The use of grasses tolerant to shade is essential to the sustainability of the Farming-Livestock-Forest Integration System. The performance of Panicum maximum cv. 'Tanzania' and Andropogon gayanus cv. 'Planaltina' under different levels of shading and times of entry under the shade were studied. We used designs in randomized blocks with four replications in a factorial scheme with two types of shading: 30% and 50%; three times of entry into the shade after transplantation (07, 14 and 21 days) and a witness, kept in full sun. Seedlings 8 to 12cm high of both species, pre-cultivated in styrofoam trays were transplanted to pots and maintained in their respective environments under the shade or full sun for 90 days in normal growth. The time of entry into the shade does not interfere with productivity and leaf chlorophyll content of cultivars, as well as in the bromatological composition. The fresh and dry matter of the cultivars of both 'Planaltina' and 'Tanzania' were higher in shaded environments rather than those in full sun. The two forage grasses when shaded increase the chlorophyll a content, but no change of chlorophyll b was thereof observed. The positive adaptation of cultivars in the shaded environments becomes promising in systems of integration of pastures with trees.
ecological adaptation; ecophysiology
