The morphological composition of three Cynodon spp. pastures, mantained under steady state conditions, was evaluated under a complete randomized block design with four replications. Treatments were assigned to experimental units according to a split-plot arrangement. Grass cultivars (‘Tifton 85’, ‘Florakirk’ and ‘Coastcross’) were allocated to plots and grazing intensities (5, 10, 15 and 20 cm) to sub-plots. Grazing intensities were established by sheep under a continuous stock management and measurements performed from 3 July to 31 December, 1998. Taller swards presented the highest values for herbage mass (kg MS ha-1), with ‘Tifton 85’ ranking first and followed by ‘Florakirk’ and ‘Coastcross’. Calculated values of bulk density (kg MS cm-1 ha-1) were higher for short swards, with ‘Tifton 85’ presenting the highest values for any of the sward heights used. Cultivars were ranked in order of decreasing live material proportion as ‘Tifton 85’ > ‘Coastcross’ > ‘Florakirk’. Ranking regarding the proportion of dead material in the swards followed an inverse order. There was an increase in the proportion of stem in the sward as the experimental period progressed. No consistent behaviour of the stem component throughout the experimental period was observed. According to the leaf proportion in the swards, cultivars were ranked as ‘Tifton 85’ > ‘Coastcross’ <FONT FACE="Symbol">@</font> ‘Florakirk’. Different grazing intensities did not have any influence on the morphological traits evaluated.
Cynodon; grazing intensity; morphological composition