Grazing intensity drives plant diversity but does not affect forage production in a natural grassland dominated by the tussock-forming grass Andropogon lateralis Nees

Abstract Andropogon lateralis is a tall and highly plastic tussock-forming grass native from southern South America. It is a frequent component of Campos and Subtropical highland grasslands that often becomes dominant under lax grazing regimes. The aim of this work was to analyze the response of spe...

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Autores principales:	Pablo Giliard Zanella, Luis Henrique Paim Della Giustina Junior, Cassiano Eduardo Pinto, Tiago Celso Baldissera, Simone Silmara Werner, Fabio Cervo Garagorry, Martín Jaurena, Fernando Alfredo Lattanzi, André Fischer Sbrissia
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/711718592bfb47988c71859497d90a24
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:711718592bfb47988c71859497d90a242021-12-02T18:51:52ZGrazing intensity drives plant diversity but does not affect forage production in a natural grassland dominated by the tussock-forming grass Andropogon lateralis Nees10.1038/s41598-021-96208-82045-2322https://doaj.org/article/711718592bfb47988c71859497d90a242021-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96208-8https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Andropogon lateralis is a tall and highly plastic tussock-forming grass native from southern South America. It is a frequent component of Campos and Subtropical highland grasslands that often becomes dominant under lax grazing regimes. The aim of this work was to analyze the response of species diversity and forage production of a natural grassland dominated by A. lateralis to a wide range of grazing intensity. We hypothesized that species diversity and forage production would both peak at the intermediate canopy heights determined by grazing regimes of moderate intensity. A grazing experiment was conducted in a highland grassland with mesothermal humid climate at 922 masl (Atlantic Forest biome, Santa Catarina state, Brazil) that comprised 87 species from 20 families but had 50% of its standing biomass accounted by A. lateralis. Four pre-/post-grazing canopy heights—12/7, 20/12, 28/17, and 36/22 cm (measured on A. lateralis)—were arranged in a complete randomized block design with four replications, and intermittently stocked with beef heifers from October 2015 to October 2017. Andropogon lateralis cover decreased (from 75 to 50%), and species richness increased (15–25 species m−2) as canopy height decreased. Grazing intensity did not affect annual forage production (4.2 Mg DM ha−1). This natural grassland dominated by A. lateralis had a high capacity to adjust to grazing regimes of contrasting intensity, maintaining forage production stable over a wide range of canopy heights. However, to prevent losses in floristic diversity, such grassland should not be grazed at canopy heights higher than 28 cm.Pablo Giliard ZanellaLuis Henrique Paim Della Giustina JuniorCassiano Eduardo PintoTiago Celso BaldisseraSimone Silmara WernerFabio Cervo GaragorryMartín JaurenaFernando Alfredo LattanziAndré Fischer SbrissiaNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Pablo Giliard Zanella Luis Henrique Paim Della Giustina Junior Cassiano Eduardo Pinto Tiago Celso Baldissera Simone Silmara Werner Fabio Cervo Garagorry Martín Jaurena Fernando Alfredo Lattanzi André Fischer Sbrissia Grazing intensity drives plant diversity but does not affect forage production in a natural grassland dominated by the tussock-forming grass Andropogon lateralis Nees
description	Abstract Andropogon lateralis is a tall and highly plastic tussock-forming grass native from southern South America. It is a frequent component of Campos and Subtropical highland grasslands that often becomes dominant under lax grazing regimes. The aim of this work was to analyze the response of species diversity and forage production of a natural grassland dominated by A. lateralis to a wide range of grazing intensity. We hypothesized that species diversity and forage production would both peak at the intermediate canopy heights determined by grazing regimes of moderate intensity. A grazing experiment was conducted in a highland grassland with mesothermal humid climate at 922 masl (Atlantic Forest biome, Santa Catarina state, Brazil) that comprised 87 species from 20 families but had 50% of its standing biomass accounted by A. lateralis. Four pre-/post-grazing canopy heights—12/7, 20/12, 28/17, and 36/22 cm (measured on A. lateralis)—were arranged in a complete randomized block design with four replications, and intermittently stocked with beef heifers from October 2015 to October 2017. Andropogon lateralis cover decreased (from 75 to 50%), and species richness increased (15–25 species m−2) as canopy height decreased. Grazing intensity did not affect annual forage production (4.2 Mg DM ha−1). This natural grassland dominated by A. lateralis had a high capacity to adjust to grazing regimes of contrasting intensity, maintaining forage production stable over a wide range of canopy heights. However, to prevent losses in floristic diversity, such grassland should not be grazed at canopy heights higher than 28 cm.
format	article
author	Pablo Giliard Zanella Luis Henrique Paim Della Giustina Junior Cassiano Eduardo Pinto Tiago Celso Baldissera Simone Silmara Werner Fabio Cervo Garagorry Martín Jaurena Fernando Alfredo Lattanzi André Fischer Sbrissia
author_facet	Pablo Giliard Zanella Luis Henrique Paim Della Giustina Junior Cassiano Eduardo Pinto Tiago Celso Baldissera Simone Silmara Werner Fabio Cervo Garagorry Martín Jaurena Fernando Alfredo Lattanzi André Fischer Sbrissia
author_sort	Pablo Giliard Zanella
title	Grazing intensity drives plant diversity but does not affect forage production in a natural grassland dominated by the tussock-forming grass Andropogon lateralis Nees
title_short	Grazing intensity drives plant diversity but does not affect forage production in a natural grassland dominated by the tussock-forming grass Andropogon lateralis Nees
title_full	Grazing intensity drives plant diversity but does not affect forage production in a natural grassland dominated by the tussock-forming grass Andropogon lateralis Nees
title_fullStr	Grazing intensity drives plant diversity but does not affect forage production in a natural grassland dominated by the tussock-forming grass Andropogon lateralis Nees
title_full_unstemmed	Grazing intensity drives plant diversity but does not affect forage production in a natural grassland dominated by the tussock-forming grass Andropogon lateralis Nees
title_sort	grazing intensity drives plant diversity but does not affect forage production in a natural grassland dominated by the tussock-forming grass andropogon lateralis nees
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/711718592bfb47988c71859497d90a24
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Grazing intensity drives plant diversity but does not affect forage production in a natural grassland dominated by the tussock-forming grass Andropogon lateralis Nees

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