Understanding the distribution of cattle production systems in the South American Chaco

Fernández, Pedro Porta; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Baumann, Matthias; Grau, H. Ricardo; Nasca, José Andres; Radrizzani, Alejandro; Gasparri, N. Ignacio

doi:10.1080/1747423x.2020.1720843

Cited by 33 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…The opportunistic and extensive introduction of cattle inside the forest is an extended practice in humid and dry tropical and subtropical forests (namely forest with cattle in our study) 56 , 76 , 77 . Whereas this practice usually results in a degradation of habitat quality for animals 78 , 79 , functional dung beetle assemblages were not particularly affected by this livestock grazing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Livestock grazing impact differently on the functional diversity of dung beetles depending on the regional context in subtropical forests

Alonso

Zurita

Bellocq

2022

Sci Rep

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The replacement of native forest by cattle pastures reduces functional diversity; however, little is known about whether the changes depend on regional variation. Dung beetles are one of the most diverse and functionally important taxa; through organic matter burial, dung beetles improve soil quality. We collected dung beetles in native forests and cattle ranching areas in subtropical forests with contrasting climatic conditions: the Atlantic Forest, the Humid Chaco, and the Dry Chaco. We measured 11 traits related to the ecology and the physiology of species. Irrespectively of the region, functional richness was higher in forests (native and with cattle) when compared to open pastures. Humid forests (Atlantic Forest and Humid Chaco) showed higher functional richness than Dry Chaco. Functional dispersion in humid forests was similar between native forest and livestock systems, however, functional dispersion in the Dry Chaco was higher in open pastures compared to native forest. According to our results, native forests and forests with cattle maintain functional diversity in all regions. However, in the case of open pastures, the response depends on the regional context; the replacement of native forest by open pastures strongly affected functional diversity in humid forests and showed less impact on dry forest.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Livestock grazing impact differently on the functional diversity of dung beetles depending on the regional context in subtropical forests

Alonso

Zurita

Bellocq

2022

Sci Rep

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“…Nevertheless, the displacement of cattle ranching from the Pampas towards less productive rangelands has in the past increased the pressure over native forests and the dependence on grains to increase the energy intake of the cattle (Viglizzo et al 2011 ). Currently more than half of the land devoted to beef production is located in the northern regions of the country (Arrieta et al 2020 ; Fernández et al 2020 ), including the Dry Chaco, which is a global deforestation hotspot due to the conversion of forest into pastures and annual crops (e.g., soybean, maize) for animal feed (Baumann et al 2017 ). Although not considered in this analysis, the conversion of native forests to pasture land could significantly increase direct and indirect cattle-related GHG emissions from this region (De Vries et al 2015 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The health, environmental, and economic dimensions of future dietary transitions in Argentina

Arrieta

Fischer²,

Aguiar

et al. 2022

Sustain Sci

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Diets link human health with environmental sustainability, offering promising pressure points to enhance the sustainability of food systems. We investigated the health, environmental, and economic dimensions of the current diet in Argentina and the possible effects of six dietary change scenarios on nutrient adequacy, dietary quality, food expenditure, and six environmental impact categories (i.e., GHG emissions, total land occupation, cropland use, fossil energy use, freshwater consumption, and the emission of eutrophying pollutants). Current dietary patterns are unhealthy, unsustainable, and relatively expensive, and all things being equal, an increase in income levels would not alter the health dimension, but increase environmental impacts by 33–38%, and costs by 38%. Compared to the prevailing diet, the six healthier diet alternatives could improve health with an expenditure between + 27% (National Dietary Guidelines) to -5% (vegan diet) of the current diet. These dietary changes could result in trade-offs between different environmental impacts. Plant-based diets showed the lowest overall environmental impact, with GHG emissions and land occupation reduced by up to 79% and 88%, respectively, without significant changes in cropland demand. However, fossil energy use and freshwater consumption could increase by up to 101% and 220%, respectively. The emission of eutrophying pollutants could increase by up to 54% for all healthy diet scenarios, except for the vegan one (18% decrease). We conclude that the health and environmental crisis that Argentina (and other developing countries) currently face could be mitigated by adopting healthy diets (particularly plant-based), bringing in the process benefits to both people and nature. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11625-021-01087-7.

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“…The situation is similar in the Dry Chaco of Paraguay (Baumann et al, 2017). Compared to other deforestation frontiers in South America, stock and density of livestock are lower in the Chaco than in other places, such as Pará and Matto Grosso in Brazil (Fernández et al, 2020). However, livestock stock and density in the Chaco are likely to increase in the future, especially due to the process of agricultural intensification in the Pampas region (Viglizzo et al, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Response of dung beetle taxonomic and functional diversity to livestock grazing in an arid ecosystem

Alonso

Zurita

Bellocq

2020

Ecological Entomology

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1. The consequences of cattle raising on biodiversity have been extensively explored in the humid forests; however, its impact in dry forests is less understood. The Dry Chaco is the largest dry forest in South America and deforestation rates in this region are one of the highest in the world. Dung beetles play a key role in cattle dung burial, leading to improved soil quality and reducing parasite incidence. Consequently, sustainable management of cattle should preserve this taxon and associated ecosystem services.2. We compared the taxonomic and functional response of dung beetles to two different livestock managements with different conservation of tree cover (open pastures and silvopastoral systems) in the Dry Chaco.3. Through GLMM analysis, we compared richness, species abundance, taxonomic and functional composition, and three indices of functional diversity between native forest and cattle systems and explored the role of environmental variables to explain changes.4. We captured 2838 individuals of 45 species. Taxonomic and functional richness and functional composition were similar among habitats. Total abundance was greater in the native forest than in silvopastoral systems and pastures. However, functional evenness and dispersion were greater in pastures than in the native forest.5. Previous studies in humid forests showed the strong impact of cattle raising on dung beetle communities; however, the results of this study suggest that in dry forests ranching could have a low impact on native dung beetle diversity; however, reduced population abundance could result in impoverishment of dung beetle communities over time.

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Understanding the distribution of cattle production systems in the South American Chaco

Cited by 33 publications

References 57 publications

Livestock grazing impact differently on the functional diversity of dung beetles depending on the regional context in subtropical forests

Livestock grazing impact differently on the functional diversity of dung beetles depending on the regional context in subtropical forests

The health, environmental, and economic dimensions of future dietary transitions in Argentina

Response of dung beetle taxonomic and functional diversity to livestock grazing in an arid ecosystem

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