Dynamics and stability of Marandu grass tillers in monocrop systems and babassu palm silvopastoral systems

• Published in: Acta scientiarum. Agronomy Vol. 42; p. e42445
• Main Authors: Araújo, Ricardo Alves de, Rodrigues, Rosane Cláudia, Costa, Clésio Santos, Santos, Francisco Naysson Sousa, Lima, Antonio José Temístocles, Rodrigues, Marcônio Martins
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Maringa Editora da Universidade Estadual de Maringá - EDUEM 01-01-2020; Eduem (Editora da Universidade Estadual de Maringá)
• Subjects: AGRONOMY; continuous stocking; Dynamic stability; Mortality; orbignia phalerata martius; Pasture; Population density; Shading; Stability analysis; Survival; tiller population density; tillering; tillering rate; Tillers; Trees; tiller population density; tillering rate; Orbygnia phalerata Martius; continuous stocking; tillering
• ISSN: 1679-9275; 1807-8621; 1807-8621
• DOI: 10.4025/actasciagron.v42i1.42445

 This study aimed to evaluate the dynamics, population density of tillers and stability index of Urochloa brizantha in silvopastoral systems composed of babassu palm trees in the Pre-Amazon region. Four systems consisting of different densities of palm trees (80, 131, and 160 palms ha-1) and a monocrop were evaluated. The rates at which the basal tillers appeared in systems with 131 and 160 palms ha-1 were similar to each other and were slower compared to the monocrop pasture and the system with 80 palms ha-1. Despite the variations, the stability index was always higher than 1.0, which infers a compensatory mechanism between tiller appearance and mortality rate, since monocrop pastures and systems with 80 palms ha-1 have a higher rate of tissue turnover with high rates of tiller appearance and mortality; in contrast, the system with 160 palms ha-1 presents high tiller survival rates. Both the 160 and 131 palms ha-1 systems indicate impaired canopy renewal, as seen in the low appearance rate of basal tillers due to shading. As such, the tillering dynamics of the systems vary according to the density of palm trees, and the smaller tree densities favor the tiller turnover in the first generations evaluated.