Mid-term changes in the physiognomy of plant communities and functional plant groups define successional pathways of mountain vegetation in the province of Córdoba (Argentina)

• Main Authors: Karlin Marcos Sebastián, Arnulphi Sebastián Abel, Salazar Javier Rodolfo Bernasconi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sciendo 2021-05-01
• Series: Folia Oecologica
• Subjects: azonal soils; forests; grasslands; intrazonal soils; plant community; woodlands
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.2478/foecol-2021-0002

To identify restoration strategies over degraded semi-natural plant communities, successional pathways and their local controls should be identified. The objective of this work is to quantify the changes in the physiognomy and functional groups of plant communities in the Sierras Chicas of Córdoba along seven years. Lyapunov coefficients were calculated and arranged in two-phase diagrams, identifying different successional pathways over two soil categories and six plant communities. Du Rietz`s life forms were identified defining several plant functional groups. Results showed two successional pathways in the field of azonal soils and three in the field of intrazonal soils. Rainfall, extent of human-caused disturbances, and plant interactions are the leading causes explaining the changes in the structure of the plant communities. Fire and overgrazing retract the successions by altering the cover of plant communities and their functional groups.