Plant communities on pastures adapt to varying frequencies and severities of defoliation through mechanisms capable of ensuring their longevity and photosynthetic efficiency. The objective of this experiment was to evaluate tiller population density, demographic patterns of tillering and population stability of palisadegrass swards subjected to four grazing intensities. Treatments corresponded to four sward steady state conditions (sward heights of 10, 20, 30 and 40 cm) generated by continuous stocking. Measurements of tiller population density and population dynamics were performed at 4 week intervals and the results were used to calculate tiller appearance, death and survival rates. Tiller appearance and death rate were used to calculate sward stability index. The results indicate that keeping swards low (10 cm or lower) may be prejudicial to persistency and productivity of palisadegrass. The results also indicate that a low tiller population alone should not be considered as an indicator of loss of productive potential and of reduced plant persistency, since swards may be stable even with low population of tillers.

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A simple method for measuring tiller volume of grasses is described. The equipment, based on the communicant pipe principle, was built using a PVC pipe linked to a laboratory volumetric pipette. The results showed a high degree of consistency and were similar to empirical results published in the literature, indicating that tiller volume of grasses can be easily measured with this technique.

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O presente trabalho relata casos de intoxicação por Enterolobium contortisiliquum (timboril) em bovinos de diferentes idades, no município de Andradina-SP, Brasil. Os animais afetados fazem parte de um rebanho experimental de bovinos das raças Nelore e Guzerá, criados em sistema extensivo. As intoxicações ocorreram na época de seca com baixa disponibilidade de forragem, período coincidente com a frutificação do timboril cujas favas são, aparentemente, muito palatáveis. Os animais apresentaram áreas de lesões na pele, principalmente em locais mais despigmentados. Após a retirada dos animais dos pastos com a presença do Timboril e do tratamento de suporte os animais afetados apresentaram boa recuperação e não foram observados casos novos ou reincidentes.