The wild boar (Sus scrofa) is considered an ecosystem engineer. It roots up the ground looking for forage, generating patches of different sizes and without vegetation. Studies of wild boar’s impact on vegetation can be addressed in two contrasting ways: short-term effects (immediately after boar’s disturbance) and long-term effects. Short-term studies in the Monte Desert of Argentina showed that wild boar rooting modifies soil properties, reduces plant cover, and decreases plant richness and diversity. The objective of this study was to analyse the vegetation response in a desert ecosystem after 11 yr of wild boar disturbance establishing a replicated experiment of medium and large-sized animal’s exclusion. In this long-span study, time was the most important variable to predict the cover of different plant life forms and richness in disturbed soils. Herb cover was higher in disturbed soils, with grasses and woody species showing the opposite. Over the long-term, wild boar positively affect alpha diversity and richness, while the species turnover (rate of species replacement) was only influenced by the replacement of herbs. Disturbed soils were mainly dominated by annual species with a relatively high (60%) extent of species turnover. These vegetation changes throughout time are influenced by the occurrence of unexpectedly high rainy episodes, and probably by the system’s own fragility of Monte Desert.

野猪（Sus scrofa）被视为生态系统工程师。它扎根在地面寻找草料，产生大小不等且没有植被的斑块。研究野猪对植被的影响可以通过两种相反的方式进行：短期影响（在野猪受到干扰后立即发生）和长期影响。在阿根廷的蒙特沙漠进行的短期研究表明，野猪生根会改变土壤特性，减少植物覆盖，并降低植物的丰富度和多样性。这项研究的目的是分析野猪干扰11年后沙漠生态系统中的植被响应，建立对中型和大型动物排斥的重复实验。在这项大跨度的研究中，时间是最重要的变量，可用来预测受干扰土壤中不同植物生命形式和丰富度的覆盖率。在受干扰的土壤中，草本植物覆盖率更高，而草和木本植物则相反。从长期来看，野猪对阿尔法多样性和丰富度产生积极影响，而物种更新（物种替代率）仅受草药替代的影响。受干扰的土壤主要由一年生物种主导，物种周转率相对较高（60％）。随着时间的推移，这些植被变化受到意外多雨事件的发生的影响，也可能受系统自身的蒙特沙漠脆弱性的影响。受干扰的土壤主要由一年生物种主导，物种周转率相对较高（60％）。随着时间的推移，这些植被变化受到意外多雨事件的发生的影响，也可能受系统自身的蒙特沙漠脆弱性的影响。受干扰的土壤主要由一年生物种主导，物种周转率相对较高（60％）。随着时间的推移，这些植被变化受到意外多雨事件的发生的影响，也可能受系统自身的蒙特沙漠脆弱性的影响。