Effect of cultivated forests of Prosopis alba and Eucalyptus tereticornis on the diversity of epigeal arthropods in the Dry Chaco ecoregion, Argentina

Abstract

In the Dry Chaco ecoregion, characterized by the presence of open and seasonal xerophytic forest, monospecific plantations generate a strong impact on the ecosystem’s biodiversity. It is expected that these effects will be less significant if native species of the region are used. In this sense, the objective of this work was to compare the effect of implanted forests of Prosopis alba and Eucalyptus tereticornis on the diversity of epigeal arthropods in the Dry Chaco ecoregion. In the Fernández Experimental Station of the Catholic University of Santiago del Estero, three forests of E. tereticornis and three of P. alba were selected, adding as a reference three sectors of forest without intervention for 50 years. In autumn and spring, under the canopy of 12 trees per site, pitfall traps were placed for 24 h. Then diversity indexes were calculated. In autumn there were no differences between sites. However, in spring, the P. alba forest showed the highest diversity of terrestrial arthropods, compared to E. tereticornis and the site without intervention. These results could be related to the quality and/or quantity of the understory that accumulate in the different forests, as well as to the flora that develops in each site, being P. Alba contribution more favorable to biodiversity. In this regard, cultivated forests of P. alba favors the conservation of biodiversity more than forests of foreign species in the Chaco Seco ecoregion.