Overview of the geography of the Monte Desert biome (Argentina)

The compilation of published results oil the geography of the Monte Desert biome of Argentina that we present here offers a review of its boundaries and ecotones, and of its biophysical and socio-economic characteristics. in relation to socio-ecological issues, the focus is on a case study in the province of Mendoza. An analysis is presented about the ecological-economic issues and the sustainable investment policies in rangelands of the Patagonian Monte. In addition, this biome is compared with other South American arid biomes and their North American counterparts. We identified some gaps in the current knowledge, especially at a mesoscale level, where studies on Monte borders are deemed necessary as well as explicit boundary criteria for ecosystem differentiation. Also the ecological-economic relations and feedbacks between livestock herbivory, soil erosion and market behaviour should be considered within the framework of wider socio-ecological research. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.