Remnant areas of Pampas grassland have a distinct double structure. Efficiency of livestock farming on these grasslands depends on practices that are synchronized with natural variation. This study examined the changes in vegetation composition and forage mass during winter to understand the effects of grazing methods in a natural pasture with a double structure that was grazed by heifers

COELHO, A. A.

PINHEIRO, C. L.

QUADROS, F. L. F. de

TRINDADE, J. P. P.

VOLK, L. B. da S.

English

ABSTRACT:  Remnant areas of Pampas grassland have a distinct double structure. Efficiency of livestock farming on these grasslands depends on practices that are synchronized with natural variation. This study examined the changes in vegetation composition and forage mass during winter to understand the effects of grazing methods in a natural pasture with a double structure that was grazed by heifers. An experimental area in the municipality of Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul, was subjected to continuous or rotational grazing treatments, with two replicates each. Frequency of the structural composition and forage mass of the lower stratum and animal weight was measured at the beginning and end of the experimental period (June 7 to October 7, 2016, respectively). Data were analysed with PCA ordination, regression and variance analysis. Both structural composition and forage mass changed during the experimental period. Axonopus affinis and Paspalum notatum were characteristic of continuous grazing, while Mnesithea selloana and Axonopus argentinus characterized rotational grazing (the latter had the highest levels of forage mass). Although, grazing methods changed the composition of forage mass in winter, they did not affect average daily gain of the animals.</div

André Alfredo Coelho (5695421)

José Pedro Pereira Trindade (5695427)

Leandro Bochi da Silva Volk (5695433)

Clodoaldo Leites Pinheiro (5695439)

Fernando Luiz Ferreira de Quadros (5161025)

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Vegetation composition and forage mass in grassland with a double structure under two winter grazing regimes

ABSTRACT:  Remnant areas of Pampas grassland have a distinct double structure. Efficiency of livestock farming on these grasslands depends on practices that are synchronized with natural variation. This study examined the changes in vegetation composition and forage mass during winter to understand the effects of grazing methods in a natural pasture with a double structure that was grazed by heifers. An experimental area in the municipality of Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul, was subjected to continuous or rotational grazing treatments, with two replicates each. Frequency of the structural composition and forage mass of the lower stratum and animal weight was measured at the beginning and end of the experimental period (June 7 to October 7, 2016, respectively). Data were analysed with PCA ordination, regression and variance analysis. Both structural composition and forage mass changed during the experimental period. Axonopus affinis and Paspalum notatum were characteristic of continuous grazing, while Mnesithea selloana and Axonopus argentinus characterized rotational grazing (the latter had the highest levels of forage mass). Although, grazing methods changed the composition of forage mass in winter, they did not affect average daily gain of the animals

André Alfredo Coelho

José Pedro Pereira Trindade

Leandro Bochi da Silva Volk

Clodoaldo Leites Pinheiro

Fernando Luiz Ferreira de Quadros

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Vegetation composition and forage mass in grassland with a double structure under two winter grazing regimes.

http://www.alice.cnptia.embrapa.br/bitstream/doc/1092997/1/16784596cr4806e20170154.pdf

Vegetation composition and forage mass in grassland with a double structure under two winter grazing regimes.

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