Distribución espacial y controles ambientales de las represas (tajamares) en el Chaco Árido

Marcos J. Niborski; Francisco Murray; Esteban G. Jobbágy; Marcelo D. Nosetto; Pedro D. Fernández; George Castellanos; Patricio N. Magliano

doi:10.25260/EA.22.32.1.0.1797

Autores/as

Marcos J. Niborski Grupo de Estudios Ambientales-IMASL, Universidad Nacional de San Luis (UNSL) y CONICET. San Luis, Argentina. Cátedra de Manejo y Conservación de Suelos, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA). CABA, Argentina
Francisco Murray INTA, AER San Luis. San Luis, Argentina
Esteban G. Jobbágy Grupo de Estudios Ambientales-IMASL, Universidad Nacional de San Luis (UNSL) y CONICET. San Luis, Argentina
Marcelo D. Nosetto Grupo de Estudios Ambientales-IMASL, Universidad Nacional de San Luis (UNSL) y CONICET. San Luis, Argentina. Cátedra de Climatología, Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos (UNER). Entre Ríos, Argentina
Pedro D. Fernández Instituto de Ecología Regional, CONICET y Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Tucumán, Argentina. Departamento de Biogeoquímica, Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido, INTA. Tucumán, Argentina
George Castellanos Grupo de Estudios Ambientales-IMASL, Universidad Nacional de San Luis (UNSL) y CONICET. San Luis, Argentina
Patricio N. Magliano Grupo de Estudios Ambientales-IMASL, Universidad Nacional de San Luis (UNSL) y CONICET. San Luis, Argentina. Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de San Luis (UNSL). San Luis, Argentina

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25260/EA.22.32.1.0.1797

Palabras clave:

tajamar, ecohidrología, escurrimiento superficial, semiárido, bosque seco, bebida animal

Resumen

Las regiones áridas tienen déficit hídrico a lo largo de todo el año, lo cual limita el crecimiento de la vegetación y la provisión de agua para bebida animal. El Chaco Árido (~10 Mha) sostiene una producción ganadera extensiva de baja inversión, basada en cosechar agua de lluvia en represas (tajamares) como principal fuente de abastecimiento de agua. En este trabajo se determinó la distribución espacial de las represas y su relación con el entorno biofísico (precipitación, vegetación, caminos) en el Chaco Árido. Para ello analizamos imágenes satelitales, información vectorial y análisis multivariados sobre una grilla de 135 celdas de 0.25°x0.25° cada una. En total identificamos 7920 represas (1 cada 1230 ha) y observamos densidades máximas de 1 represa cada 185 ha, pero también celdas sin represas, asociadas a la presencia de sierras, salinas y dunas. La densidad de represas fue mayor en celdas con mayor densidad de establecimientos ganaderos, caminos y carga animal (r=0.63, r=0.56 y r=0.51, respectivamente; P<0.01 en todos los casos), y en sitios con mayor precipitación media anual y menor variabilidad interanual (r=0.62 y r=-0.47, respectivamente; P<0.01 para ambos casos). Aunque la precipitación media anual fue el atributo que mejor se asoció a la distribución de las represas a escala regional, dicha relación fue más variable hacia los extremos del gradiente (árido y subhúmedo). Esto puede deberse a factores antrópicos tales como la baja rentabilidad de los sistemas ganaderos y la historia o el cambio en el uso del suelo. Los resultados de este trabajo representan un primer intento para dimensionar la importancia que tienen las represas en el Chaco Árido. Consideramos que este estudio puede ser útil para entender la producción ganadera y también para futuras investigaciones relacionadas con la conservación de la vida silvestre y el desarrollo de poblados rurales en la región.

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