El futuro de los pastizales sudamericanos

South American grasslands sustain subsistence and commercial cattle raising, and are a key factor in the economy of many countries. This activity is directly dependent upon the climate, mainly rain. The amount and annual distribution of precipitation determines primary productivity, the energy fixed by plants, which in turn determines the amount of animals that can be produced. The current tendency of climate change will lead to an increase in temperature, changes in rain patterns and higher frequency of extreme events (drought, flooding) that can affect negatively the productivity of these grasslands. In the measure that the relations between production and climate can be known, and that weather forecasting becomes more precise and Os pastiçais da América do Sul mantêm atividades de pastoreio de subsistência e comerciais, e são um fator chave na economia de muitos países. Esta atividade depende em forma direta do clima, principalmente as chuvas. A quantidade e distribuição anual de precipitações determina a produtividade primária, quer dizer a energia fixada pelas pantas, a que por sua vez determina a quantidade de animais que se podem produzir. A atual tendência de mudança climática produzirá um aumento na temperatura, mudanças nas precipitações e maior frequência de eventos extremos (secas, inundações) que podem afetar negativamente a produtividade destes pastiçais. Na medida em que se possam conhecer as relações entre a produção e o clima, e que os prognósticos trustworthy, early alarm systems can be implemented, allowing for the mitigation of the negative consequences of climate change. For instance, through Livestock Alarm Systems it is possible to alert producers about imminent droughts and their consequences for forage availability, so as to reduce financial losses in the short term and ecosystem deterioration in the long term. Climate change is imminent and it is already experimented. The alternatives vis a vis this unavoidable change are adaptations to it in the best possible way, using the knowledge about the function of biological systems and implementing tools that must be available to producers.