Dust Storms, Drought and Desertification in the Southwest of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
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DustRev. FCA storms, UNCUYO. in the 2016. Southwest 48(2): 221-241. of Buenos ISSN Aires impreso Province 0370-4661. ISSN (en línea) 1853-8665. Dust storms, drought and desertification in the Southwest of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina Tormentas de polvo, sequía y desertificación en el sudoeste de la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina Elena María Abraham 1, Juan Carlos Guevara 1, 2, Roberto Juan Candia 1, Nelson Darío Soria 1 Originales: Recepción: 23/02/2016 - Aceptación: 13/06/2016 Index Abstract and keywords 222 Resumen y palabras clave 222-223 223 Introduction • Some definitionsStudy area 224 The rainfall cycle 226 227 drought and dust storms Interactions among desertification, ation in swbap 229 The economic,Origin of desertificinstitutional, productive 230 and political processes causing the perception of producers desertification in the sw bap from the 232 RecommendationsConsequences for ofdecision-making desertification 235 Plantations of Opuntia sps. 236 Conclusions 237 References 239 1 Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de las Zonas Áridas (IADIZA), Avda. A. Ruiz Leal s/n, Parque General San Martín, M5500 Mendoza, Argentina. [email protected] 2 Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Almirante Brown 500, M5528AHB Chacras de Coria, Mendoza, Argentina Tomo 48 • N° 2 • 2016 221 E. M. Abraham, J. C. Guevara, R. J. Candia, N. D. Soria Abstract The study region is one of the most endangered area from wind erosion in the country. This process, coupled with recurrent droughts in last decades and the mishandling of productiveproducers. practicesRecommendations have generated for rehabilitation desertification. are This proposed. study presentsThe area a reviewcovers 6.5of the million interaction hectares, of hostingthese processes in 2002: 550,000based on people literature, and 7,825field survey farms inand irrigated perception and non-irrigated lands. Irrigated lands are devoted to agricultural production. Non-irrigated have a mixed production system (beef cattle-wheat). Mean annual rainfall in 1940-2014 area is a consequence of drought and mismanagement. In wet cycles, producers increase stockingwas 407 mm.rate andIn 60% wheat-sown of these years, area using rainfall the was same below practices the mean. of the Desertification humid pampa. in As the a plants. Over 20 cm of soil has blown away and sand accumulates in fences and stays suspendedconsequence in of the dry atmosphere, cycles, land isreaching abandonment Bahía Blanca and fields city covered and up by to sand 400 andkm invasiveinto the Atlantic Ocean. The area requires deep structural changes in production systems and their management. Emphasis should be on sustainable management, which involves a mentality change of producers and decision makers. Recommendations were made for cleared and non-cleared lands. Keywords drought • land mismanagement • soil erosion • desertification • dust storms • area recovery • sustainable management • Argentina Resumen La región estudiada es una de las áreas más amenazadas por la erosión del viento en el país. Este proceso, junto con las sequías recurrentes en las últimas décadas y el presenta una revisión de la interacción de estos procesos sobre la base de la biblio- mal manejo de las prácticas productivas han generado desertificación. Este estudio- daciones para su rehabilitación. El área cubre 6,5 millones de hectáreas, albergando engrafía, 2002 el arelevamiento 550.000 personas de campo y 7.825 y la percepción explotaciones de losen productores.tierras irrigadas Propone y no recomenirrigadas. Las tierras irrigadas están dedicadas a la producción agrícola. Las tierras no irrigadas poseen un sistema de producción mixto (bovinos de carne- trigo). La lluvia media anual entre los años 1940 y 2014 fue de 407 mm. En el 60% de los años del período indicado y el mal manejo. En los ciclos húmedos, los productores incrementan la carga animal yfue el menorárea sembrada que la media. con trigoLa desertificación usando las mismas en el área prácticas es una de consecuencia la pampa húmeda. de la sequía Más de 20 cm de suelo se ha perdido debido a la erosión eólica y la arena se acumula en los alambrados y además permanece suspendida en la atmósfera, avanzando sobre la ciudad de Bahía Blanca y hasta 400 km en el Océano Atlántico. El área requiere cambios estructurales profundos en los sistemas de producción y su manejo. El énfasis debería 222 Revista de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias Dust storms, in the Southwest of Buenos Aires Province estar en el manejo sustentable, que involucra un cambio de mentalidad de productores y tomadores de decisiones. Palabras clave sequía • mal manejo de la tierra • erosión del suelo • desertificación • tormentas de polvo • recuperación del área • manejo sustentable • Argentina Introduction Arid and semiarid regions comprise that affect the region and surrounding terri- about 70% of Argentina's territory. - This reality ranks Argentina as the cation in places where dust storms originate ninth country in the world in terms of wouldtories. Knowinghelp mitigate and controllingthe intensity desertifi and percentage of drylands and as one of the magnitude of dust bowls, which deteriorate 14 countries where these lands occupy habitat at the global scale. over 1 million km2. The popular image of Knowing the dynamics, causes, Argentina is that of "Humid Pampas". This symptoms and consequences of deserti- image is distorted. Reality is that three- quarters of the country are drylands and origin makes it possible to design strategiesfication processes for recovering in their and controllingplaces of ha that make up Argentina's continental territory,face desertification. 60 million Ofha theare 276affected million by recovery measures are the only - mechanismdesertification-affected able to reduce areas. soil particleLocal cation processes, with progress estimated emissions and the magnitude and impact atdifferent 650,000 soil ha yeardegradation-1. and desertifi of dust bowl phenomena at planetary and About 30% of Argentina's total local scales. population lives in regions under This study describes the area's current moderate to severe erosion (1). In this situation related to its generalized drought context, Southwest of Buenos Aires Province (SW BAP) becomes a paradig- contributes with recommendations for matic place in South America, where the implementingand desertification, a program designs for actions, the area’s and dust bowls processes that had manifested gradual recovery. between the 30's and 50's in Argentina's transforming the area into one compa- Some definitions rablepampas to USA'sgot magnified30's dust bowl,in recent with similaryears, effects upon producers' impoverishment, Desertification productive soil loss and damage to Means land degradation in arid, infrastructure and urban areas. semiarid and dry sub-humid areas resulting This work is based on the hypothesis that from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities (43). relationship between recurrent droughts desertification in SW BAP depends on the environmental, economic and social striking manifestation are the dust storms factorsDesertification and its treatmentprocesses requiresinvolve and desertification processes, whose most Tomo 48 • N° 2 • 2016 223 E. M. Abraham, J. C. Guevara, R. J. Candia, N. D. Soria combined efforts to each of these aspects created by human overexploitation of the and their relationships. land becomes especially visible during - - dation of the vegetation cover by cation can amplify each other's impacts. overgrazing,Desertification overtrampling, results from clearing, degra severeThe drought.meteorological Droughts andphenomenon desertifi fuelwood collection, repeated burning, known as “dust storms” or “sand storms” is and inappropriate agricultural practices. common in hyperarid, arid and semiarid It leads to a general decrease in produc- regions, resulting from a combination of tivity of the land and in accelerated climate, weather and substratum. Indeed, degradation of the soil erosion, siltation, salinization and alkalinization of irrigated storm -a source of dust- depends largely on lands, or dryland salting. The excessive climate.the first Ideal element dust sourcesneeded occurfor any in areasdust loss of soil nutrients, and depletion of the where the composition of the soil is very soil seed bank, affects the capacity of the dry and loosely held on the surface. This vegetation to recover and constitutes the commonly occurs in arid and semiarid main mechanism of irreversible damage regions, usually after a prolonged drought. to the environment to which is added Moisture keeps soil compact and helps the known impact of grazing on pastoral maintain vegetation, which protects it rangelands (40, 41). from being swept up into passing winds. Not surprisingly, dust storms frequently Land degradation occur in the desert. However, marginal dry Means reduction of the biological or lands are increasingly a source of major economic productivity and complexity dust storms. These areas have fragile, of rain fed cropland, irrigated cropland delicately balanced ecosystems (12). or range, pasture, forests and woodlands Aeolian processes, involving erosion, resulting from land use or from a process wind transport and sediment deposition, or combination of processes, including occur in coastal areas, semiarid and arid those arising from human activities and habitation patterns, such as soil erosion responsible for emission and/or mobili- caused by wind and/or