Regeneration of woody plants under isolated shrubs in a sector of the Iberá marshlands, Corrientes Province, Argentina, ethnoecological implications.

Abstract

A study of the natural regeneration of woody species under isolated bushes in a sector of northeast of Ibera Macrosystem is presented. The aim of the study was to evaluate the nurse effect of shrubs and structural parameters of regeneration. We show that the presence of isolated shrubs is fundamental to establish regeneration and that Ilex dumosa var. guaranina, Miconia chamissois, and Ocotea lancifolia promoted their abundance and richness. The regeneration involved 21 species, but was mainly structured by Miconia chamissois, Ilex dumosa var. guaranina, Citronella gongonha, and Myrsine parvula. The results indicate that Ilex dumosa var. guaranina was the most abundant solitary species and one of the best to regenerate under these conditions. While this shrub may constitute the initial stage in the formation of more or less large forests fragments, we suggest that the abundance of Ilex dumosa var. guaranina in this kind of primary woody succession prompted the expression “ka’a mirĩ” (the incipient forest), a guarani name of this species.