topic |
soil carbon grasslands livestock climate native forest land use |
url |
http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/2/438 |
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