Impact of species biodiversity in integrated systems on environmental and productive aspects of pastures in the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest

• Grant number: 19/24123-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2021
• End date: September 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Pastures and Forage Crops
• Agreement: CONFAP - National Council of State Research Support Foundations
• Principal Investigator: Ana Cláudia Ruggieri
• Grantee: Ana Cláudia Ruggieri
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: Jaboticabal
• Associated researchers: Abmael da Silva Cardoso ; Ricardo Andrade Reis
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/13343-5 - Chemical composition and digestibility of marandu grass fertilized in monoculture or in an integrated crop-livestock system, BP.TT; 23/13342-9 - Emission of greenhouse gases in integrated systems and pasture monoculture, BP.TT; 22/00502-5 - Greenhouse gas emissions in integrated systems and pasture monoculture, BP.TT; 21/10653-8 - Chemical composition and digestibility of marandu grass fertilized in monoculture or in an integrated crop-livestock system, BP.TT; 21/10739-0 - Greenhouse gas emissions in integrated systems and pasture monoculture, BP.TT

Abstract

Brazil has one of the largest pasture areas on the planet, most of them at some stage of degradation leading to biodiversity loss and causing environmental impacts. Increasing biodiversity through the use of more than 2 species (grass and fodder) can lead to increased yield, improved soil structure and fertility, the nutritional value of the forage, changing the diversity and abundance of soil microorganism and reduce the emission of gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). Two experiments aiming to evaluate the variables described above will be conducted in different biomes. One in the Atlantic Forest Biome in São Paulo and another in the Cerrado in Goiás. The experimental design will be a randomized block with 5 replications. The treatments will be livestock farming integration system, pasture monoculture and the native system. The variables evaluated will be: forage dry mass production, botanical and morphological composition, chemical composition and in vitro digestibility; soil: porosity, fertility, labile and soluble carbon, ammonium and nitrate; Microbiology: diversity and abundance of the groups involved in the emission of N2O. The data will be used to develop strategies for increasing biodiversity and livestock productivity, mitigating GHG emissions and understanding the soil microbiology involved in GHG emissions in integrated systems in tropical climate. (AU)