Is Grazing Land, Where Extensive Grazing of Natural Grass Is Conducted
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State of Baselines ・ Grazing land in Uruguay Some 80 % of Uruguay’s land (about 14 million hectares) is grazing land, where extensive grazing of natural grass is conducted. In some grazing land with high productivity (mainly located in western, southwestern and southern areas), intensive grazing using improved grass is conducted. Such grazing lands were widely covered with forests in past days; however, the forests have been eliminated due to long-lasting cutting by settlers. The land which becomes grazing land is not easily recovered as forests even if the land is left to take its own course. One of the reasons for this is that conditions are good for forming a grassland, such as the climate in which there is not so much precipitation (the average annual precipitation is 1,000 mm) , while a situation in which the amount of evapotranspiration and precipitation are almost the same lasts for several months. This kind of climate creates the conditions conducive to the forming of grassland. For example, the climate prevents rain from penetrating into the deeper part of soil. As a result, only surface soil holds adequate humidity. Another reason is that the conditions where grazing land is burned intentionally every year, and old grass is replaced by new grass are maintained in many cases. From the above, we can consider that there is a high possibility that the existing grazing lands will be maintained in the same conditions. Therefore, the present state can be considered the baseline.The species of grasses that grow there are Eryngeon, Bachris, Cenecio, Paspalum qusdrifarium, P. notatum and Axonopus. Meanwhile, the area of farmland is about 1.5 million hectares, and common wheat, rice, soybean and corn are cultivated there. ・ Natural forests in Uruguay Uruguay’s natural forests can be classified into the following five types according to area and forest types. (1) Hill forests (2) Valley forests These types of forests are located from the Haedo hills (extending from Tacuarembo Department in the northern area to Rivera Department) to the Grande hills (extending north and south from Treinta y Tres Department to Rocha Department). The main tree species are Scutia buxifolia (Collonilla) and Schinus lentiscifolius (Caroba). These forests are rather small because the forest units have traditionally been utilized for firewood or burned for utilizing as pastures. (3) Riverside forests This type of forest is located in a band, along the Uruguay River, Rio Negro River and its tributaries and small or medium-sized rivers. The main composition of tree species is medium and low trees such as willow and acacia. (4) Flatland forests This type of forest is located next to riverside forests in the eastern area of Uruguay. However, it remains narrow because most of them have been developed for grazing or farm land. The main tree species are low trees such as Prosopis nigra (Nandubay), Schinus longifolius (Molle), Celtis spinosa (Tara), Acacia and caven (Aromo). (5) Palm forests This type of forest is located only in the Atlantic coastal areas in the western part of Uruguay, the area from Rocha to Castillos, and along the northern Uruguay River. These natural forests are inhabited by mammals such as armadillo, wildcat, fox, raccoon dog, deer and capybara, as well as avian species such as nandu, eagle, parrot and parakeet. Basically, cutting is forbidden from the perspective of environment and natural resources protection. .