INFESTANT FLORA ON DEGRADED PASTURE IN RECOVERING PROCESS ON A CERRADO REGION UNDER CROP-LIVESTOCK SYSTEM

Abstract

The experiment was carried out in an area of 8.4 ha of degraded Brachiaria decumbens pasture aiming to evaluate phytosociological parameters. The infestant flora assessment was made on six pasture areas before the establishment of crop-livestock system experiment, at 90, 210 and 330 days after implementation. The inventory square method was used for the phytosociological study, applied through a 0.5 m2 square frame thrown 35 times in each experimental plot. In order to evaluate the species present in the area, the following parameters were determined: frequency, density, abundance, relative frequency, relative density, relative abundance and value of importance of each species (IVI). In the survey accomplished in the pasture area before the experiment implementation, 18 species of 11 botanical families were identified. Poaceae (Gramineae) family presented the greatest number of species, followed by Leguminosae (Fabaceae) – Mimosoideae. At 90, 210 and 330 days after crop-livestock system establishment, 15, 19 and three species belonging to 11, 12 and three botanical families, respectively, were identified. On the maize plots for silage, in all evaluations, the most representative species found on the area was Brachiaria decumbens, with IVI over 100.

Keywords

• agriculture
• forage
• cattle production
• sustainability