An insight into the patterns and controls of the structure of South American Chaco woodlands

Abstract

Logging, grazing, wood extraction, and anthropogenic fires are pervasive throughout the subtropical dry vegetation of South America leading to changes in woodlands structure and ultimately its degradation. The Chac ohaco biome encompasses the second-largest forest in South America and has a long history of intensive use. We sought to characterize the structure and heterogeneity of its woodlands across biogeo graphic subunits and climatic gradients, and evaluate structure controls. We quantified canopy height, cover, vertical complexity, vegetation amount above 3 m and total veg etation amount over 58 woodlands within the Argentinean Chaco by means of terres trial laser scanner. We assessed the relationship between three groups near the maximum, average and minimum values of each structural variable and precipitation, temperature and temperature of the coldest month using quantile regressions. We found large variability in structural attributes within each biogeographical subunit, showing woodland areas with similar structure across broad gradients of climate. This suggests a considerable impact of current and past land use in shaping woodland struc tures across the Chaco. Overall, structural variables were positively associated with precipitation and temperature, albeit more strongly to the former, except for canopy height, which showed a strong association with mean temperature of the coldest month. We hypothesize that land-use impact on woodland structure decreases with increasing precipitation, as the lack of water may limit the recovery of vegetation struc ture. Our results contribute to a better understanding of variation in key structural vari ables of Chaco woodlands in relation to climate and land use.