Produção forrageira de gramíneas cultivadas sob luminosidade reduzida

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a influência de três níveis de sombreamento artificial (0,30 e 60%) sobre a produção de matéria seca, a concentração de nitrogênio e as características morfológicas de seis espécies de gramíneas forrageiras tropicais (Andropogon gayanus, cv. Planaltina, Brachiaria brizantha, cv. Marandu, B. decumbens, Melinis minutiflora, Panicum maximum, cv. Vencedor, e Setaria anceps, cv. Kazungula). Foi usado delineamento em blocos ao acaso, com parcelas subdivididas e quatro repetições; nas parcelas foram distribuídos os níveis de sombreamento e nas subparcelas, as espécies forrageiras. Os resultados demonstram que o sombreamento influenciou a produção de matéria seca, a concentração de N e as características morfológicas das espécies avaliadas. A produção forrageira foi influenciada diferencialmente pelo sombreamento. A produção de matéria seca do P. maximum, cv. Vencedor foi 19,72% maior à sombra moderada que a pleno sol. A produção de S. anceps, cv. Kazungula, entretanto, não foi influenciada pelo sombreamento. As demais espécies tiveram decréscimo da produção de matéria seca com a redução da luminosidade. Em todas as espécies, houve aumento da concentração de N e redução do teor de matéria seca da forragem, que se tornou mais suculenta à sombra. As características morfológicas não apresentaram comportamento padrão, variando conforme a espécie avaliada.The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of three levels of artificial shade (0, 30 and 60%) on dry matter production, nitrogen content and morphological characteristics of six forage grasses (Andropogon gayanus cv. Planaltina, Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu, B. decumbens, Melinis minutiflora, Panicum maximum cv. Vencedor and Setaria anceps cv. Kazungula). A randomized block design, with split plots and four replicates, was used; the shading levels were allotted to the plots and the species to the split plots. The results showed that shading affected the production of dry matter, the nitrogen content and the morphological characteristics of the evaluated species. The production of forage was differentially affected by the shade. The dry matter production of P. maximum cv. Vencedor was 19.72% higher, at moderate shade than in broad daylight. The forage production of S. anceps cv. Kazungula, however, was not affected by the shade. The dry matter production of other species decreased with the reduction of the light. In all species there was an increase of N content and reduction of the content of dry matter of the forage, which became juicier in the shade. The morphological characteristics did not show a standard behavior, which varied according to the studied specie

Below-ground competition between trees and grasses may overwhelm the facilitative effects of hydraulic lift

Contains fulltext : 60125.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Under large East African Acacia trees, which were known to show hydraulic lift, we experimentally tested whether tree roots facilitate grass production or compete with grasses for below-ground resources. Prevention of tree-grass interactions through root trenching led to increased soil water content indicating that trees took up more water from the topsoil than they exuded via hydraulic lift. Biomass was higher in trenched plots compared to controls probably because of reduced competition for water. Stable isotope analyses of plant and source water showed that grasses which competed with trees used a greater proportion of deep water compared with grasses in trenched plots. Grasses therefore used hydraulically lifted water provided by trees, or took up deep soil water directly by growing deeper roots when competition with trees occurred. We conclude that any facilitative effect of hydraulic lift for neighbouring species may easily be overwhelmed by water competition in (semi-) arid regions

Rainfall, land use and woody vegetation cover change in semi-arid Australian savanna

* 1 The relative roles of climate and management for driving changes in woody cover in savannas over the past century are the subject of active debate. Perspectives arising from short-term, small-scale, local experiments are rarely tested over larger scales and longer time frames. * 2 Regression analysis and aerial photography were used to assess the relative importance of land-use history (fire and grazing), rainfall and initial woody cover (woody cover at the beginning of a sample period relative to the range of woody cover expressed within a land type) in accounting for rates of change in overstorey and understorey cover between the 1940s and 1990s in central Queensland, Australia. Analyses included 279 site-period combinations representing five semi-arid eucalypt savanna land-types within a 125 755 km2 region. * 3 Fire and grazing variables provided no explanatory power. In general, relative rainfall (rainfall for a given period standardized against mean annual rainfall) was positively related and initial woody cover negatively related to rates of change in both the overstorey and the understorey. The interaction between rainfall and initial woody cover was significant, reflecting the fact that increases in cover coincided with low initial cover when rainfall is higher than average, whereas decreases in cover typically occurred with high initial cover, regardless of rainfall. * 4 On average, overstorey and understorey cover increased over the second half of the 20th century. This pattern is consistent with the first half of the 20th century having more intense droughts and being drier overall than the relatively wet second half. * 5 The findings highlight the primary importance of interactions between rainfall fluctuations and density dependence as determinants of large-scale, long-term woody plant cover dynamics in savannas subject to large rainfall excess and deficit over multiyear time-scales