BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS OF TREE LEGUME SPECIES INTRODUCED IN TROPICAL GRASS PASTURES

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the behavior of sixteen tree legume species introduced in tropical grass pastures, without seedling protection and in the presence of animals, in three municipalities of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. A multivariate factor analysis method was used with sixteen variables related to seven experimental units in the municipalities and ten variables related to leguminous species. The first rotative factor (F1), which explained the highest percentage of the observed variance (62.7%), showed that the Fazenda Santo Antônio experimental unit, in the Itatiaia municipality, presented the highest values for Ca+Mg, N, and Mg, and the lowest value for P (soil sample collected at the beginning of experimental period), while the opposite was observed for Sipa I unit, in the Seropédica municipality. The F1 factor also showed that the species Jurema branca (Mimosa artemisiana) and Jurema preta (Mimosa tenuiflora) presented the highest values for diameter growth rate of stem and crown, and the lowest percentage of pastured seedlings, while Leucena (Leucaena leucocephala) showed the inverse behavior. Results indicate that M. artemisiana and M. tenuiflora present better potential for introduction in tropical grass pastures without seedling protection and without animal exclusion.

KEY-WORDS: Tree seedling; factor analysis; communality, mimosa; Leucaena.