Changes in Vegetal Cover, Precipitations and Land Degradation in Puna Region, Argentina

Alejandro Esteban Maggi, and Ponieman Karen D.

University of Buenos Aires, Faculty of Agronomy, Argentina

Abstract: The protection of the soil surface by the vegetation or rests of it is related with the decrease of the potential erosion. The Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) by the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) of the United States is the most used model for the estimation of water erosion. There are different methods to measure or estimate the vegetal cover or the C factor over the world. Mostly are available estimated data, meanwhile are scarce objective data of the vegetal cover in the Puna region and there is no baseline information that shows the temporal and spatial variation of the vegetation. The objective of this work is to obtain mathematical equations that allow predicting faster and economically the vegetation cover of the shrub steppes, being this one the most representative physiognomic type of the Puna. The best adjustments were found with a linear function and direct measurement data (R2=0,57). A secondary objective was to compare the predicted vegetal cover through the functions obtained in this research with the precipitation recorded in the same geographical place.

Key words: vegetal cover, NDVI, precipitation, Puna