Abstract
Pasture intensification through higher stocking rates, nitrogen fertilization and intensified grazing management in beef cattle production optimizes pasture use by increasing the forage harvested. We aimed to assess its effects on the morphogenesis and canopy structure of Urochloa brizantha ‘Marandu’ (marandu palisadegrass) pastures. The treatments consisted of marandu palisadegrass pastures managed under continuous stocking and a canopy height of 25 cm, with different levels of intensification: extensive, semi-intensive, and intensive systems N-fertilized with 0 kg, 75 kg, and 150 kg N ha−1 year−1, respectively, as ammonium nitrate (32% of N), with four replicates (paddocks) in a completely randomized design. Phyllochron (9.8 days) and leaf lifespan (34.7 days) were shorter in intensified pastures, whereas herbage mass was similar among treatments. Extensive pastures had a higher proportion of senescent material; thus, more intensive systems showed higher proportions of leaves and stems, although the leaves-to-stem ratio remained similar across production systems. The defoliation interval was lower in intensive (14.4 days) and higher in extensive (18.7 days) treatments. Thus, pasture intensification accelerates leaf appearance, decreases leaf lifespan, shortens the tiller defoliation interval and increased herbage accumulation rate but does not change herbage mass. The extensive system produces excessive forage losses due to dead material.
Highlights
The sustainable intensification of pastoral ecosystems is achieved in numerous ways, such as through a consortium of forage species, grazing by different herbivores, the strategic supplementation of beef cattle, irrigation, fertilization, or the integration of crop–livestock–forestry
The success of pasture-based cattle production depends on optimizing the intake of grazing animals, which is significantly affected by the canopy structure [4]
Structural characteristics are a result of the combination of morphogenic variables, such as leaf appearance rate, leaf elongation rate, and leaf lifespan [2]
Summary
The sustainable intensification of pastoral ecosystems is achieved in numerous ways, such as through a consortium of forage species, grazing by different herbivores, the strategic supplementation of beef cattle, irrigation, fertilization, or the integration of crop–livestock–forestry. The sustainable intensification of pastoral ecosystems is achieved in numerous ways, such as through a consortium of forage species, grazing by different herbivores, the strategic supplementation of beef cattle, irrigation, fertilization, or the integration of crop–livestock–. The success of pasture-based cattle production depends on optimizing the intake of grazing animals, which is significantly affected by the canopy structure [4]. The daily intake of grazing animals is dependent on tiller size and density, bulk density, canopy height, leaf-to-stem ratio, and stem length, which may limit grazing in the lower canopy layers [5]. Structural characteristics are a result of the combination of morphogenic variables, such as leaf appearance rate, leaf elongation rate, and leaf lifespan [2]. Morphogenic variables show how tillers develop according to the conditions of the pastoral ecosystem. N fertilization accelerates the rate of leaf expansion [6] and decreases the lifespan of leaves [5]
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