Forest restoration in old pasture areas dominated by Urochloa brizantha

Restauração florestal em áreas de antigas pastagens dominadas por Urochloa brizantha

ABSTRACT

In the present study it was evaluated the density of recruits in an area previously occupied by Urochloa brizantha pasture undergoing forest restoration and in a Semideciduous Forest. Was evaluated the effect of the available light on the biomass of the exotic grass, and investigated associations of recruit density with soil variables and understory light availability. The seed rain in both areas was also evaluated. The biomass of U. brizantha was positively associated with available light and, a negative association was found between recruit density and available light when considering the two areas together. A negative associatio between recruit density and soil pH was found. The results suggest that the low soil fertility did not limited recruitment in the semideciduos forest. The results showed that high resource availability favors the competitivity of U. brizantha, impairing the forest restoration in area previously used as pastures. So, pratices that result in decreasing in light availability would favors the forest restoration in areas previously used as pasture.

Keywords
Brachiaria brizantha ; Light availability; Natural regeneration; Seed rain