Recuperación del pastizal natural en un bosque nativo degradado del Espinal argentino mediante el control químico aéreo de arbustivas

The stability of the ecosystems is directly related to a high value of biodiversity and, in this sense, the anthropic effects have generated negative conditions on the natural pastures. The aim of this work was to evaluate the recovery of the natural grassland of a degraded native forest of the Argentine Spinal with shrubs by means of an aerial chemical control in a cattle system with rotary grazing of low instantaneous load. The study was carried out in the Protected Natural Area Reserve of Multiple Uses Estancia "El Caraya" located in the north central of Entre Rios, Argentina.16 evaluations were carried out (between 2012 and 2015) on the chemically treated sector with Picloram+2,4-D and on three sectors without treatment. In each evaluation, the vegetation cover, the floristic composition of the most representative forage species, and the plant biomass, were quantified. The results of this work show that the use of an aerial chemical control technique increases significantly, by 44%, the coverage and biomass of the forage species in the treated areas with respect to the control. Chemical control over shrubs persisted over time with considerable effectiveness during the years of evaluation. Likewise, the floristic composition of the herbaceous species did not present significant differences between treatments.