Perspectives on Rangeland Management Education and Research in Argentina

Abstract

Rangelands account for over two-thirds of Argentina’s land area and contribute uniquely to its biodiversity, agricultural livelihood, and cultural identity. Colossal mountain ranges and regional air mass movements create a variety of climates that generate an equally diverse array of rangeland and forest biomes (Table 1; Fig. 1). Humid tropical air currents that flow into the continent from the Atlantic Ocean create a NE–SW gradient of decreasing precipitation across the northern half of Argentina’s territory. Along this gradient, subtropical forests are gradually replaced by subhumid woodlands and extensive subtropical and temperate grasslands that eventually give way to semiarid savannas and desert scrublands (Fig. 1). The southern half of Argentina’s land area (also known as Patagonia) exhibits climate and vegetation patterns that are controlled almost entirely by the orographic effects of the Cordillera de los Andes. This mountain range, which runs in a N–S direction along Argentina’s western border, stands in the way of mid-latitude westerlies and thus creates a region-wide rain shadow that hosts some of the continent’s most extensive cold deserts and semi-deserts.