Vegetation Cover and Soil Erodibility Are More Strongly Associated with Wind Erosion than Climatic Erosivity in Arid Patagonian Rangelands

Wind erosion is a major driver of land degradation in drylands worldwide, yet the relative importance of climatic forcing and local surface conditions remains poorly understood. We quantified horizontal mass transport (HMT), characterized the particle-size distribution and organic matter of transported sediments, and identified the main environmental controls on wind erosion across three rangeland sites in the Patagonian steppe of southern Argentina. HMT was monitored over one year using passive sediment collectors (Mendeźs trap), while climatic erosivity, vegetation cover, and topsoil properties were concurrently assessed. Wind erosion exhibited substantial spatial variability, with annual HMT ranging from 0.22 to 2.35 kg m−1 yr−1 among sites. Transported sediments were enriched in both silt and organic matter relative to source soils, indicating the preferential export of fine, carbon-rich fractions during aeolian transport. Multivariate analyses revealed that wind erosion was more strongly associated with local vegetation cover and soil erodibility than with climatic erosivity. These findings suggest that surface conditions can override regional climatic controls on sediment transport in arid rangelands. Our results highlight the critical role of maintaining vegetation cover and soil surface stability to mitigate desertification processes and provide empirical evidence to improve wind erosion assessment and land management strategies in drylands.