ANALYSIS OF THE WEALTH OF THE BANK OF NATIVE FORAGE SEEDS: NATIVE FOREST VERSUS AGRICULTURAL AREA IN THE ESPINAL ENTRERRIANO

Carlos A. Mendoza & Patricia D. Reinoso

Abstract

The spiny shrub community of Entre Ríos housed an important vegetal diversity, and the conservation of the herbaceous grass was of great importance for its forage value since it supported the livestock production in silvopastoral systems. The expansion of the agricultural frontier restricts the conservation of the seed bank in situ. The aim of this paper was to quantify the richness of the native forage seed bank in a native forest and in an agricultural patch. Only the Poaceae were identified as native forages in both patches, being first and third in importance respectively. Richness was of 13 taxa in the native forest patch and eight in the agricultural one, where Poaceae and Nothoscordum were more frequent respectively. Richness decrease in the agricultural patch was 40% after three year’s time management. According to the Jaccard index, there was a 23.5% similarity between seed banks. Overgrazing and agriculture might be influencing the survival of native forage seed bank. The in situ conservation of a seed bank from a system of forage species with low or no seed production would be difficult. Locally, the vulnerability of the seed bank of the native species, essential for the livestock production, was proved.