Vegetation type, landscape and climate define vegetation water content: implications for sustainable management at Southern Patagonia

Abstract Ecosystem management requires integrative tools for planning and decision-making at landscape scales. Vegetation water content (VWC) has been proposed as a holistic indicator of entire plant water status and ecosystem functioning. However, few studies have explored its relationships with ecological and environmental factors, especially in data-scarce regions like Patagonia. In this study, we used the SMAP dataset to analyzed VWC patterns across vegetation types, landscapes, and climate anomalies over the 2015–2016 to 2024–2025 growing seasons in Southern Patagonia, covering Santa Cruz and Tierra del Fuego provinces. The results show that VWC varies significantly among vegetation types. Forests and shrublands generally had higher VWC than grasslands. Among them, Nothofagus betuloides and evergreen mixed forests (NB) exhibited the highest VWC, with grasslands and dry shrublands being at the lowest level. Distinct seasonal VWC dynamics emerged along landscape gradients: a bell-shaped pattern in humid areas and an inverted bell-shaped pattern in arid ecosystems, primarily driven by winter snowmelt recharge and subsequent summer water stress. VWC responded differentially to El Niño-Southern Oscillation and Southern Annular Mode phases, with El Niño and La Niña exerting contrasting effects by province. To bridge science and application, we propose incorporating these metrics into adaptive management, specifically for: (i) defining conservation-priority zones for harvesting in water-limited forests, (ii) implementing dynamic fire risk thresholds based on seasonal depletion patterns, and (iii) adjusting silvopastoral stocking rates according to inter-annual VWC trends. These findings demonstrate that VWC is a robust indicator for guiding sustainable ecosystem management and conservation planning in Southern Patagonia.