Track 2-4-1: Water Harvesting, Watershed Management, Water Use Efficiency and Eco-Hydrology
Description
Semiarid regions around the world are characterized by elevated annual evapotranspiration and irregular rainfalls (Creswell and Martin, 1998), resulting in a negative water balance in most part of the year. The high rainfall variability associated to a high pressure on natural resources generated a scenario of degradation, which is worrying for the future of many rangelands. In this sense, it is urgent to understand the processes involved in the sustainability of vulnerable ecosystems to keep them productive and profitable. Among the rural activities in the semiarid regions, the raising of livestock has been contributed to become the farms viable. To cope with this potential, it is necessary to develop a tool to quantify the rangeland production pattern in response to rainfall (Lukomska et al., 2010), thus, optimizing the use of the available natural resources. In this context, the aim of this study was to establish a relationship between rainfall and annual forage biomass in Brazilian semiarid rangelands, considering those variables as a base to maximize the potential of such a guaranteed production system
Included in
Relationship between Rainfall and Annual Forage Biomass to Build a Forage-Balance Guarantee System in Brazilian Semiarid
Semiarid regions around the world are characterized by elevated annual evapotranspiration and irregular rainfalls (Creswell and Martin, 1998), resulting in a negative water balance in most part of the year. The high rainfall variability associated to a high pressure on natural resources generated a scenario of degradation, which is worrying for the future of many rangelands. In this sense, it is urgent to understand the processes involved in the sustainability of vulnerable ecosystems to keep them productive and profitable. Among the rural activities in the semiarid regions, the raising of livestock has been contributed to become the farms viable. To cope with this potential, it is necessary to develop a tool to quantify the rangeland production pattern in response to rainfall (Lukomska et al., 2010), thus, optimizing the use of the available natural resources. In this context, the aim of this study was to establish a relationship between rainfall and annual forage biomass in Brazilian semiarid rangelands, considering those variables as a base to maximize the potential of such a guaranteed production system
