Potential Role of Native Bush in the Chaco for Mitigation of Dryland Salinity in Grassland

Potential Role of Native Bush in the Chaco for Mitigation of Dryland Salinity in Grassland

There is a zone of some 3.000.000 ha with an elevated dryland salinity risk in the Paraguayan Chaco due to a shallow saline ground water table. Evidence is shown of the crucial role native bush seems to play in keeping the water table at a low level and reducing therefore the risk of soil salinisation. In this paper a planned field experiment is outlined to define the tolerable level of deforestation and pasture establishment for a sylvopastoral production system in the Chacoan zone prone to dryland salinity.