7
P. alpataco, which form edaphic communities in which somewhat larger trees can
be found.
1.2.7 Paraná Riverside Wetland Forest
This formation is a set of wetland macrosystems of fluvial origin, which occupies
the flood plains of the Paraná River and the delta that forms at its mouth on the estuary of the Río de la Plata. It includes forests with floristic elements of the dry subtropical forest and the Alto Paraná Rainforest, dominated by Salix humboldtiana
and Tessaria integrifolia among the outstanding trees and large areas of grasslands
and reeds. These formations are commonly included in the previous ecoregions
according to the predominance of species.
Of these seven ecoregions identified in Argentina, the first four are those of greatest forest importance, and we will use them to structure this book.
1.3 Native Forest Surface in Argentina
The first reliable estimate of the area covered by native forests in the country was
made by the National Agricultural Census of 1937, which reported 37,535,306 ha.
Fifty years later, the National Forestry Institute (IFoNa) estimated a decrease of
more than two million hectares, reporting an area of 35,180,000 ha. In 1998
Argentina made its first national inventory of native forests, carried out by the Forest
Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (SAyDS
2005). In this inventory, an area of 31,443,873 ha of native forest was reported,
consisting of two inventory classes: forestlands, with 30,309,524 ha, and rural forests, with 1,134,349 ha. For the purposes of this inventory, based on FAO criteria,
forestlands were defined as areas with trees at least 7 m high at maturity and at a
density such that their canopies cover at least 20% of the surface (the minimum
inventory area was 10 ha). Rural forests are defined as remnants of these forests
immersed in agricultural landscapes, in fragments smaller than 1000 ha. Because of
their use-pressure situation, these fragments are considered with a high probability
of disappearing in the short term due to the advance of the agricultural frontier
(Montenegro et al. 2005).
However, the inventory defines a third category of interest for this book: “other
forest lands,” which corresponds mainly to scrublands with various levels of degradation. Notwithstanding, this inventory class include, to a significant extent, groups
of trees at very low density (less than 20% coverage of canopies), riparian forests,
palm groves, and forest formations of a height of less than 7 m. The latter are usually made up of tree species with a bushy habit due to strong environmental stresses,
such as drought, salinity, waterlogging, or high altitude, an example being the
Krummholz formation in the treeline. It is necessary to mention this category since
1 Native Forests Claim for Breeding in Argentina: General Concepts and Their State
P. alpataco, which form edaphic communities in which somewhat larger trees can
be found.
1.2.7 Paraná Riverside Wetland Forest
This formation is a set of wetland macrosystems of fluvial origin, which occupies
the flood plains of the Paraná River and the delta that forms at its mouth on the estuary of the Río de la Plata. It includes forests with floristic elements of the dry subtropical forest and the Alto Paraná Rainforest, dominated by Salix humboldtiana
and Tessaria integrifolia among the outstanding trees and large areas of grasslands
and reeds. These formations are commonly included in the previous ecoregions
according to the predominance of species.
Of these seven ecoregions identified in Argentina, the first four are those of greatest forest importance, and we will use them to structure this book.
1.3 Native Forest Surface in Argentina
The first reliable estimate of the area covered by native forests in the country was
made by the National Agricultural Census of 1937, which reported 37,535,306 ha.
Fifty years later, the National Forestry Institute (IFoNa) estimated a decrease of
more than two million hectares, reporting an area of 35,180,000 ha. In 1998
Argentina made its first national inventory of native forests, carried out by the Forest
Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development (SAyDS
2005). In this inventory, an area of 31,443,873 ha of native forest was reported,
consisting of two inventory classes: forestlands, with 30,309,524 ha, and rural forests, with 1,134,349 ha. For the purposes of this inventory, based on FAO criteria,
forestlands were defined as areas with trees at least 7 m high at maturity and at a
density such that their canopies cover at least 20% of the surface (the minimum
inventory area was 10 ha). Rural forests are defined as remnants of these forests
immersed in agricultural landscapes, in fragments smaller than 1000 ha. Because of
their use-pressure situation, these fragments are considered with a high probability
of disappearing in the short term due to the advance of the agricultural frontier
(Montenegro et al. 2005).
However, the inventory defines a third category of interest for this book: “other
forest lands,” which corresponds mainly to scrublands with various levels of degradation. Notwithstanding, this inventory class include, to a significant extent, groups
of trees at very low density (less than 20% coverage of canopies), riparian forests,
palm groves, and forest formations of a height of less than 7 m. The latter are usually made up of tree species with a bushy habit due to strong environmental stresses,
such as drought, salinity, waterlogging, or high altitude, an example being the
Krummholz formation in the treeline. It is necessary to mention this category since
1 Native Forests Claim for Breeding in Argentina: General Concepts and Their State