Caracterización de la inflamabilidad de especies leñosas en el Chaco semiárido de Argentina, a partir del análisis de rasgos funcionales

Abstract

Knowledge about plant strategies for adapting and tolerating the environmental disturbances is a fundamental purpose to promote biodiversity conservation, in the current climate change scenario. Our objective was to evaluate the flammability of native species from Western Chaco region through a functional approach, analysing seasonal variations and the effects of disturbances on flammability. We evaluated eight functional traits, six of them related to flammability and two referred to growth habit and foliar persistence, in eleven native woody species of the region. Those traits were compared in forest with different disturbance history (FDDH): closure and disturbances as fire and roller chopper applications. The 80 % of plant cover from Western Chaco region forests have Medium to High flammability degree (FD). Functional traits more incident on flammability were twig and leaf dry-matter content (TDMC and LDMC), foliar persistence and growth habit. The unique species with Very High FD was Senegalia gilliesii, a shrub with complex architecture and high TDMC and LDMC. Lowest flammability species (Medium FD) were tree species with low TDMC. We identified two flammability peaks, one at the end of fire season and the other at the end of rainy season, related to foliar persistence and climatic conditions during fire season. There were no significant differences in the FD for studied species in FDDH. These results represent a significant advance for fuels flammability studies in the Chaco region and it will contribute to improve the activities of fuel management, prevention and firefighting.