Biomass and nutrition stock of grassland and accumulated litter in a silvopastoral system with Cerrado species

Abstract

The crop-livestock-forest integration systems are a form of sustainable production, creating a consortium between the cultivation of crops and forest production and the creation of pastures for livestock breeding, seeking a synergy between the system components. Therefore, integrating agricultural crops with tree species provides countless benefits to the components, such as the maintenance and increase in nutrient cycling. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the biomass and nutritional stock of Brachiaria pasture and accumulated litter in a silvopastoral system with tree species of the Cerrado. Three silvopastoral systems, formed with the forage species Urochloa decumbens (Brachiaria) integrated with three tree species, namely Dipteryx alata (baru tree), Caryocar brasiliense (pequi) and Eugenia dysenterica (cagaita), were evaluated. Litter and pasture were collected in each system at different sample distances from the tree. The amount of biomass and the nutritional contents of both components were evaluated by chemical analysis. The largest amount Brachiaria pasture biomass and largest amount of litter was found in the silvopastoral system with baru trees. The pasture differed nutritionally. The pastures associated with baru trees and to pequis have higher amounts of macronutrients. There are nutritional differences with respect to the sampling positions.