Traditional cattle vs. introduced deer management in Chaco Serrano woodlands (Argentina): Analysis of environmental sustainability at increasing densities.

Wild ungulate populations have increased and expanded considerably in many regions, including austral woodlands and forests where deer (Cervus elaphus) have been introduced as an alternative management to traditional cattle grazing. In this study, we compared traditional cattle with introduced deer management at increasing deer densities in the "Chaco Serrano" woodlands of Argentina to assess their ecological sustainability. We used three ecological indicators (abundance of tree regeneration, woody plant diversity and browsing damage) as proxies for environmental sustainability in woody systems. Our results indicate that traditional cattle management, at stocking rates of ∼10 ind km, was the most ecologically sustainable management since it allowed greater tree regeneration abundance, higher richness of woody species and lower browsing damage. Importantly, cattle management and deer management at low densities (10 ind km) showed no significant differences in species richness and abundance of seedlings, although deer caused greater browsing damage on saplings and juveniles. However, management regimes involving high deer densities (∼35 deer km) was highly unsustainable in comparison to low (∼10 deer km) and medium (∼20 deer km) densities, with 40% probability of unsustainable browsing as opposed to less than 5% probability at low and medium densities. In addition, high deer densities caused a strong reduction in tree regeneration, with a 19-30% reduction in the abundance of seedlings and young trees when compared to low deer densities. These results showed that the effect of increasing deer densities on woody plant conservation was not linear, with high deer densities causing a disproportional deleterious effect on tree regeneration and sustainable browsing. Our results suggest that traditional management at low densities or the use of introduced ungulates (deer breeding areas) at low-medium densities (<20 deer km) are compatible with woody vegetation conservation. However, further research is needed on plant palatability, animal habitat use (spatial heterogeneity) and species turnover and extinction (comparison to areas of low-null historical browsing) to better estimate environmental sustainability of Neotropical ungulate-dominated woodlands.